CISD approves budget with tax decrease, teacher raises

Those who live in the boundaries of Cameron Independent School District will see their taxes going down slightly in the coming year and teachers will see a significant raise to their paychecks.

The CISD Board of Trustees approved the new 2019-20 budget and tax rate during a meeting on Aug. 26.

The approved a total tax rate of $1.31 per $100 valuation with a 97 cent maintenance and operations rate and a 34 cent debt service rate. Last year’s tax rate was $1.37 per $100 valuation. The average residence should see about a $40 drop in taxes.

The board also approved teacher and staff raises as part of the budget. Cameron ISD teachers will be seeing an average raise of 7.52 percent across the board and a three percent midpoint increase in salaries for all other employees. This year’s budget also set the starting teacher salary for the district at $42,000, a goal the board has been working towards.

The teacher raises came in part to House Bill 3 that was passed during the last legislative session. That bill included $6.5 billion to improve public education and pay teachers, plus $5.1 billion to lower school district taxes. It requires school districts to use a portion of their increase in per-student funding on salary increases and benefits for teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors, with a smaller amount designated for raises for all employees, as administrators see fit. They are expected to prioritize raises and benefits for teachers with more than five years of experience but otherwise would have flexibility on how to offer salary increases.

The total balanced budget was roughly $20,037,000 in revenues and $19,973,000 in expenditures.

CISD Superintendent Kevin Sprinkles said the teacher salary schedule is the most competitive the district can offer within a balanced budget.