HOUSTON - May 16, 2012 - The Spring ISD Board of Trustees approved a $330,653,219 total budget on May 8 for the coming 2012-13 school year that is expected to maintain the same tax rate as last year and includes a one-percent raise and one-time, $750 retention supplement for all staff members.

During a public hearing at the May board meeting regarding the budget, Christine Porter, Spring ISD associate superintendent for financial services, talked about the budgeting process that began in the fall of 2011 with the district in a very different position than last year.

“We are actually in a position of receiving more funds for 2012-13 than we did for 11-12, however, we are still receiving less than we would have if the state had maintained the old funding formula,” Porter said. “We were able to focus on what we could keep this year.”

The one-percent raise and retention supplement represents an average three-percent increase for employees who have gone without a cost-of-living raise for the last two school years. In addition, the new budget will allow the district to retain the staff and maintain the stipends that were funded last year by the federal EduJobs Bill. The proposed budget also includes cost associated with additional staff and expenditures that would be needed to support a projected enrollment increase of approximately 500 students.

Following the public hearing, which allowed community members the opportunity to address the board regarding the proposed 2012-13 budgets, the board approved the budgets in the amounts of $256,975,904 for the General Fund, $22,033,000 for Child Nutrition Fund, and $51,644,315 for Debt Service Fund for a total of $330,653,219.

The operating budget supports the district’s five-year strategic plan and is estimated to require a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) tax of $1.04 which is the same as last year. The interest and sinking (I&S) budget of $51,644,315, which is used to pay the debt service requirements on outstanding bonds, is expected to require a tax rate of 53 cents, which is also the same as last year. To maintain the 53-cent I&S tax rate, the district plans to use state aid from the Chapter 46 Existing Debt Allotment.

A combination of the M&O and I&S tax rates brings the districts’ total tax rate to $1.57 per $100 valuation, the same rate as last year. Board action on the tax rate will be taken in September after the district receives certified tax rolls from the Harris County Appraisal District.