Most people understand that you shouldn’t spend more than you make. But many independent school districts (ISDs) don’t seem to have gotten the message.
Over the last few weeks, numerous ISDs have been observed adopting deficit budgets. For those not well-versed, deficit budgeting “occurs when government expenses exceed revenue.” As you might imagine, there are worrisome possibilities that might result from letting the government spend more than their income. Chiefly, higher taxes and bloated government.
Interestingly, the rash of unbalanced budgets doesn’t seem to be concentrated in any particular part of the state, but rather, it appears to be a widespread phenomenon. As evidence, consider some recent headlines to appear over the last 2 weeks:
- Fort Worth Independent School District board approves $43.6M deficit budget, June 12, 2025
- Bryan ISD adopts projected $6.7 M deficit budget, considers $397 million bond proposal, June 16, 2025
- Leander I.S.D Board of Trustees approves budget with a roughly $20M deficit, June 19, 2025
- EPISD adopts budget with $6 million deficit, approve pay raises for next school year, June 23, 2025
- Proposed Midland ISD budget has $7.8 million deficit, June 23, 2025
- San Antonio ISD trustees draw from reserve funds to offset deficit in the 2025-2026 budget, June 24, 2025
- Carroll ISD plans for $5M deficit for 2025-26 school year budget, June 25, 2025
- Ysleta School District approves budget with $22.2 million deficit, June 26, 2025
These are just a few examples of the mal-budgeting taking place right now. Many more instances may be in the process of development and finalized soon. If so, it won’t be long until the list of bad actors grows substantially.
So, what are we to do with this knowledge?
First, contact your school board trustees and urge them to adopt a balanced budget. Getting expenditures in line with revenues might require some hard decisions to be made, but it’s not an impossible task.
Second, encourage the Texas Legislature to regulate local budgeting through new fiscal rules, like a spending limit, a debt limit, and of course, a balanced budget requirement. Some version of these fiscal rules already applies to Texas state government and so, it’s not a stretch to suggest that they be extended to local governments as well. Too, a balanced budget requirement is common practice elsewhere, as per the Government Finance Officers Association, i.e., “Most [U.S.] state and local governments are subject to a requirement to pass a balanced budget.” This point might ease any forthcoming concerns at the Legislature.
If Texans undertake these actions in earnest, we have a good chance at stemming the tide of deficit budgets and forcing our local governments to find stronger fiscal footing. In turn, that will help produce better budgets and, perhaps, even lead to lower taxes in the years ahead.
That’s a goal we should all aspire to.