Marble Falls ISD school officials offered a sneak peak at budget plans for the upcoming school year, adding lower enrollment projections have prompted concerns about future teacher raises.
Chief Financial Of- ficer Bill Orr detailed his findings, along with Superintendent Jeff Gasaway, during the April 20 regular school board meeting.
The average daily attendance (ADA) now hovers below 4,000 students with anticipated number to be about 3,950 students.
“We’re going to assume we’re not going to see an increase in ADA (average daily attendance) next year,” Orr told trustees. “That’s what we’re basing the budget on.” ADA is a critical funding component for Texas school districts. As a result, the local district is anticipat- ing a potential "deficit." Other fiscal year 2026-27 budget factors include state mandated teacher retention al- lotments; no changes in health insurance contributions; and no change in supply budgets.
The district used ES -
SER (Elementary and Secondary School Emer gency Relief) funds for a number of raises last year. Orr explained that during the 88th Legislature in 2023, lawmakers passed funding bills, totaling about $4 billion dollars, left unsigned by the governor.
The following state legislative session (89th Legislature in 2025), lawmakers passed $8 billion in education funding. However, legislation did not address the district paying benefits, he add ed, contending the district needed to find funds for those expenditures.
Pay Scale
District officials also navigate complex protocols for raises. The teacher pay scale and raises re- flect a tiered system based on years worked. For ex- ample, a five-year teacher received two raises over the last two school years - $4,000 per year each year; a three-year teacher received $2,000 each year for two years.
In essence, five-year teachers received a 16% raise over a two-year period, Gasaway added. Therefore, without additional funding, future raises remain in limbo.
"Because our enroll - ment is flat, because of the way the state gives us our funds and because of how convoluted the release of those funds were, just basically given all the money, and you have to pour it all into salaries,” Gasaway told the board. “This is how you’re building the budget for the 26/27 school year. These are our assumptions.”
In calculating average daily attendance (ADA), adding about 70 students to the estimated enrollment would total about $450,000, officials said.
“We’d be able to use that for salary increases,” Orr said. A 1% raise for educators costs the district $330,000.
On the other hand, a 3% increase in the property tax base (hike in appraisals) would translate into $150,000 for the district. Appraisals will not be ratified until protests (deadline May 15) are complete.
Despite concerns, the officials calculated about 15-20 teachers will be getting raises in the upcoming year. Those who will not see raises are five-year teachers who received raises in the past two years; Every teacher for the past two school years received a minimum of a $2,000 raise per year. Teachers working with the district three and four years received $4,000 per year raises; those working five years and longer received $8,000 raises per year over two years.
Gasaway reiterated that school districts receive additional funding in two ways - with increase in enrollment and money from the state.
“We’re in a non-legislative year, so we’re not going to get any new money from the state this year,” Gasaway said.
VATRE Vote Board President Kevin Nauman asked: “Is there something we can do to get a raise for the staff?”
“The only option available to us would be a VATRE (voter approved tax rate election) to allow us to increase the tax rate. (However) If we have an increase in our property values, the state will take the majority of that in recapture,” Orr explained. “We do get to keep the 'golden pennies' (VATRE
approved funds).” A VA- TRE is a special election called by a school district to ask the voters to increase the tax rate for the maintenance and operations (M&O) side of the rate, which funds salaries as well as the day-to-day operations of the district.
If approved, the district keeps the so-called “golden pennies” or the amount of voter-approved tax increase.
On the other hand, relying on property tax appraisals to increase, the state takes a portion for recapture to redistribute funds for property poor school districts, Orr continued.
On the other hand, "If we do a VATRE, we would get 8 cents is what we would recommend the VATRE go to because we
can’t share those funds with the state,” Orr added.
Gasaway calculated with a voter-approved
VATRE, the district could generate $2 million.
Deficit Budget
The district may con- sider adopting a "deficit budget” to be approved in
June, he said. The school board then could vote on ratification of the tax rate election in August.
School officials would get a VATRE on the No vember ballot.
Another option involves the board voting to raise the tax rate above the voter-approved rate, triggering an election for voters to decide on the hike.
Fund Balance
Other budget assumptions include a $5 million drop in fund balance, factoring in recapture.
Gasaway emphasized, “The fund balance is healthy and can absorb us making this move.”
Officials also recom mended a Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 budget calendar, as opposed to a year-end budget June 31.
Such a move would assist in planning with known variables like property values and bi-annual legislative sessions.
Switching to the new calendar would result in what appears to be a $6 million decrease in fund balance but only as an “accounting change,” Orr explained. The newly approved budget schedule would decrease funding “uncertainty” associated with an off legislative year.
Alex Payson asked about the current fund balance and what it would be at the end of the 14-month calendar with the switch to the new budget schedule.
With the fund balance figure pending, Orr ex plained revenue for hail damage to be spent this year artificially inflated the fund balance. Storm damage expenditures decreased the fund balance by about $2.7 million. Gasaway said the operating fund balance is a million less that the previous year.
Revenue in the new 14-month calendar are projected at about $59 million and expenditures are projected at about $65 million; whereas in the 12-month calendar revenues show about $57 million with expenditures projected to be about $58 million.
