Georgetown ISD staff outline budget outlook as state bills, tax-election rules could reshape revenue

Jennifer Hannah, Georgetown ISD's chief financial officer, told the board on May 5 that recent state legislation and pending bills could materially change the district's revenue picture as the district finalizes its 2025-26 budget. "It was passed by the house and the senate, and it was signed by the governor over the weekend," Hannah said of Senate Bill 2, the voucher bill that staff said would allow education savings accounts to begin in the 2026-27 school year.

Hannah said House Bill 2, the school-funding bill the district has tracked closely, passed the Texas House and was under consideration in the Senate with no hearing date; as written in the materials presented, the bill would raise the basic allotment on the district's slide by roughly $395 (staff cautioned the Senate version could change). Because of that uncertainty, she told trustees the district will bring a compensation plan to the board in June but expects it may be a zero-percent increase that could be amended later if legislative revenue becomes clearer.

The presentation walked trustees through the district's updated budget assumptions. Staff said a demographer projects roughly 14,460 students for 2025-26, preliminary property values from the Williamson Central Appraisal District came in at $25.1 billion (before applicable freezes) versus prior projections of $24.6 billion, and the district is using a conservative attendance assumption of 93% for budgeting even though current adjusted attendance measures are north of 93.5%.

Hannah highlighted other line items that could alter the outlook: projected payroll of about $132.3 million (a net payroll increase of roughly $900,000 in the current plan), reductions to contracted services and supplies to shore up the budget, and a small projected operating balance of $40,725 in the presented plan. She also told trustees the district expects a $155,000 property-value study adjustment that will flow through the comptroller process before appearing in official templates.

On targeted state funding, Hannah described proposed increases to safety and campus allotments (an example increase from $10 to $14 per ADA and roughly $37,000 per campus), which staff estimated could yield on the order of $90,000 to $100,000 for the district in the example presented. She also noted a statewide appropriation to offset School Health and Related Services (SHARS) reimbursement declines, which staff cited as $934,000,000 in the materials.

Hannah urged trustees to plan conservatively while the legislature concludes its regular session on June 2 and noted the district will revisit compensation and other choices as final state actions are known. The board scheduled continued consideration of the budget in its June workshops, with staff preparing to bring more detailed fund-level proposals and any necessary amendments once revenue certainty improves.