The Marble Falls Independent School District recently passed a 14-month budget for the 2026-27 school year at a Board of Trustees meeting on June 15. The district will approve its tax rate for the school year in August to help fund the budget.

The 14-month budget, which will shift the end of the district’s fiscal year to August 31 instead of June 30, projects a nearly 20 percent increase in expenditures compared to the district’s 2025-26 budget that spanned just 12 months.

MFISD Chief Financial Officer Bill Orr told trustees that the two months were added so the district could wait and see what the certified property values would be, which are typically set by July 25. 

With the district’s current fiscal year ending on June 30, Orr added that it was difficult to properly estimate the district’s budget due to the lack of concrete tax numbers. 

“We’re guessing at what the state’s going to do,” he said at the meeting. “We’re guessing what the property values are going to be, and we’re guessing at the tax rate.”

The approved budget will span July 1, 2026, to August 31, 2027, total roughly $98 million, and be distributed amongst the district’s general, child nutrition, and debt service funds. The new 14-month budget’s expenditures come in at $16.9 million, or just over 20 percent, more than the approved 12-month 2025-26 budget.

In addition to the extra two-month period on the budget, Orr explained that a steady average daily student attendance rate and projected property value increase of 4 percent played a significant role in formulating the upcoming year’s expenditures.

Budget by fund

MFISD has budgeted about $68 million for its general fund, which will support things like school maintenance and operations, staff salaries, transportation services, and more.

A total of $26 million was set aside for the debt services fund, which will cover payments on various loans taken out by the district, such as those for the 2025 $172.2 million bond package.

The district’s child nutrition fund was budgeted near $4 million, contributing to the bulk of the district’s food services.

Where’s the money?

The district expects to receive the bulk of its funding from local property taxes, among several other sources. MFISD splits property taxes into two categories – maintenance and operations, and interest and sinking.

While the tax rate for the coming year will be voted upon in August, the 2026-27 budget was calculated using an estimated M&O rate of $0.6595 and I&S rate of $0.2153, the latter of which is the same as the 2025-26 fiscal year.

A closer look at the funding sources for the budget are as follows.

• Local, intermediate, and out of state sources – $72,004,000
• State program revenues – $9,238,000
• Federal program revenues – $3,555,000

This leaves the district with a deficiency of roughly $13 million, which will supposedly be made up for by its estimated $31 million fund balance (money leftover in the district’s general fund).

Budget breakdown

A closer look at the budgeted dollar amounts for each fund is as follows.

General fund

• Instruction – $33,377,260
• Instructional resources and media services – $477,768
• Curriculum and professional development – $483,361
• Instructional administration – $1,224,697
• School leadership – $2,904,273
• Guidance and counseling – $2,278,455
• Attendance and social work – $347,554
• Health services – $659,057
• Transportation services – $2,290,984
• Food services – $39,333
• Extra curricular activities – $1,874,076
• General administration – $2,244,058
• Plant maintenance and operations – $7,651,463
• Security and monitoring – $492,408
• Data processing services – $1,578,853
• Community services – $5,000
• Debt services – $154,000
• Schools – $8,900,000
• Other governmental charges – $990,000

Debt services

• Debt services – $26,070,000

Child nutrition

• Food services – $4,022,500
• Debt services – $11,500

caden@thepicayune.com