KISD Trustees Adopt Budget, Tax Rate

Killeen ISD is heading into the 2024-2025 fiscal year with a $546 million budget, which includes no cuts in positions, a pay raise for all employees and 21 more police officers than the district had a year ago. 
 
The board on Tuesday adopted the budget, which includes an intentional 2.8% deficit of $4 million in the general fund and $13 million in the school nutrition fund – money which will be recouped from the state compensatory education fund balance and school nutrition fund balance, respectively. To utilize fund balances, a district must first spend more than it receives in revenues. 
 
“We’re really in a good spot, especially compared to other districts across Texas,” Superintendent Jo Ann Fey said. “This was a true team effort to get to this point, and I appreciate the leadership shown by our board. Their work to set district goals and priorities helps serve as a North star as we decide how to allocate our finite resources.” 
 
When budget conversations began with trustees in early March, projections indicated the district was short $16.9 million. Since then, administrators have found ways to cut, reallocate and move funds to land at the now-approved budget. 
 
Chief Financial Officer Kallen Vaden credits three big actions the district took to reduce the projected shortfall. First, the district was able to strategically utilize additional federal funding because all KISD schools recently became classified as Title 1 campuses. Fey also instructed district administration departments to cut their budgets by 20%, resulting in cost-savings of $1 million. Finally, the district tapped into the strategic facilities fund – utilized by past boards to cash flow building schools – to pay for building maintenance and repairs.  
 
Trustees also approved a tax rate of $0.8758, consisting of $0.6682 for maintenance and operations and $0.2076 for the payment of principal and interest on bonds. The rate results in an increase of $189 for homeowners with an average taxable value homestead in the district. Of the increase, $34 is from the tax rate change and $155 is from the increased home values determined by the Bell County Tax Appraisal District. 
 
The budget also includes changing the estimated property tax revenue collection rate from 98% to 99% and an increase in interest revenue. This higher estimate, however, does not equate to an increase in money for the district.  
 
“When tax revenue goes up a school district’s state aid goes down, almost proportionately,” Vaden said. “The school district receives the same revenue per student regardless of the mix of state and local revenue that make up the total.” 
 
In July, the board approved a 4% general pay increase for non-exempt employees, including paraprofessionals and auxiliary staff such as custodians, bus drivers and school nutrition staff. Exempt employees, such as teachers and other professional staff, received a 3% increase. The starting salary of a beginning teacher was raised to $58,000. 
 
“I’m proud that we were able to find ways to scale back while also providing pay increases for our employees. They are some of the most dedicated educators I have ever seen,” Fey said. “Our budget concerns are not over, and we will continue to engage our board and community in conversations as we look to right-size the district to match our current enrollment and prepare for the real possibility of losing federal Impact Aid dollars in the future.”