A theme in Garland ISD School Board meetings has been the discussion of what happens with state funding as local appraised property values increase.

Both Chief Financial Officer Brent Ringo and Executive Director of Budget Brandy Mayo said staff expects state funding to decrease during the budget workshop meeting held Tuesday, May 24.

Ringo and Mayo said increased local appraisal values, which leads to more tax revenue collected, lead to an equal decrease in state funding dollars for the district.

There is no money added in school funding without raising tax rates or increasing the average daily attendance, said Ringo. Increasing the overall tax rate allows the district to access more funding in the form of “golden and copper pennies,” which can be redeemed for additional state funding.

For the district’s base maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate of $0.93 per $100 of assessed value, the first eight cents over that amount, up to $1.01 are considered “golden pennies” and are not subject to recapture from the state. Districts can access up to nine more “copper pennies” but dollars gained from them are subject to recapture.

Ringo said there is a scenario for growth in the district’s average daily attendance but the state has not given GISD a clear indication of its final average daily attendance for the current school year.

Mayo presented the projected budget, which will go before trustees for approval during the next regular meeting June 28.

Currently, campuses and departments across the district are operating on an overall reduction of 12% their normal operating costs, said Mayo. Next year’s budget is estimating all campuses and departments to be close to fully operational during the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2022 until June 30, 2023.

For the full story, see the June 9 issue of The Sachse News.