South San Antonio ISD CFO outlines budget assumptions, warns of enrollment and debt pressures

Stan Osborne, the district's chief financial officer, told the South San Antonio ISD Board of Trustees on May 18 that the district is starting the 2026–27 budget process as a series of assumptions and forecasted modest declines in enrollment and key revenues.

Osborne opened the budget workshop by outlining a four‑meeting schedule that will culminate in a proposed budget for the board in August. He said the district does not get final revenue figures from the state until roughly July 25 and that early slides should be treated as assumptions rather than final numbers.

Osborne identified the funds under board control as the general fund (199), child nutrition fund (240) and the debt service fund (599). He said a snapshot of average daily attendance (ADA) showed 69.74 and the finance team used a planning assumption of about 66.25 for next year (roughly a 5% reduction) to avoid over‑budgeting if revenues fall. He also noted that reimbursements from state and federal programs — including TEA grants, child nutrition reimbursements and SHARS/Medicaid for eligible services — are an important part of the revenue picture.

On district spending, Osborne highlighted an operational change to centralize the copier/printer lease program, which charges per print, saying the move should cut that cost roughly in half next year and eliminate a distortion in campus discretionary allocations. He said campus discretionary non‑personnel funds shown on the slides totaled about $1,300,000 this year and are projected at roughly $1,000,000 next year, a reduction of $231,816 across the listed campuses.

Osborne also described the district's focus on its "first rating" (the state's financial accountability rating). He said the district dropped from 94 to 92 primarily due to debt ratios and that reducing callable debt or defeasing certain obligations could improve the rating toward 98–100. "We're already working with our financial advisor at RBC to establish and take care of that action so that it gets settled out in next year's SOF," Osborne said, referring to the summary of finance used to calculate state funding.

On facilities and summer work, Osborne confirmed board‑approved investments already scheduled for the summer: a $250,000 chiller at Carrillo Elementary and a $90,000 HVAC unit at Palo Alto, which the administration said are part of ongoing facility maintenance needs.

Board members asked clarifying questions about how the first rating is calculated, how the district compares funding per student across schools and whether a 5% enrollment decline is standard; Osborne said the 5% assumption comes from repeated PEIMS snapshots and demographic data but could change. He emphasized the budget remains under development and the administration would return with more detailed campus and department breakdowns in subsequent workshops.

The presentation concluded with an April budget‑to‑actual snapshot showing the district in a positive position for the fiscal year and a brief summary of delinquent tax collection practices from the district's outside collection firm (Linebarger), which the CFO said typically reaches about 99% collection over two to three years.