The budget for the Fiscal Year 2027 for Tioga ISD will closely resemble last year's budget.
Superintendent Josh Ballinger explained that the district is budgeting to again end with a surplus in an attempt to further pay down the debt accrued years ago.
'This will be the fourth year now, having to end as close to a million-dollar surplus as we can,' he said. 'That has to include our general operating be somewhere in that $800,000 range in order to cross that million mark with debt service included.'
The revenues show about $10.8 million with the expenses coming in around $10 million for the general fund.
'We would love to take that nearly million dollars that we're adopting a budget in the surplus and add it back to staff, add it back to programs, add it back to facilities,' Ballinger said. 'We're just not in that position right now.'
Included in the new budget is a line item again for a new bus and a new van to continue to update the district's fleet of vehicles, as was done in the FY26 budget.
'That has been a blessing all the way around, so we can afford that based on the budget that we'll ask you to approve in just a minute,' Ballinger said.
Based on the information available so far from Grayson County, the values for the local property tax contribution went down.
The district will be keeping its tax rate the same at $1.2269 per $100 valuation for 'the third year in a row,' Ballinger said.
'Through lower values, not necessarily through a lower tax rate, taxes will be cheaper this year,' Ballinger said. 'Plus, for the most part, the community is getting that $140,000 homestead exemption that was still all up in the air this time last year.'
Ballinger worked with TEA Conservator Dr. Karen Wiesman to develop the budget, which was built factoring in an average daily attendance of 600.
'We're going to keep somewhat similar of a budget and be hopeful that our attendance maintains itself and even grow a little bit,' Ballinger said.
Food service costs will be a topic of conversation at the July school board meeting, Ballinger said, to close the gap on revenues versus expenditures for that category.
'Hate that for our families, because a lot of our neighboring districts are able to feed for free, but we don't have that option,' he said.
Special education instruction will cost more for the upcoming fiscal year.
'That's going to take another jump,' Ballinger said. 'Our population's up a little bit. We pay into the co-op. That amount that you see there last year was just under [$392,000] and we anticipated about [$411,000] this year.'
Also approved at the meeting was the district compensation plan with a caveat carved out that stipends would be looked at separately at a later meeting as well as updates to the district improvement plan in the form of law enforcement duties and the dating violence policy.
The trustees also approved the hiring of four new staff members— dyslexia specialist and teacher Janet Gaston, teacher and girls basketball coach Toni Leverett, teacher and coach Chris Stephens, and band director Dustin Nguyen.
At the start of the meeting, the school board also recognized the efforts and acheivements of the students in theater performance, theater design and academic UIL.
'One of the things I love about this district is how much we compete in literally everything we do,' President Dallas Slay said. 'We don't just show up, and that's a testament to you, Mrs. Hertel, you, Mrs. Crowe, and everyone else. I love constantly seeing us excelling.'
