Residents and property owners in Fairfield Independent School District will see a two and-a-half--cent drop in their total tax rate, from last year’s rate of $1.21 per $100 valuation to $1.18.
The $1.18 amount breaks down into $1.0331 for maintenance and operations (regular expenses), and $0.1534 for interest and sinking (debt service).
Trustees met Monday night to approve the tax rate and the budget, both after scheduled times for the public to comment.
No one signed up, or chose to comment.
The money to operate public school districts comes from local property taxes and the state.
Last fiscal year was the first time the state of Texas increased the state’s portion of revenue for public school districts, after a years-long decline left local property taxes to pick up the slack.
“We were able to lower the total tax rate by two cents, and it’s always good to be able to do that,” Superintendent Dr. Jason Adams said.
The tax rate and budget both passed by unanimous vote.
Total estimated revenue for the district, with a total taxable property valuation of $1.20 billion, is $17,534,944.
The number includes state, local and federal sources.
An examination of basic general fund budget categories shows the largest expense is instruction, with a total of $8.97 million, making up 51.2 percent of the budget.
The second largest layout is to plant maintenance and operation, at $2,459,200. Third is the general administration category, totaling $1,133,198..
The remaining categories follow:
-Instructional resources and media, $221,402;
-Curriculum development and staff development, $9,100;
-Instructional leadership, $208,317;
-Guidance counseling and evaluation, $358,981;
-Health services, $193,960;
-Pupil transportation, $758,229;
-Extracurricular activities, $753,465;
-School leadership, $1,013,765;
-Security and monitoring services, $163,546;
-Data processing services, $426,481;
-Contracted instructional services, $20,000;
-Payments to fiscal agent, $5,000;
-Payments to juvenile justice/alternative education, $5,000; and,
-Intergovernmental charges, $420,000.
Several sources of funding support food service, which has its own account that zeroes out.
Next year’s estimated total is $876,215.
Debt service appropriations, which come from the interest and sinking fund, will total $1,817,600.