Harlingen school district builds up fund balance to $31.3M

HARLINGEN - Battling years of falling enrollment and state tax cuts, school leaders have built up a $31.1 million fund balance, bolstering the district's financial standing two years after the past administration plunged it into its deepest financial crisis in decades.

Now, officials are planning a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with current revenues standing at $137.6 million, covering $128.9 million in expenditures, leaving a balance of $8.6 million.

"HCISD has made significant positive gains this year as we continue strengthening the district's financial position and restoring our fund balance," Superintendent Veronica Kortan said in a statement. "As we move forward, we will continue refining systems, improving efficiencies and making thoughtful decisions that support long-term financial stability while keeping students at the center of our work."

Projecting the district's 16,194 enrollment to drop by about 150 students, officials are planning to continue "right-sizing" staffing levels based on attrition "to better align our staff to student ratios," Ida Ambriz, the district's assistant superintendent for business services, said in a statement, adding "enrollment issues are impacting many school districts statewide."

Under the district's new fiscal plan, officials are planning the new budget focusing on "zero-based budgeting," assigning every dollar to meet specific needs.

"We have implemented several strategies over the last year-and-a-half to maintain our budgeting needs within our means, strengthening controls to continuously review budget to actual expenditures ensuring budget compliance," Ambriz said.

As part of the proposed budget, officials are projecting $38 million in property tax revenue, $141 million in state funding, based on an estimated student average daily classroom attendance of 14,400, and $3 million in federal money.

During the current fiscal year, officials have cut costs while "right-sizing" staffing levels to build the district's fund balance to $30.1 million, up from $20.8 million, as reported in the annual financial audit covering the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

"I attribute that improvement in the fund balance to all the different processes that we've implemented over the last couple of years, so we're starting to see the fruits of our labor there in being able to improve that financial position for the district," Ambriz told school board members during an April 21 budget workshop.

As part of the proposed budget, officials are planning to boost teacher salaries based on their years of experience, with bonuses to include pay increases in the range of $2,500 to $5,000, a presentation showed.

With student enrollment and classroom attendance critical to the budget, with the state giving the district $6,555 a year for every student attending class, officials are planning the proposed budget based on student enrollment trends.

Now, the district's enrollment stands at about 16,194, down from 16,471 last year, a presentation showed.

During the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment stood at 16,780.

Across the country, the coronavirus pandemic led to drastic drops in student enrollment, along with classroom attendance.

Before the pandemic struck in 2020, the district's fund balance had climbed to $49.3 million during the 2018-2019 school year, while the district's enrollment was standing at 18,754.

Across Texas, state-mandated property tax cuts have further strained school finances.

While the district's property tax rate stood at $1.31 per $100 valuation during the 2016-2017 school year, state cuts have slashed the tax rate to 0.91 per $100 valuation during the last two years, a presentation showed.

For two years, officials have been working to rebuild the district's traditionally strong financial standing after former Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez's administration withdrew $23.2 million in cash reserves to cover operational costs including unbudgeted expenses, dropping a $40 million fund balance to $17.7 million.

Expenditures included $11 million in instructional costs, largely involving payroll; $3.6 million in maintenance and operations costs; $2.2 million in transportation costs and $927,000 in security and monitoring costs, the certified public accounting firm of Carr, Riggs and Ingram reported in an annual financial audit.

Last year, the district closed it ledgers with a $25.4 million fund balance after slashing $4.9 million in costs while "right-sizing" staffing levels.

During the year, officials cut about 100 positions, including 22 positions within the district's central office.

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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 1:06 AM.