On Monday night, the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees approved its budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The new House Bill 3 that was signed into law on June 11, 2019 will impact school finance across the State.
How much did GCISD receive from the new school finance law?
The District is still awaiting final guidance from the Texas Education Agency regarding additional funding. Based on the District’s preliminary estimates, GCISD is projected to receive $3.1 million in additional funding.
How did GCISD pass a budget when it doesn’t know the funding it will receive as a result of HB 3?
GCISD’s fiscal year is July 1 - June 30. In order to be able to continue with operations in July, the District must develop and pass a budget for 2019-2020. The budget was developed using recent estimates of funding as a result of House Bill 3. As GCISD receives additional guidance from the Texas Education Agency regarding funding, it will make budget amendments as necessary. Those amendments will be action items on future Board of Trustees meeting agendas.
How much of a pay increase will teachers receive?
In HB3, Districts are required to spend 30% of the additional funding on pay raises for employees. Of that amount, 75% must be an increase in pay for teachers, nurses, librarians, and counselors. In GCISD, this would require the District to spend approximately $936,000 on raises for all staff, with $702,000 designated for teachers, nurses, librarians, and counselors. That would amount to a minimum raise for teachers, nurses, librarians, and counselors of $662.
GCISD administrators and Trustees have chosen to greatly exceed those requirements and use more than 100% of the total increase in funding for a pay raise for staff. Of the $3.1 million funding increase the District is receiving from the state because of House Bill 3, $3.4 million will go toward employee salary increases. For teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians, this will amount to at least a 3% increase. Teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians who have 1-5 years’ experience will receive a $2,000 increase in their annual salaries. Teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians who have 6 years of experience or more will receive at least $2,500 increase in their annual salaries. All other staff will receive a 2% increase from the midpoint.
What will the property tax rate be for the upcoming year?
The Board of Trustees sets the tax rate each September. House Bill 3 lowers the maintenance & operations tax rate from $1.04 to $0.97 per $100 property valuation. The debt service tax rate will remain $0.3567. This would represent a 7-cent decrease in the overall tax rate as compared to the previous year.
How much will the state take away from GCISD through Robin Hood?
The Legislative Budget Board projects that GCISD’s Robin Hood payment will decrease from a projected $63.6 million to approximately $49.2 million as a result of the new school finance law. This money is not additional revenue for GCISD. As in previous years, all Robin Hood funding is sent to the State of Texas.