Waco ISD finance chief warns of enrollment decline, funding squeeze and legislative uncertainty

Cheryl Davis presented a budget update showing the district27s revenues and expenditures and a near-term financial squeeze driven by property-value adjustments, declining enrollment and legislative uncertainty. She told trustees that last year27s revenues were about $160 million and expenditures about $160.7 million, with a post-adjustment deficit in the prior-year close of roughly $697,000; after accounting moves (notably use of ESSER carryover), the district27s fund balance was reported at 32.9 percent of expenditures. "If we had not been able to move all those expenditures to the ESSER funds, we would have actually been down about 1.3% instead of up 1.3%," Davis said.

Davis warned of persistent risks: enrollment has fallen (decline of roughly 10.6% over five years), average daily attendance has declined 13.4%, and recent property-value adjustments may reduce maintenance-and-operations tax collections by an estimated $3.8 million. She reviewed one-time accounting moves (journal entries to preserve ESSER funds) and operational items (buses received, roofing repairs underway) and cautioned that potential state changes — including homestead-exemption increases and compression — could further depress local revenue. Trustees discussed teacher pay, transportation funding and possible targeted investments to boost attendance; Davis estimated that a House bill increase in the basic allotment could generate roughly $4.5 million for Waco ISD under one projection but noted that negotiated legislative outcomes remain uncertain.