The Highland Park ISD Board of Trustees approved the district’s budget for the 2022-23 school year during its Aug. 16 regular meeting. The budget includes a 5% compensation increase for district staff members made possible by last year’s Golden Penny election and additional gift commitments from the Highland Park Education Foundation.
The district’s maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate will decrease 5.32 cents from last year’s tax rate, resulting in a 16 cent decrease over the last four years.
“During our presentations to the community about the Golden Penny election last year, we conservatively estimated that the tax rate would decrease 2 cents this year. In actuality, the tax rate will decrease even more,” HPISD Board President Tom Sharpe said. “While we recognize that property values have increased during the last year, the decrease in the district’s tax rate should provide some relief to property owners.
The total approved budget for the 2022-23 school year for Highland Park ISD is $177,280,833. A total of $104,205,389 will be sent back to the State of Texas as Recapture, leaving HPISD with operating expenditures of $73,075,444.
Highland Park ISD is considered a Chapter 49 “property wealthy” school district, which means that it is required to send a portion (64% in 2022-23) of its local property tax revenue to the state, a process often referred to as Robin Hood. While HB 3, which was passed by state lawmakers in 2019 to support education initially addressed the growth of Recapture, school districts like Highland Park are now paying more than ever.
“Because of these Recapture payments, HPISD has had to utilize every available option to support its overall budget. Our budget this year was boosted significantly by approval of the Golden Penny election last fall, which has allowed compensation for staff to increase by a total 8% over the last 2 years," Superintendent Dr. Tom Trigg said. "This salary increase is helpful to our efforts to recruit and retain qualified staff in HPISD."
Trigg noted that all of the additional funds raised by the Golden Penny election have been directed, as promised, to employee compensation. "We are also sustained by the generosity of this incredible community which, during the last school year, contributed more than $9.6 million through the PTAs, PTOs, Dads Clubs and HP Education Foundation,” he said.
HPISD employees will also receive a one-time payment later this fall as the result of revenue generated by the Golden Penny election. There will be an additional increase to staff compensation next school year.
District earns award for fiscal stewardship
Highland Park ISD has once again received the Certificate of Excellence in financial reporting for the 2021 Annual Comprehensive Finance Report (ACFR). Awarded by the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International, the Certificate of Excellence recognizes districts that have met the program’s high standards for financial reporting and transparency. The award is considered the gold standard in ACFR reporting. HPISD has earned this top financial designation for the past 26 consecutive years for producing an ACFR report that goes beyond the minimums established by the National Council on Governmental Accounting standards.