Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Galena Park ISD presents first look at 2026–27 budget; enrollment dip and pay raises shape deficit projections
Summary
CFO Ben Poppy gave trustees an initial look at the 2026–27 budget: enrollment down (about 5% trend; 'just over 20,000' students), average daily attendance projected at 18,273, and an initial model showing a $9.9 million gap that includes a 2% general pay increase; staff said ongoing work aims to narrow that to a smaller deficit for adoption in August.
Galena Park ISD’s chief financial officer presented a preliminary budget outlook to the board on April 13 as the district begins 2026–27 planning.
Ben Poppy told trustees the district has seen a decline in enrollment (about a 5% drop over recent years) and currently projects just over 20,000 students with average daily attendance near 18,273—the attendance figure used for funding. Poppy said the district’s initial model for 2026–27 shows a $9.9 million deficit that includes a proposed 2% general pay increase. He also said current updated estimates bring the projected deficit closer to $1 million with four months left in the fiscal year and noted the district is working to reduce that gap before final adoption.
Poppy reviewed revenue drivers—property values, interest earnings and enrollment—and expenditure savings from department reductions and compensation adjustments. He said officials expect certified property values from the Harris County Appraisal District in the coming weeks and that board actions on TRS ActiveCare rates and general pay recommendations are forthcoming in May or June. The timeline provided showed an expected budget adoption on Aug. 25, 2026 and a tax‑rate adoption on Oct. 5, 2026.
Trustees asked about unfunded mandates and whether the district is tracking where students who left have gone; Poppy said unfunded‑mandate dollar estimates were not immediately available but could be provided and that exit reasons are tracked in the student information system.
What's next: Finance staff will refine revenue and expenditure assumptions and return with updated estimates at subsequent budget workshops ahead of the August adoption deadline.
