Godley ISD school board trustees held a workshop on the 2024-25 budget on August 12, 2024, at Godley High School.

Chief Financial Officer Spencer Davis led the board through the budget development process, including campus allocations determined on a per-student basis. He provided enrollment data for the past two school years as well as the district enrollment count for the current year, which is currently 3,147 students. Davis also reported current and historical campus enrollment as well as estimated attendance percentages.

Davis outlined the proposed tax rate of $1.2869 per $100 of property valuation. This includes a slight decrease in the district’s maintenance and operation tax rate from $0.6192 to $0.6169 due to mandatory tax rate compression. The interest and sinking tax rate for debt service would remain at $0.50. Davis also presented historical data on tax rates and property values.

The board also reviewed tax collection estimates, projections for a local optional homestead exemption, and a proposal from Hill College for the junior college district tax rate.

Along with breakdowns of the overall proposed budget, Davis reviewed a public meeting notice to discuss the budget and proposed tax rate during the regular monthly meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 26.

The proposed budget is available on the district website at www.godleyisd.net/budget.

During a preliminary budget presentation on Jul. 26, Davis noted that state funding has remained stagnant at 2019 levels approved by the Texas Legislature, while the local tax rate has decreased more than 12% over the same time period. Without state funding increases, all school districts are impacted and must reduce expenditures or staffing or utilize district reserves. Districts are facing payroll costs while also managing steep increases in transportation, insurance and utility expenditures.

Over the spring and summer, Davis held extensive meetings with campus principals, district directors and program sponsors to outline necessary spending cuts in order to maintain a balanced budget resulting from the impact of stagnant state appropriations.

School trustees will have their next regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday, Aug. 26.