A larger-than-planned tax base has taken a big bite out of Princeton ISD's budget gap, according to the district's recap of its Oct. 19 board meeting.
Trustees were told the certified tax roll puts the district's taxable value at $5,988,659,957, which adds $4,778,266 to the revenue figure the original budget was built on. About $2 million of that goes to debt service and about $2.7 million to maintenance and operations.
Because local tax collections are higher, the district expects state aid to fall by roughly $1.05 million. The net gain for operations is about $1.7 million, which shrinks the deficit in the proposed budget from $2.8 million to $1.1 million, the district said.
Superintendent Donald McIntyre said continued enrollment growth could close the rest of the gap. "If we see enrollment continue to climb, then additional funding from the state would help to offset the deficit or balance the budget completely," he told the board.
Enrollment
McIntyre's monthly report put enrollment at 12,704, with the largest growth at the elementary level south of U.S. 380. The district added about 30 students since the previous month, which he described as a slowdown, and he said heavy move-ins and move-outs are making the count swing up and down.
Year over year, he said, Princeton ISD is still adding roughly 1,300 to 1,400 students, in line with the past few years.
