DSISD Board of Trustees approves 2022-2023 budget

The Dripping Springs ISD Board of Trustees has approved the budget for its 2022-2023 fiscal year.

The vote to approve the budget took place at the DSISD meeting on Monday, June 27. Prior to the regular meeting agenda, a budget presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Catherine Knepp and a public hearing were held.

The approved DSISD budget of $101 million includes $20 million in recapture (payment back to the state) and nearly $67.5 million for payroll for more than 1,000 district employees. Recapture and payroll accounts for 86.5% of the budget that will go into effect on July 1. The budget includes the following compensation plan that was approved by the board on May 23:

7% raise for Teaching staff (based on median teacher salary)

7% raise for Auxiliary/Clerical hourly staff (based on pay grade midpoint)

4% raise for Administrative/Professional staff (based on pay grade midpoint)

The adoption of a minimum $15 per hour wage for all hourly staff

Since April 2012, DSISD has successfully completed four refinancings of existing debt, producing total savings of more than $32 million for district taxpayers. In addition, the district paid off nearly $5.2 million in additional debt principal. The Board of Trustees has also adopted a redemption resolution to pay additional debt principal for 2022-2023. The additional debt principal the district will pay off is estimated to be at least $8 million. Paying off debt principal early has allowed the district to avoid paying millions of dollars in interest.

In January 2022, the Board of Trustees revised and adopted budget parameters to guide the 2022-2023 budget development process. Budget workshops were held on April 21, May 5 and June 8. All were open to the public.

The full 2022-2023 official budget can be found at dsisdtx.us.

The tax rate for the 2022-2023 year will be adopted no later than Sept. 30.