SISD sets budget

The Spring ISD board of trustees has approved a $377 million budget, which will include a slight salary increase for starting teachers and a 1 percent increase for all staff.

The Spring ISD board of trustees has unanimously approved its fiscal year 2016-17 budget, which will include a slight salary increase for starting teachers and a 1 percent increase for all staff.

The $377 million operating budget, which includes $299.1 million in the general fund, $51.8 million in the debt service fund and $26 million in the child nutrition fund, will be supported by a proposed property tax rate of $1.47 per $100 valuation, which is the existing tax rate. Last year’s budget was $378 million.

“This is a balanced budget… which anticipates no change in our fund balance,” said Spring ISD Finance Director Ann Westbrooks.

The budget also includes a 1 percent cost of living raise for all staff, an increase in starting teacher pay to $51,760 from $51,500 last year, funding expanded career and technical education electives, and funding for state mandated foreign language requirements that students will now have to meet in order to graduate.

The district was looking at passing a deficit budget this year, and was forced to make significant changes during several round of budget workshops. Although the district did not cut programs, it did tighten allocations in some areas and removed some one-time expenditures that occurred during the 2015-16 budget year, such as improvements to infrastructure technology, and adjusted staffing based on current staffing guidelines to align with student enrollment.

While the budget is balanced right now, there could still be issues ahead with Exxon Mobil, which was added to the district’s tax rolls in 2014, amounting to a 20 percent increase in property tax values in Spring ISD.

Exxon Mobil is the district’s biggest taxpaying entity, which is in litigation with the Harris County Appraisal District over the $1.04 billion value placed on its sprawling new office complex in Spring, just south of The Woodlands. The company paid nearly $40 million in 2015 taxes for the property west of Interstate 45 at the Hardy Toll Road, although it continues to dispute the amount. Earlier this year, Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross told the Houston Chronicle the company had paid all of its 2015 property taxes, which included $8.8 million to Harris County, $15.3 million to the Spring Independent School District and $15.6 million to Harris County Improvement District No. 18.

The 2016 budget goes into effect on July 1.