BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS 2026-27 BUDGET, TAX RATE

  

The Brenham School Board voted unanimously on Monday to adopt the new budget and tax rate for the 2026-27 school year. 

The newly adopted budget balances at $64,467,927 and is made up of $57,140,721 in general fund expenditures, $3,258,025 for child nutrition and $4,069,181 for debt service. 

The new budget is lower than the current budget of $65,387,457. It assumes districtwide enrollment of 4,712 students and an average daily attendance of 4,334 students.

Speaking on the budget reduction from year to year, Chief Financial Officer Darrell St. Clair said there were a lot of moving parts during last year’s budget process, so there were aspects of the budget that were difficult to plan for.  St. Clair said those factors included new state legislation, unknowns with teacher retention allotment, and the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE).  In comparison, he said this year has been easier to “get honed in on where we really need to be.”

The budget accounts for a 3 percent pay raise for all employees and funding to add back staff positions.  St. Clair said it is looking “promising” that Brenham ISD will be able to put back over $1 million into its fund balance, but better estimates should be available by the board’s meeting in September.

The new tax rate of $0.7490 per $100 valuation consists of $0.6690 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.080 for interest and sinking (I&S).  It is lower than the current year’s figure of $0.7684 – $0.6884 for M&O and $0.080 for I&S – but due to higher property values, it is effectively a 2.82 percent increase.  The no-new-revenue rate was calculated at $0.728456.

No public comments on the budget or tax rate were presented during a hearing prior to the board’s vote.