CISD freezes salaries, considers tax hike

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

An election to raise property taxes may be on the horizon following last Thursday’s regular meeting of the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees.

Facing a projected budget deficit of $358,000, trustees acted on Superintendent Monty Hysinger’s recommendation and froze salaries for district employees and unofficially gave the administration the okay to pursue a timeframe for a June tax ratification election.

The election is just a proposal at this time; but if pursued and approved, Clarendon’s school taxes would increase 13 cents from the current state cap of $1.04 per $100 valuation to $1.17.

Hysinger told trustees the problem is twofold – state funding cuts and declining enrollment. School districts across Texas, including CISD, sued the state for unfair funding following the last legislative session, and a court has ruled in favor of the schools. But Hysinger said the appeals in that case will take a year and a half to finalize, and the Legislature is unlikely to restore education cuts made two years ago.

“There is no indication of that money coming back,” Hysinger said. “Democrats are pushing for more money, but they will probably lose. It may be two years before we see any change in funding.”

The state cut gave the school a $166,439 deficit to begin with for the coming fiscal year, and a drop in enrollment will put that cost at $358,000, he said. It’s a scenario that appears to be getting worse with low numbers in the elementary school.

“We’re going to lose additional kids as the elementary classes move forward,” Hysinger said. “A drop of 11 kids means $99,000 in lost revenue. We’ve had a ten percent enrollment decrease since 2009 and that is a $468,000 loss. Overall, we’re operating with $971,000 less than we had four years ago.”

The current Kindergarten class is an exception to the low elementary enrollment. The class has 47 students, but that presents its own problem because it exceeds the state’s student-teacher ratio limit of 22-1. CISD currently has a waiver for that class, but in the future it will be necessary to apply for another waiver or hire an additional teacher at a time when the district can least afford it.

Trustee Reneé Betts asked Hysinger what the school would do if the election didn’t pass, and the superintendent gave little indication other than stopping the canine detection service (drug dog) and cutting instructional coaching.

“There are no easy answers,” Hysinger said, noting that a reduction in force may be necessary.

The superintendent presented a timetable that would make it possible to hold the election with other local elections this May, but he said it would put pressure on appraisal districts in Donley, Armstrong, and Briscoe counties to get appraisal values and rollback calculations done much earlier than normal.

He also said information from the Texas Association of School Boards indicates that a tax ratifi cation election is more likely to succeed in June and is also more favorable if the election is held at the school instead of off campus as the case would be in May at the Donley County Courthouse Annex.

Hysinger said the homestead taxes of people over the age of 65 are frozen and said people under the age of 65 with a $100,000 home would see their taxes increase $130 per year. He also reminded the board that it eliminated the personal property tax in the district several years ago.

“That’s hurting us now,” he said.

Property taxes currently fund about 24 percent of the school district’s budget, and raising the ad valorem rate by 13 cents is expected to generate about $350,000 in new revenue.

Regardless of how the election might turn out, salaries will still be frozen, which will likely save the district between $60,000 and $70,000. Trustees did, however, make an exception for hourly cafeteria and custodial employees who Hysinger said would be hurt the most by a freeze. All other employees may actually see their net take home pay decrease because of rising cost of health insurance.

Trustee Richard Gribble made the motion to freeze salaries as a gesture to voters.

“If we’re going to ask the voters for help, we need to show good faith to the voters,” he said.

Trustees then unanimously approved freezing all salaries, including the superintendent’s but excluding hourly cafeteria and custodial employees.