EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — The Ysleta Independent School District says it is being forced to make tough financial decisions after a state change is expected to reduce its funding by $11 million.
District officials said during Wednesday’s board meeting that the reduction is tied to changes made this year to Senate Bill 12, legislation passed in 2023.
The law was intended to provide property tax relief to elderly or disabled homeowners whose school district taxes were already capped. While that lowered tax bills for those homeowners, it also meant less money went to school districts.
YISD said the state added a “hold harmless” rule to the bill, meaning the state was supposed to make up the money districts lost because of the tax relief. But the district’s chief financial and operations officer, Lynly Cambern, said hundreds of districts across Texas still lost funding.
“We should be talking to our legislators, legislators, this is not what they intended. They made it very clear they intended to hold us harmless. It’s on all of their media publications starting in 2019 that we would be held harmless for these changes. Yes, it’s great for the homeowner; we support it. But not on the backs of public education,” Cambern said.
YISD said it will now have about a $16 million budget deficit as a result. The district is also anticipating losing 1,500 students, which officials said will require cutting 83 positions.
However, officials said all of the positions will be eliminated through attrition due to an incentive program the district passed.
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