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Ysleta ISD CFO outlines $14.9M proposed deficit, $65M maintenance-note plan and possible voter tax measure
Summary
Ysleta ISD's chief finance officer told trustees the proposed 2026-27 budget shows a $14.9 million deficit before recommended adjustments; the presentation recommended selling vacant properties, pursuing debt refunding, issuing maintenance tax notes and possibly holding a November voter-approved tax ratification election to shore up recurring revenue.
Ysleta Independent School District's chief finance and operations officer, Lindley Camber, presented a multi-part fiscal-stabilization plan that would combine near-term cost reductions, property sales and debt actions to address a multi-million-dollar structural shortfall.
Camber said the proposed 2026-27 general fund budget includes revenues near $379 million and expenditures near $394 million, leaving a proposed deficit of about $14.9 million before suggested adjustments such as property sales, natural attrition and other savings. "If we take the proposed budget with a deficit of 14.9, add back in the things I've asked you for, then our general fund deficit would be 11.9 million," she told trustees.
Key drivers and proposed actions: Camber identified several revenue and cost drivers: a decline in enrollment (she used a 1,250-student projected loss), policy changes in state funding that reduced the district's hold-harmless/"freeze" receipts (Camber said Ysleta lost about $10.8M in the state calculation), large deferred-maintenance needs identified in prior facility studies (chillers and turf among highest-priority items), and rising personnel costs. To address the shortfall, Camber proposed:
- Aggressive cost controls and vacancy review (already underway). - Property sales of currently vacant campuses (estimated ~$10.2M in proceeds). - Retirement incentives and natural attrition savings (estimated $9.6M from attrition-related salary savings and additional FTE funding shifts). - Debt/refunding and maintenance tax notes: Camber recommended refunding callable bonds (~$160M) to realize an estimated $10M debt-service savings and issuing up to $65M in maintenance tax notes to fund prioritized deferred maintenance, with reimbursement language to allow recent repairs to be repaid from that issuance. - If pursued, a voter-approved tax ratification (VADER) election on the November ballot could generate roughly $5.5M to $6M in recurring revenue, though Camber warned it would not fully solve structural problems.
Board reaction and next steps: Multiple trustees pressed for more transparency and granular data before adopting the budget. Trustee Hernandez called for postponing the vote to allow public notice and a separate hearing on consolidation proposals; other trustees asked for campus-level operational cost breakdowns, staff counts by campus, and independent engineering documentation for flagged fields. Camber and staff committed to provide the requested campus operational and staffing reports and said a third-party engineering assessment of Isleta High School's turf and underlying drainage exists and will be shared.
Timing: Camber said the board would be asked to approve a reimbursement resolution on Wednesday, an August action to authorize refunding and maintenance tax notes, and a possible November election if the board opts in. She also said the district will continue monthly cash-flow monitoring and will seek competitive debt-market timing to lower interest costs.
Ending: Camber and the superintendent emphasized contingency planning: the district must choose a path combining operational adjustments, one-time proceeds, and debt options while monitoring legislative developments and sales outcomes before next school year.
