CCISD approves budget, calls Nov. 3 tax rate election

Calhoun County Independent School District voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve three additional pennies on the district's maintenance and operations tax rate after trustees unanimously called a voter-approval tax rate election during their Aug. 17 meeting.

The CCISD Board of Trustees also unanimously adopted the district's 2026-27 budget and approved its tax rate. Trustees Cynthia Alford and Michael Williams were absent.

The VATRE would allow CCISD to add three voter-approved pennies to the maintenance and operations, or M&O, portion of its 2026-27 tax rate. The M&O rate funds district operations, including salaries, utilities and supplies.

CCISD Chief Financial Officer Robin Martinez said state-mandated tax-rate compression lowered the district's base M&O rate before the additional voter-approved pennies were added.

"The state wants no new revenue. That means they don't want any tax increase to create new revenue for school districts, so you have to level out your tax rate to their compressed rate," Martinez said. "Then you can add five enrichment pennies, which is allowed by the state, and then any additional tax above that would create a VATRE."

The district's maximum compressed M&O rate - the state-determined base used in calculating the district's tax rate - would decrease from $0.6322 per $100 of taxable value in 2025-26 to $0.6254 in 2026-27. However, CCISD's total M&O rate would increase because the proposed rate includes three additional pennies subject to voter approval. The district's M&O rate would rise from $0.6822 in 2025-26 to $0.7054 if voters approve the VATRE.

At the same time, the district's interest and sinking, or I&S, tax rate would decrease from $0.0879 to $0.0671. The I&S rate is used to make payments on voter-approved debt.

The combined tax rate would increase from $0.7701 per $100 of taxable value in 2025-26 to $0.7725 in 2026-27 if voters approve the VATRE. The difference is $0.0024 per $100 of taxable value, or 0.24 of a cent on the tax rate.

The effect on an individual property owner's tax bill would depend on the property's taxable value and applicable exemptions.

The General Fund budget adopted Aug. 17 projects $41,834,428 in revenue and $46,521,424 in expenditures, leaving a projected deficit of $4,686,996.

In response to questions from the Wave, Martinez confirmed the adopted revenue budget does not include revenue the district would receive if voters approve the VATRE. The district's budget worksheet also identifies current-year tax revenue as excluding proposed VATRE collections.

District records provided to the Wave show the three additional pennies are projected to increase M&O tax collections by approximately $1.39 million, increase state aid by approximately $262,895 and slightly reduce projected recapture. The district's school-finance analysis puts the total increase in net state and local M&O revenue at approximately $1.68 million.

Based on the adopted budget and the district's VATRE funding analysis, that additional revenue would reduce the projected $4.69 million General Fund deficit to approximately $3.01 million if other revenue and expenditures remained unchanged. The $3.01 million figure is a Wave calculation using the district's records; the district did not provide a separate budget projecting the deficit under a successful VATRE.

Martinez told trustees during the Aug. 17 meeting that the district had cut more than $2.3 million in salaries from the 2026-27 budget.

"We did cut the budget in salaries of over $2.3 million in salaries this year out of this budget," Martinez said.

Records later provided by the district show the $2.31 million figure represents reductions in salaries and payroll-related costs, rather than salaries and wages alone. The district's calculation identifies approximately $2.01 million in salary reductions and $306,705 in benefits or other payroll-related costs, for a total of $2,313,082.

The district's adjustment sheet attributes portions of that reduction to cutting open administrative, teacher, clerical, maintenance and transportation positions; teacher attrition as current employees moved into vacancies; hiring and pay-rate changes; and positions budgeted in 2025-26 as federally funded. The records do not characterize the full $2.31 million as layoffs.

The district's year-to-year budget comparison also shows reductions in several functions, including approximately $1.53 million in instruction, $424,000 in general administration, $358,000 in cocurricular and extracurricular activities and $199,000 in transportation.

Overall General Fund expenditures decreased from approximately $47.54 million in the adopted 2025-26 budget to $46.52 million in 2026-27, a reduction of approximately $1.01 million.

The 2026-27 budget also includes approximately $1 million for contracted instructional services between schools. During the meeting, Martinez identified that expense as recapture - money the district expects to send to the state. The previous year's adopted budget did not include an expenditure in that category.

"That's part of why the deficit line is like it is," Martinez said. "We're back into recapture of a million dollars, which this year we had zero recapture."

General Fund revenue is projected at approximately $41.83 million for 2026-27, compared with approximately $43.59 million budgeted for 2025-26, a decrease of approximately $1.76 million.

Martinez said adopted budgets are projections and actual year-end results can differ.

"Once again, it's a budget. It's not what you're actually in," Martinez said. "In the past, we passed - like year before last, the deficit was 6.8, and we came in at 2.9."

She said the budget includes estimates for vacancies, fuel, electricity, salaries and other expenses, while unexpected expenses can also affect the final result.

"This is a budget, not your actuals," Martinez said. "Your actuals really show what your deficit is going to be."

Three residents addressed trustees about the budget and proposed tax rate.

"I've lost faith in this district," Port O'Connor parent Melissa Gee said. "I want to know where the money went that we were supposed to save. I hope y'all have an answer because it's not here."

Port Alto resident Cindy Krause said she opposed the proposed tax increase and questioned whether enough had been cut from the budget.

"I just want to go on record to say that the budget's not cut enough, and without it being cut enough, I will be opposing any voter increase of taxes," Krause said.

Brandy Boriskie also questioned the district's spending and the decision to seek voter approval for the additional tax rate.

"If this administration cannot deliver us a balanced budget, you know, why should taxpayers continue to be providing more money?" Boriskie said. "Show us where the meaningful spending has been reduced."

Texas law requires school districts to publish notice and hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed budget and proposed tax rate as part of the budget adoption process.

The district conducted its public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate at 6 p.m. The district's separate Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate listed the hearing for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17.

The 5:30 p.m. time appeared in the district's published notice, on a notice posted at the district office and on the notice attached to the public-hearing item in the district's BoardBook system.

The BoardBook agenda itself listed the special meeting for 6 p.m.

The board did not convene at 5:30 p.m. Board President Bill Shrader called the special meeting to order at 6 p.m., established a quorum and announced the public hearing.

Shrader then called on Gee, Krause and Boriskie, who had completed the district's public-comment sign-up forms before the meeting. All three spoke.

The agenda listed the public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate as Item 3 and a separate public-comment period as Item 4. After the three residents spoke, the board proceeded to Item 5, a budget amendment, without separately announcing Item 4.

CCISD's locally adopted policy governing its annual budget and tax-rate meeting states that the board president "shall request at the beginning of the meeting that all persons who desire to speak on the proposed budget and/or tax rate sign up on the sheet provided."

Shrader did not make that request before calling the three residents who had previously signed up to speak.

The district's CE(LEGAL) policy, reflecting state law, also states that any taxpayer of the district may be present and participate in the budget and proposed tax-rate meeting.

During the budget discussion, trustees discussed beginning the next round of budget planning and examining additional positions.

A finance committee is expected to begin that work. During the meeting, a resident also noted that employee contracts had already been signed and said eliminating those positions would not affect the current year's budget.

In a follow-up interview, Superintendent Evan Cardwell attributed the district's financial difficulties to several factors, including declining enrollment, state funding and increasing operating costs.

More recent school-finance records provided by CCISD project refined average daily attendance at 2,805.342 in 2026-27, down from 3,047.061 in 2025-26. PEIMS enrollment is projected at 3,165, down from 3,335. Those figures are lower than earlier district projections reviewed by the Wave.

Cardwell said the district has instituted a hiring freeze and that employees previously working at the now-closed Port O'Connor Elementary School were moved into other positions where possible.

He said the district also plans to continue reviewing expenditures through a finance committee and with assistance from an outside school finance consultant.

"They will give us recommendations or show us areas where we're being inefficient, so that we can cover everything in the district," Cardwell said. "They may see something we're not."

If voters reject the VATRE, Cardwell said the district would reassess its finances and consider additional reductions.

"If the VATRE fails, our finance committee will really have to address and come up with strategies to reduce that deficit further," Cardwell said. "We did a very hard thing with the closing of one school already. Nobody wanted to do that. We've done hard things and made hard decisions. Cuts have been made."

The VATRE will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The CCISD Board of Trustees will next meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 at the CCISD Administrative Building.