School trustees received a preliminary report on the district's new financial package during a budget workshop held in conjunction with Thursday's board meeting.

Sandra Waggoner, chief financial officer for the district, said the state has placed a cap on how much money it will provide to the district. As a result, local officials will have far less wriggle room in this budget than has been the case the last two years.

The district will receive a flat rate per student from the state, so the only way to increase revenue, she said, would be for BSISD to attract more students.

“Basically, we've flat-lined on revenue,” she said. “Last year and the year before, we could do a lot of good things with the budget, but with the way revenue is capped ... it's going to be harder and harder for us to just balance the budget.”

As it stands, the $28 million budget will feature $200,000 less in expenditures than last year, a direct result of the capped state funding, she said.

Despite the decreased aid, officials plan to provide a standard “step” raise for most teachers, as well as pay raises for teachers' aides, clerks and auxiliary personnel. No raises are planned for administrators, Waggoner said.

Also, officials are considering a raise in the daily rate paid to substitute teachers and aides. Substitute aides would see their daily pay rate rise to $55, while substitute teachers would receive $70 per day.

There are few “big ticket” items in this year's package, compared to the past two years. Waggoner said the purchase of four new vehicles — including two school buses — will be the biggest extras in this year's budget.

Related to the budget, trustees also met with investment banker Vince Vialle of the Lubbock firm of 1st Southwest to discuss financial aspects of financing a construction bond.

Voters overwhelmingly defeated a $34 million bond issue in May, but the district has been moving toward calling another election this November.

Vialle told trustees that payments on a $34 million bond would cost the district about $2.6 million a year and raise the debt service tax rate by about 32 cents — unless state aid helps offset those figures.

The state has provided debt service relief in the past and Vialle said he had every reason to believe legislators will continue to do so in the future.

“These numbers are just a worst-case-scenario,” he said. “The legislature meets in 2009 and that's when they decide whether (to continue debt service aid to districts). If they do, the tax rate will be considerably less ... but we just don't know, yet.”

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it