Lufkin ISD discusses budget plan with school board members

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Budget discussions were held at Lufkin ISD’s administrative building on Tuesday. This budget is dependent on how much revenue is received from the state.

Charlotte Bynum, Lufkin ISD CFO, said, “We are not proposing a raise at this time due to the fact that we do not have the revenue for that raise.”

School Board member Kristi Gay said the budget has to be approved by the state legislature before a change could be made.

“We are planning right now to set a budget based on what we had last year, and then we would plan to come back and do a revised budget and amend the budget that we set at the end of August to take into account the information that we get from the state later after school starts,” Gay said.

She also said it’s unknown at this time when a decision could be made and that it could take months.

“Maybe September, maybe October. We do plan to follow their directives and take full advantage of the funds that they offer for us to do staff increases at that time,” says Gay.

Bynum believes the state’s plan will pass with voters in November; since property values are lower, voters’ taxes would be less.

“On August the first, I will bring my first proposed budget to the board. That’s a lot different than in prior years. So, I’m just all that I can to get ready for the final decisions that must be made, and we are ready and willing to go with our budget as it needs to be,” says Bynum.

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