Before detailing a single revenue or expenditure, Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria promised the Fort Worth ISD school board she had good news.
The preliminary 2024-25 school year general fund budget is balanced, she told trustees.
The CFO presented an early version of the budget during a May 14 workshop meeting. If the numbers hold and the budget is approved, this would be the first time in at least seven years that the school board adopts a balanced general fund budget, according to district officials.
“This is a milestone,” board President Camille Rodriguez said.
Estimated revenue and spending for the next school year are the same: $822,955,561.
A balanced budget has been a goal for the district for the past two years. The CFO has emphasized that the process of balancing the books would take just as long.
“The way that we developed our budget, the first and foremost objective was a balanced budget,” Arrieta-Candelaria said.
Trustees are scheduled to consider adopting the next budget June 11.
Achieving a balanced budget was not simple, the CFO said.
The district slashed about $37.5 million in expenditures between the projected 2023-24 budget and next year’s proposal.
What are the district’s other budget challenges?
Although the preliminary budget is balanced, administrators told the school board Fort Worth ISD still faces challenges, including:
- Sending more money to the state under the recapture law. Estimates show Fort Worth ISD sending more than $8.3 million to the state. During the 2023-24 school year, the district sent almost $4.9 million.
- Dealing with the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds.
- Increasing teacher retirement premiums.
- Meeting the state’s mandated safety and security requirements.
- Major one-time purchases, such as construction projects, textbooks, equipment replacement and technology needs.
Administrators reduced the number of staff, mirroring the district’s enrollment decline. The district built the 2024-25 budget on an enrollment of 69,727 — a loss of 948 students.
In February, the school board approved cutting 112 employees whose positions were funded by federal pandemic relief funds; the dollars expire in September. The district saved more than $9.4 million through the layoffs, according to documents obtained through an open records request.
Officials also reviewed vacancies to cut unnecessary jobs.
The closure of Wedgwood Sixth Center also helped administrators eliminate some duplicative positions.
The 2023-24 school year budget is projected to end with a $42.7 million deficit. Administrators plan to cover the shortfall with the district’s nearly $401.8 million in reserves.
Reserves are projected to be at $358.9 million at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Although the CFO presented a balanced budget, she emphasized the numbers can shift throughout the budget adoption process — and after.
“This is a preliminary budget. As enrollments change and needs arise, then we come back to the board and ask for additional adjustments along the way,” Arrieta-Candelaria said.
What about the property tax rate?
Fort Worth ISD estimates the property tax rate will remain at the same level for the 2024-25 school year. Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria emphasized the numbers are estimates and could change before the school board formally adopts a tax rate in August.
Two smaller rates form the overall tax:
- The maintenance-and-operations rate funds the district’s daily business.
- The debt service rate is dedicated to paying off debt, such as voter-approved bond packages.
The estimated total rate is $1.0624 per $100 of valuation.
The maintenance-and-operations rate is 78.69 cents.
The debt service rate is 27.55 cents.
Jacob Sanchez is an enterprise journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
