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ODESSA R‑VII previews preliminary FY27 budget and demos Balance HQ budgeting tool
Summary
The board reviewed a preliminary FY27 budget showing a projected $1,025,341 deficit across all funds (revenues $30.5M; expenditures $31.5M), to be offset by drawing unrestricted fund balances from about 44% to 36%. Staff demonstrated Balance HQ, a web tool that models state funding scenarios and capital projects and can import DESE data for rapid revisions.
The ODESSA R‑VII Board reviewed the district’s preliminary FY27 budget and a new web‑based budgeting tool, Balance HQ, intended to speed budget preparation and model funding scenarios.
Finance staff presented operating fund figures showing roughly $28 million in projected operating expenditures and about $27 million in operating revenues. Across all funds, staff reported projected revenues of $30.5 million against expenditures of $31.5 million, producing a deficit of $1,025,341 that the district plans to absorb through using unrestricted fund balances (projected decrease from about 44% to 36% of reserves). A significant driver of the projected deficit is an approximately $820,000 increase in salaries and benefits.
The superintendent cautioned that the district’s preliminary budget was built using a state funding assumption (SAT) of 6,740 and said, “I don’t want to say that it’s going to get funded at that level this year for sure until he has to sign the budget.” The board used the Balance HQ tool in a live demonstration to test scenarios: for example, adjusting the SAT or testing tax‑collection rates. Staff showed that modeling changes is immediate in the tool and highlighted a feature that imports DESE data (membership, ADA, special‑education counts) to keep projections current.
Finance staff also showed the tool’s capacity to import a capital‑project CSV (useful if a $45M bond package is approved) and to compare district metrics to a peer group (the MRVC West subgroup). The presenter noted Odessa’s comparative strengths: higher operating fund balances and proportionally more spending on instruction than peers, while teacher salaries are slightly below peer averages.
Next steps: the board will return the FY27 budget for revision after the governor signs the state budget (and once final assessed valuation and SAT figures are available), and staff will continue to refine projections in Balance HQ ahead of final adoption.
