The Clark Middle School Panther and members of the PSHS band welcome sixth-grader Jesus Parra, the 11,000th student enrolled in Princeton ISD, on Wednesday, Aug. 20. The district had gained 523 students in seven days. Courtesy PISD

Princeton Independent School District trustees, meeting Monday, Aug. 25, for the first time in the district’s new administration building, approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The budget, presented by Assistant Superintendent for Finance Nichole Powell, projects a $622,000 surplus at the end of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Powell told trustees she projects a maintenance and operations tax rate of 70.72 cents per $100 of assessed valuation and an interest and sinking rate of 50 cents, for a total tax rate of $1.2072.

The Collin Central Appraisal District assessed total property valuation within the district at $5.3 billion.

Powell projects $133 million in general fund revenue and $133.3 million in expenses, resulting in the surplus. About 82% of expenses will go to payroll. Teacher pay raises include $1,000 annually for those with zero to two years’ experience, $2,500 for those with three to four years, and $5,000 for those with five years or more.

The new tax rate will be about five cents less than the current year’s rate.

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By John Kanelis | [email protected]