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Ariel Worthy/Houston Public Media
Fort Bend ISD voted to approve a $901.6 million budget that will likely use a temporary tax rate increase to help fund recruitment and retention incentives.
Fort Bend ISD’s board of trustees passed a $901.6 million budget for the 2025-26 school year and plans to use a temporary tax hike to avoid an operating deficit.
The Houston-area district plans to use disaster pennies, which are temporary property tax increases after natural disasters that do not need to be approved by voters. Trustees discussed the temporary tax hike last month as the district faced a $34.6 million deficit.
The budget approved last week includes several recruitment and retention incentives for new employees, such as wellness days, a $5,000 signing bonus for certain new hires and an increase in the starting teacher salary. Additionally, Texas House Bill 2 will fund raises for most teachers.
Board president Kristin Tassin emphasized that trustees could make adjustments to the budget throughout the school year.
“We can amend the budget,” Tassin said. “As things change and we get new information, we can amend the budget.”
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While the school board won’t vote on the tax rate until September, district leaders will consider a plan that would raise the rate from $0.99 per $100 of assessed property value to $1.05 per $100. Still, Fort Bend ISD administrators said homeowners would likely see a decrease in their property tax bills this year because of an expected increase in homestead exemptions.
The proposed tax rate increase would bring in an additional $35.7 million that would help fund financial incentives to retain staff members.
However, in the 2026-27 school year, Fort Bend ISD could face a $26.2 million deficit after the proposed tax rate increase expires.
“We know what our task is: We need to reduce the deficit from $26.2 million down to zero, but at the same time, invest in academic programs and competitive compensation,” Fort Bend ISD CFO Bryan Guinn said during a presentation at last week’s school board meeting.
Guinn said the district will evaluate people, processes, programs and places to trim the budget in the following school year.
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Trustee Adam Schoof asked if the school district had any plans to call a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE), which would ask residents to approve a permanent tax rate increase.
“Am I wrong that we’re about to try for another VATRE? I have a gut feeling that that’s what’s going to happen,” Schoof said during the meeting.
The district last held a VATRE in 2023 and voters passed a 4-cent tax rate increase to pay for raises for teachers.
Guinn said he doesn’t anticipate any discussions about a VATRE in the near future.
“At this point, as we have outlined the work that we are doing internally, we are looking at making adjustments to expenditures to balance the budget,” he said.
Superintendent Marc Smith said there are currently “no plans to do a VATRE.”
“I’ve not mentioned that at all to the board, not done any research and analysis on that at all,” he said at the board meeting. “Our focus has been primarily on getting through this budget year.”
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