AUSTIN, TX – Today, the Austin school board will consider adopting a $1.1 billion budget for 2015-16 that spends 8.9 percent more than the previous year’s budget. Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance Director James Quintero issued the following statement on the proposed budget:
“AISD’s budget is set to see a near-double digit increase at a time when student enrollment is shrinking and homeowner tax bills are soaring. The district’s inability to live within its means will add another $168 per year to the average homeowner’s property tax bill, further exacerbating Austin’s affordability crisis and likely leading to even more students leaving the area.
“AISD’s latest budget snafu highlights not only its problem with budget restraint, but also its difficulty with debt. In the district’s latest budget proposal, debt service payments constitute almost 10 cents of every dollar spent, which is money that is not going to the classroom but instead going to help pay off the district’s $1.2 billion in total debt.”
For more information or to request an interview with Mr. Quintero, please contact Caroline Espinosa at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
James Quintero is director of the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.