San Benito CISD gets ‘clean’ audit; funding cuts impact finances

SAN BENITO — Slashes in federal funding along with state-mandated tax cuts amid years of dropping student enrollment continue to impact the district’s finances, an audit shows.

Now, the district’s unassigned fund balance stands at $41 million compared with $49.4 million last year, Superintendent Fred Perez said Tuesday.

While the cash reserve’s enough to run district operations for 133 days, the Texas Education Agency recommends keeping fund balances capable of maintaining operations for at least 75 days.

While the district’s general fund revenue stood at $108.8 million, with expenditures at $115.2 million, revenues dropped from $109.2 million last year, when they matched expenses.

“State funding has been an issue, not just for us but obviously across the state,” school board President Orlando Lopez said in an interview. “We continue to do the best we can and be financially responsible in continuing to provide our students and staff with resources to be successful. I’m extremely pleased with the outcome of this audit indicating our financial department is in order.”

Last month, the public accounting firm of Carr, Riggs and Ingram issued the district a “clean opinion” based on its bookkeeping, auditor Matthew Montemayor said.

“It’s one of the best opinions that you can receive as a result of an audit and it would be one that you as a board would be anticipating and wanting to receive, something that taxpayers in the community would be wanting the district to receive,” he told board members during the audit’s presentation.

During the auditing period running from June 2023 to June 2024, the district’s net financial position dropped to a deficit $6.7 million, down from a deficit $3.9 million last year, Montemayor said during a Nov. 13 meeting.

While the district’s total assets had dropped to $168.9 million by June 2024, down from $179.2 million last year, its total liabilities dipped to $163.8 million, from $169 million the previous year, he said.

Meanwhile, revenues had dipped to $140.4 million by June 2024, down from $140.6 million last year, while expenditures stood at $143.1 million, up from $138.2 million last year, he said.

Faced with funding cuts, officials pumped more money into the district’s instructional program.

By June 2024, the program’s budget stood at $71.6 million, up from $67.8 million last year, Montemayor told board members.

Following years of state-mandated tax cuts, the district’s property tax revenue had sagged to $14.1 million in June 2024, down from $16.7 million last year, the audit shows.

After three years, officials are pumping more money into payroll following the expiration of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding, or ESSER funds, issued to help school districts during the coronavirus pandemic.

During the auditing period, district revenue stemming from capital grants such as ESSER funds, which expired in September, dropped to $1.7 million, the audit shows.

“For three years, we were able to pick up certain salaries with ESSER,” Perez said Tuesday. “Now it comes from our budget again.”

By June 2024, the district had cut its long-term debt to $84.2 million, the audit shows.

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