2. Where the money comes from¶
All governmental funds, audited¶
| Source | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local (mostly property tax) | $2,148.4M | $2,099.0M | $2,185.9M | $2,210.5M | $2,319.4M | $2,021.1M | $2,046.4M |
| State | $439.4M | $248.3M | $319.3M | $246.1M | $232.8M | $384.2M | $345.0M |
| — of which TRS pension "on-behalf" (non-cash, offset by an equal expense) | $76.9M | $85.5M | $86.9M | $81.9M | $81.9M | $109.5M | $113.7M |
| Federal | $332.9M | $352.6M | $341.0M | $699.1M | $816.3M | $779.8M | $401.4M |
| Total | $2,920.7M | $2,700.0M | $2,846.2M | $3,155.7M | $3,368.6M | $3,185.2M | $2,792.7M |
| Share local / state / federal | 74 / 15 / 11 % | 78 / 9 / 13 % | 77 / 11 / 12 % | 70 / 8 / 22 % | 69 / 7 / 24 % | 63 / 12 / 24 % | 73 / 12 / 14 % |
| Per enrolled student | $13,923 | $12,853 | $14,452 | $16,216 | $17,736 | $17,301 | $15,803 |
Source: HISD's audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports, FY2019-FY2025 (the FY2025 report's ten-year revenue table, checked against each year's own statements). Notes: notes/acfr.md.
No all-funds figure exists yet for FY2026 or FY2027. HISD's board adopts budgets only for the General, Debt Service and Nutrition funds; federal grants, which pass through a separate Special Revenue fund, are not part of any adopted budget. HISD's FY2027 budget materials list $177.3 million of federal grant planning amounts (Title I $112.7 million, special education $37.6 million and others), but these are planning amounts, not a budget or a result.
Property tax revenue fell by about $300 million in FY2024. The cause was state-ordered tax-rate compression (HISD's maintenance-and-operations rate fell from $0.8705 to $0.7016 per $100 of value) and the homestead exemption rising from $40,000 to $100,000 — both from 2023 state property-tax relief legislation. Federal revenue more than doubled in FY2022-FY2024 with federal COVID relief (ESSER) and fell back by FY2025.
General Fund, FY2019 to FY2027¶
| FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basis | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Amended budget (June 2026) | Adopted budget |
| Local (mostly property tax) | $1,781.4M | $1,739.0M | $1,816.0M | $1,817.6M | $1,869.8M | $1,585.0M | $1,642.7M | $1,654.9M | $1,604.9M |
| State | $399.9M | $218.9M | $295.7M | $228.7M | $215.0M | $319.5M | $272.1M | $377.3M | $364.7M |
| Federal | $19.4M | $23.9M | $27.7M | $61.2M | $70.0M | $78.1M | $25.6M | $21.7M | $20.9M |
| Total | $2,200.6M | $1,981.8M | $2,139.4M | $2,107.5M | $2,154.8M | $1,982.6M | $1,940.4M | $2,053.8M | $1,990.4M |
| Mix (local / state / federal) | 81 / 18 / 1 % | 88 / 11 / 1 % | 85 / 14 / 1 % | 86 / 11 / 3 % | 87 / 10 / 3 % | 80 / 16 / 4 % | 85 / 14 / 1 % | 81 / 18 / 1 % | 81 / 18 / 1 % |
Sources: audited ACFRs FY2019-FY2025 (General Fund statement of revenues); FY2026 from HISD's General Fund Budget Amendment #2 (June 11, 2026); FY2027 from HISD's adopted FY2027 budget schedule (June 25, 2026). Both state figures include about $103 million a year of TRS pension "on-behalf" revenue. Data: data/hisd_gf_revenue_source_fy2019_2027.csv.
FY2026's budgeted state revenue moved down twice during the year: $414.5 million as adopted (June 2025), $398.3 million in the February 2026 amendment, and $377.3 million in the June 2026 amendment. In every audited year, FY2019 to FY2025, HISD's actual General Fund state revenue came in above its adopted budget (by $184.7 million in FY2019 and $47.8 million in FY2025). Its FY2024 budget was adopted before the 2023 tax-relief law and overstated property tax revenue by about $366 million.
A commonly repeated "74% local / 14% state / 12% federal" split is HISD's all-funds figure for FY2027, which includes about $177 million of federal grants that flow through a separate fund. On a General Fund basis — the money that actually pays for day-to-day instruction — federal money is only about 1%.
How HISD compares to peer districts, 2024-25¶
Revenue per enrolled student, all funds, operating only (TEA actual data):
| District | Local | State | Federal | Other local | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston ISD | $8,329 | $1,221 | $2,275 | $842 | $12,666 |
| Dallas ISD | 9,466 | 1,489 | 2,039 | 536 | 13,530 |
| Austin ISD | 10,242 | 650 | 1,555 | 861 | 13,308 |
| Fort Worth ISD | 5,808 | 5,043 | 1,271 | 466 | 12,589 |
| Northside ISD (San Antonio) | 5,032 | 4,243 | 1,273 | 710 | 11,259 |
| Cypress-Fairbanks ISD | 4,044 | 4,763 | 1,192 | 732 | 10,731 |
| Katy ISD | 4,350 | 6,080 | 769 | 796 | 11,994 |
| Fort Bend ISD | 5,078 | 4,780 | 1,223 | 487 | 11,568 |
| State average | 4,776 | 5,637 | 1,471 | 783 | 12,666 |
HISD's total operating revenue per student is exactly the state average. All TEA local figures here are after recapture: TEA reports M&O property tax "excluding recapture." Property tax plus state funds is $9,550 per enrolled student; adding other local revenue gives $10,391 of nonfederal operating revenue. HISD is a property-wealthy district by Texas's school-finance standards, so the state covers only about 10% of its operating revenue — against 45% statewide for an average district. The mechanics of why are in Section 4.
2025-26 as budgeted¶
TEA has not yet published actual data for 2025-26. It does publish the budget each district filed with it. Those budgets cover only the adopted General, Food Service and Debt Service funds; most federal grants run through other funds and are not included. On that basis, General Fund only:
| General Fund operating revenue per student, 2025-26, as filed with TEA | Local property tax | State | Federal | Other local | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston ISD | $9,314 | $1,856 | $129 | $494 | $11,794 |
| State total, all districts | 4,938 | 6,039 | 202 | 377 | 11,556 |
| Houston ISD, 2024-25 as budgeted | 8,726 | 689 | 120 | 608 | 10,143 |
Source: TEA, "2025-2026 Budgeted Financial Data" and "2024-2025 Budgeted Financial Data," Houston ISD and State Total (PEIMS Financial Standard Reports). Per student is per TEA-counted enrolled student (167,793 for HISD in 2025-26). HISD's 2025-26 filing ties to its own adopted budget. Data: data/tea_peims_budget_long.csv.
The budgeted state share of HISD's General Fund operating revenue rises from 7% (2024-25) to 16% (2025-26). Most of that shift is the state's tax-relief aid, with some new allotments, such as the Teacher Retention Allotment; Section 4 breaks it down from TEA's own reports.