BISD approves budget

The BISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a $493.1 million budget for the 2009-2010 school year that includes a $686 pay raise for teachers, 4 percent for classified personnel and 2 percent for administrators.

The budget amounts to a 3.4 percent increase above the Brownsville Independent School District's current budget of $476.6 million, budget administrator Tony Fuller said.

It also represents an improvement for employees. Last week BISD administrators had recommended only the $686 pay raise for teachers and no increases for other employees. Fuller said Tuesday that he was able to adjust the costs for opening three new schools to allow BISD to give the raises without increasing the budget.

Teachers could end up getting a $1,790 raise. The figure is based on H.B. 3646, the school finance measure recently passed by the Texas Legislature, which uses federal economic stimulus funds to finance teacher pay raises. Texas has asked for but not yet received permission to use the economic stimulus funds.

H.B. 3646 requires BISD to award teacher pay raises of $60 per Weighted Average Daily Attendance, which totals $4.2 million and works out to about $1,104 per teacher, Fuller said. In addition, it requires BISD to award step increases to teachers based on the district's hiring schedule. That works out to $2.8 million, or $686 per teacher in most cases, for a total raise of $1,790.

If the federal government grants Texas permission to use stimulus funds to balance its budget, BISD would be required to grant the teacher pay raises mandated by H.B. 3646. The change could be accomplished by budget amendment, Fuller said.

Tuesday night, the board approved a 2009-2010 Employee Compensation Plan that includes the $686 step, or cost of living, increase for teachers, a 4 percent midpoint raise for classified personnel and a 2 percent midpoint raise for administrators. If the $1,104 teacher raise tied to federal stimulus funds is ultimately approved, it would be added to the compensation plan later, Fuller said.

The budget is based on the current effective tax rate of 1.091 per $100 of assessed valuation for maintenance and operation and .0732 per $100 for debt service. Fuller said the rates would be set again in September, after BISD receives certified values from the Cameron County Appraisal District. Because the district's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30, BISD must adopt a budget and then wait until it receives certified values from the appraisal district to adopt a final effective tax rate.

BISD has not raised taxes for six years, Fuller said during the meeting.

The budget requires BISD to spend $10.2 million in general maintenance balances, a fact that prompted a discussion of ways the district can trim expenses and more effectively deploy its resources. Among numerous examples it was pointed out that leaving printers turned off at night across the district could save $100,000 annually.