By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Following an expansive budget workshop Monday night, Bowie Independent School District Trustees directed the staff to plug in a 5% salary increase for employees and debated facility needs including putting the pending construction of a new administrative building on hold.
Finance Director Paula Peterson reviewed budget figures, which she said had been refined further with Superintendent Blake Enlow and staff from the Region 9 Education Service Center as they helped calculate state revenue.
For 2022 the district’s certified values went up $134,648,554 to $1,185,002,092. Projecting taxes collected at $10,143,022, Peterson estimates the district will see an increase of $461,540 in tax revenue.
However, with higher local revenue state revenue will go down by $357,532, going from $5,418,385 in 2021-22 to $5,060,853 in 2022-23. This produces a net addition of overall revenue at $104,008. Peterson noted this is a conservative estimate based on state projections and she expects to receive more state money from COVID absence adjustments.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.