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2004-2005 Budget
Highlights A beginning Bachelors degree teaching salary of $36,100.00 which is an increase of $1,000.00 over the previous year. Currently employed teachers received a $1200.00 annual increase in salary. A 3% overall general pay increase was granted for all other employees The proposed maintenance and operations tax rate for the 2004-2005 fiscal year will be $1.50 per $100.00 of taxable value. The maintenance and operations tax rate for the 2003-2004 fiscal year was $1.50 per $100.00 of taxable value. The maintenance and operations tax levy is used to pay the basic operations of the school district. Such things as personnel costs to include benefits, utilities, insurance, supplies, fuel and security are supported by the maintenance and operations tax levy. The proposed interest and sinking tax rate for the 2004-2005 fiscal year will be $.28 per $100.00 of taxable value. The interest and sinking tax rate for fiscal 2003-2004 was $.18 per $100.00 of taxable value. The interest and sinking tax rate was increased as a result of the successful bond issue election on February 7, 2004. The voters of the Waller ISD approved a $18,950,000.00 bond issue to make improvements to existing academic buildings throughout the district and to make major additions to Waller High School. Said additions include the addition of an academic wing, a fine arts addition, the construction of an auditorium, athletic additions and renovations and many other enhancements of Waller High School. The taxes levied by the interest and sinking tax levy are dedicated by law to the payment of voter approved debt. The projected tax collection rate for current year taxes only is set at 93%. This collection rate is consistent with the past two fiscal years. The major revenue sources for the Waller ISD are local taxes as described above and state foundation aid. The revenue Waller ISD receives from the State of Texas in the form of state foundation aid and per capita is directly correlated to student enrollment and attendance. One of the basis for receiving state aid is commonly referred to as refined average daily attendance. This factor is arrived at on a daily basis number the number of students enrolled influenced by the number of students who actually are in attendance on given school day. The State of Texas funds all public school districts in essentially the same manner. The refined average daily attendance (ADA) for the 2004-2005 fiscal year is projected to 4667.732. This factor is presuming an increase over the previous fiscal year of 3%. The 2003-2004 fiscal year showed an increase of 3.56% from the year 2002-2003. A 1% increase or decrease in refined ADA equates to approximately $140,000.00 in state aid. The projected current year general operating fund appropriations as presented are $29,801,554.00. The projected general operating fund revenues as presented are $29,343,951.00 The appropriations exceed the projected revenues by $457,603.00. This is commonly referred to as a current year deficit. Current year deficits normally are made up by the use of fund balance. A school district's fund balance is accumulated when a district's revenues exceed it's appropriations. The projected end of year fund balance for fiscal year 2003-2004 is $3,750,000.00. The Texas Education Agency recommends that all school districts maintain a unencumbered fund balance that is approximately three months operating costs or twenty-five percent of the total general operating fund budget. If this recommended amount were applied to the fiscal year 2004-2005 appropriations budget the unencumbered fund balance would be $7,450,000.00. The projected interest and sinking fund appropriations as presented as $4,863,422,.00. The projected interest and sinking fund estimated revenues as presented as $4,895,341.00. The estimated revenues exceed the appropriations by $31,919.00. This is referred to as a current year surplus. The general operating fund budget includes a line item for the purchase of eight new school buses in the amount of $375,000.00. This procurement is contingent upon the approval of a federal grant being administered through the Houston Galveston Area Council whereby the Waller ISD will provided matching funds and the federal grant will support the procurement to the 40%-45% level. If the federal funding does not materialize then the procurement of the eight school buses will have to either be re-evaluated or reallocated. Contained with the Waller Independent School District are two residential subdivisions called Deerwood Lakes and Deerwood East. Over the last twenty years the Waller ISD has acquired the ownership of 1072 lots through tax foreclosures. Late in fiscal year 2004 a potential purchase of said property was approved by both the Waller ISD Board of Trustees and the Waller County Commissioners Court. The amount applicable to Waller ISD was approximately $306,000.00. The amount when finalized will be distributed into the general operating fund (240,000.00) and into the interest and sinking fund ($66,000.00). These amounts are included in the 2004-2005 estimated revenue for both funds. The market value of the average homestead in the Waller Independent School District in 2004 according to records provided by the Waller County Appraisal District was $97,617.00. This is an increase of $5,734.00 per homestead or 6.42% over the previous year. The market value of the average homestead in 2003 was $91,883.00. The calculated rollback tax rate for the Waller ISD as dictated by the Comptroller of Public Accounts' Truth in Taxation legislation was calculated at $1.9411 per $100.00 of taxable value. The actual combined tax rate being proposed by the Waller ISD is $1.78 per $100.00 of taxable value. In the 2003-2004 fiscal year, Waller ISD spent $300,490.00 on short term debt service in the general operating fund budget. In the 2004-2005 fiscal year, the proposed appropriation for short term in the general operating fund budget is $0.00. The 2004-2005 Waller ISD general operating fund budget as proposed would devote $24,514,915.00 to payroll related costs. This amount equates to 82% of the total budget. The amount devoted to payroll in the 2003-2004 general operating budget was $24,106,000.00 This represents and increase of $408,915.00 or a 1.7% increase. Waller ISD has initiated a plan to consolidate positions where appropriate and not replacing personnel in certain areas when the effect on the instructional process is minimal. Waller ISD has adopted a policy of charging tuition for nonresident students who wish to attend school in the district. This charge is based upon the amount that local taxpayers pay on a per student basis for the financial support of the district. For the 2004-2005 fiscal year this charge calculates to $3595.00 per student per year. Each year taxing entities in the State of Texas are required to prepare and publish notices to the public that show the tax rates that can be adopted and how the entity arrived at the various rates. The purpose of these notices is to limit the growth in spending by public taxing authorities and to provide a mechanism for the general public to either approve or disapprove a tax levy that will exceed a proscribed amount. Public school districts in Texas fall under these statutes which are commonly referred to "Truth in Taxation" laws. These laws require all school districts to calculate and publish a notice that compares the past year's tax rate to the proposed rate for the current year. This notice also sets forth the amount of local and state revenue on a per student basis that will be provided for the support of that particular school district. For the 2004-2005 fiscal year the calculated amount for the Waller ISD is $3,461.00 per student of local revenue and $3,338.00 per student of state revenue. The rate to maintain the same level of revenue would have been $4,030.00 per student of local revenue and $3,383.00 per student of state revenue. By comparison the amount of local revenue per student for the 2003-2004 fiscal year was $3,480.00 and the amount of state revenue per student for 2003-2004 was $3,717.00. |
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