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Midland ISD board adopts balanced 2026–27 budget after public hearing; trustees approve transfers to address insurance and capital needs
Summary
After a public hearing and questions about recapture and attendance assumptions, the Midland ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a balanced 2026–27 budget and authorized transfers totaling up to $9.69 million to manage medical-plan shortfalls and capital timing.
The Midland Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved the district's 2026'27 budget on Tuesday after a public hearing and a detailed presentation on revenue assumptions, recapture estimates and planned transfers.
Mr. Durham, the district's finance presenter, told the board the administration is bringing a balanced recommendation for the general, child nutrition and debt service funds, noting four key drivers: certified property values, recapture obligations, state aid and attendance/ADA estimates. The district is budgeting on an ADA projection of 25,899 students and a 92.5% attendance rate for 2026'27, Durham said.
Durham estimated recapture obligations (the amount the district must send to the state) in the range of roughly $84 million to $87 million based on current trends and explained that certain refunding actions could yield approximately $2 million in state hold‑harmless monies. He also recommended transferring $3 million from the general fund to the district's self‑funded medical plan to cover higher claim costs this year.
Board members pressed staff for clarifications on homestead exemptions and how those local exemptions affect recapture calculations, the relatively small $55 increase in the state basic allotment and whether I&S (interest and sinking) funds are legally limited to bond‑related expenditures; Durham and staff provided the requested explanations.
The board later approved two procedural budget items tied to the 2025'26 fiscal year. Trustees voted unanimously to adopt a final 2025'26 budget amendment that reflects updated revenue and expenditure projections and to commit fund balance movements that will transfer up to $9.69 million from the general fund into the local capital projects fund. The administration said roughly $3.69 million of that transfer is timing related (projects obligated but not spent by June 30), and up to $6 million is being moved to have available local capital funding for future board‑approved needs.
Board policy and staff emphasized that moving the dollars into a capital fund does not authorize spending; any use of those funds will return to the board for approval. The motions to adopt the 2026'27 budget, approve the 2025'26 final budget amendment and commit the fund balance carried unanimously.
