HISD: federal funds, debt/bonds/facilities, and policy-driven money flows¶
Track: federal funding, debt, pension/OPEB headlines, and policy flows. Research pass 2026-10-06. All files cited are in /git/Texas/HISD/sources/federal_debt/ (catalog: SOURCES.md).
Abbreviations used in citations (page numbers are PDF pages; for ACFR25, printed page = PDF page - 10):
- ACFR25: fac_report_2025-06-GSAFAC-0000402495.pdf, the FY2025 ACFR with single audit (PRIMARY). Use .raw.paged.txt to search it.
- ACFR24: fac_report_2024-06-GSAFAC-0000068366.pdf (PRIMARY).
- OS26: emma_HISD_LTRB_Series2026_OS.pdf, the Official Statement dated May 4, 2026 (PRIMARY). Its Appendix A reproduces the FY2025 ACFR.
- OS25A: emma_HISD_VR_MTN_Series2025A_OS.pdf (PRIMARY).
- FAC: Federal Audit Clearinghouse JSON (fac_awards_*.json), summarized in fac_sefa_summary_FY2020-2025.txt (PRIMARY).
- WS24: hisd_FY2024-25_board_workshop_2024-05-23.pdf, HISD budget workshop (PRIMARY).
- SOF: TEA Summary of Finances text in /git/Texas/HISD/data/sof_text/, already held by the project (PRIMARY).
HISD identifiers: EIN 74-6001255; UEI NC2GGLMFYC66; E-Rate BEN 141223; EMMA issuer key 87D078E72B8C12C883BEB290416AFEE1.
HISD's fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30. "FY2025" means the year ending June 30, 2025.
Overlap with notes/acfr.md: the ACFR agent covers the government-wide figures below. They agree with this file where both report them:
- bonds and notes outstanding: $2.123B (FY23), $1.814B (FY24), $1.514B (FY25)
- net pension and OPEB liabilities
- the SEFA ESSER totals ($441.4M, $316.9M, $40.9M)
- GF deficits and fund balance
Cite acfr.md for those. This file adds the program-level SEFA detail, the EMMA official statements (Series 2025A and Series 2026), ratings, the 2024 bond, TIRZ, and the policy flows.
1. Federal funds¶
1a. Federal expenditures by program (single-audit SEFA, FY2020-FY2025), PRIMARY¶
Source: FAC federal_awards, one report per year (report IDs are in fac_general_hisd.json). The FY2025 figures match the ACFR25 SEFA total of $389,630,012 (ACFR25 p.197). The auditor was Weaver and Tidwell. All six years have unmodified opinions, no material weaknesses, and no going-concern flag. HISD was a "low-risk auditee" in FY2024 and FY2025.
| Program | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total federal expenditures (SEFA) | 347,690,150 | 332,944,436 | 699,424,988 | 836,623,445 | 736,678,395 | 389,630,012 |
| ESSER, all (84.425) | 76,418,652 | 21,502,484 | 374,241,276 | 441,377,491 | 316,917,900 | 40,914,590 |
| Title I-A (84.010) | 81,772,372 | 92,171,996 | 102,751,979 | 127,821,881 | 167,242,527 | 126,638,071 |
| IDEA-B + Preschool (84.027/84.173) | 41,344,438 | 39,079,982 | 37,355,690 | 43,932,956 | 59,617,558 | 42,534,385 |
| Title II-A (84.367) | 10,154,362 | 7,854,844 | 8,319,011 | 11,876,532 | 14,609,645 | 15,271,941 |
| Title III-A (84.365) | 5,531,694 | 6,160,979 | 5,344,918 | 8,938,572 | 13,644,320 | 9,470,287 |
| Title IV-A (84.424) | 4,091,218 | 7,270,094 | 6,529,011 | 12,137,392 | 12,924,349 | 8,955,588 |
| Perkins CTE (84.048) | 2,853,384 | 2,995,494 | 2,068,569 | 2,493,470 | 3,127,255 | 3,622,546 |
| 21st CCLC (84.287) | 3,080,697 | 3,151,439 | 3,203,636 | 3,379,388 | 3,247,401 | 3,825,382 |
| Child nutrition cluster + CACFP (10.553/.555/.558/.559/.582) | 96,734,322 | 102,327,712 | 143,568,023 | 142,928,752 | 135,170,853 | 129,820,908 |
| Coronavirus Relief Fund (21.019) | - | 32,208,753 | - | - | - | - |
| Emergency Connectivity Fund (32.009) | - | - | 5,130,330 | 12,444,955 | - | - |
| FEMA Public Assistance (97.036) | 552,158 | 581,012 | - | 31,103,741 | -141,600 | 251,013 |
- FY2025 nutrition detail (ACFR25 p.194):
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| School Breakfast, cash (10.553) | $32,364,405 |
| NSLP, cash | $80,239,149 |
| NSLP commodities | $7,250,177 |
| Supply Chain Assistance | $363,000 |
| Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program | $2,350,068 |
| Summer Food Service Program | $1,728,574 |
| Child Nutrition Cluster total | $124,295,373 |
| CACFP (outside the cluster) | $5,525,535 |
CEP participation is implied by a USAC FCDL comment ("CEP Base Year ... modified from 2022 to 2023") but was not verified.
- FY2025 major programs were Title I, III, II, and IV-A, plus ESSER (84.425U/W) (ACFR25 p.189).
- FY2025 single-audit findings (fac_findings_text_2025-*.json). There were two, both on ARP ESSER III (84.425U/W):
1. Equipment: a significant deficiency.
2. Allowable costs: $54,626 questioned (subscription services).
FY2024 had no findings. notes/acfr.md also reports a third FY2025 finding, a financial-reporting significant deficiency on SHARS revenue. That finding is outside the federal-program findings in FAC.
- State awards (SESA) FY2025: total only $974,148 (ACFR25 p.198). TEA formula and state grant funding flows through the FSP, not through this schedule.
1b. ESSER I/II/III: allocations, spending, and the cliff¶
Allocations (HISD ESSER page, hisd_esser_page.html, PRIMARY):
| Fund | Total allocation | Kept by HISD | Period end |
|---|---|---|---|
| CARES ESSER I | $81,977,178 | $79,717,039 (private non-profits got $2,260,139) | Sept 30, 2022 |
| CRRSA ESSER II | $358,195,503 | same | Sept 30, 2023 |
| ARP ESSER III | $804,812,905 (original $804,716,108 + $96,797 reallocated Sept 2024) | same | Sept 30, 2024 |
| Total | $1,244,985,586 |
- The 20% learning-loss set-aside was $160,891,243.
- ESSER I "funds are not additional to Houston ISD." TEA used them to offset FSP state aid (same page).
- For ESSER III, the internal audit says TEA "supplanted $65,873,097 of the District's State Aid to hold it harmless for low average daily attendance" (
hisd_internal_audit_esser_2024.pdfp.4).
Spending by HISD fiscal year (SEFA, all 84.425): FY2020 $76.4M; FY2021 $21.5M; FY2022 $374.2M; FY2023 $441.4M (peak); FY2024 $316.9M; FY2025 $40.9M (final liquidation). The FY2020-25 total is $1,271,372,393. By sub-listing:
| Sub-listing | FY2020-25 spending | Compare to allocation |
|---|---|---|
| 84.425D (ESSER I/II), incl. unlabeled FY2020 line | $457,529,754 | ESSER I+II total allocation $440,172,681 |
| 84.425U (ARP ESSER III) | $808,113,785 | ESSER III allocation $804,812,905 |
| 84.425W (ARP homeless) | $5,728,854 |
- FLAG: expenditures under D and U exceed HISD's ESSER allocations by about $17M and $3M. These are probably other 84.425 state-reserve subgrants (for example TCLAS) passed through under the same listing. Not verified.
Cliff: HISD's budget workshop (WS24 p.24) shows the drop between 2023-24 and 2024-25:
| Line | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|
| ESSER | $323,895,475 | $0 |
| ESSA grants | $284.5M | $190.4M |
| Total grant funds | $608.4M | $190.4M |
| Total all funds | $2.834B | $2.307B |
The total falls by $528,193,566. WS24 p.27 notes "ESSER funding will end."
OS26 Table 11 (p.33) shows federal revenues across all governmental funds:
| FY | Federal revenues |
|---|---|
| FY2022 | $699.1M |
| FY2023 | $816.3M |
| FY2024 | $779.8M |
| FY2025 | $401.4M |
| FY2026, 9 months to Mar 31, 2026 | $217.1M |
ESSER internal audit (Whitley Penn, May 7, 2024): learning-loss compliance was weak. Of $73.8M in learning-loss spending tested, only $34.7M could be traced to support (pp.10, 14). HISD's monitoring worksheet allocated $801.5M of the $804.7M ESSER III award to learning loss.
1c. Other federal flows¶
- E-Rate (USAC open data,
usac_erate_hisd_ben141223_by_year.json, PRIMARY; funding year runs July-June):
| Funding year | Committed | Disbursed |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $6,494,270 | $5,720,295 |
| 2018 | $4,707,663 | $4,305,434 |
| 2019 | $19,453,299 | $17,935,562 |
| 2020 | $7,863,765 | $5,722,973 |
| 2021 | $2,997,726 | $2,967,190 |
| 2022 | $7,508,908 | $7,492,712 |
| 2023 | $7,323,877 | $7,187,034 |
| 2024 | $11,626,494 | $2,051,475 |
| 2025 | $1,953,013 | $676,006 |
| 2026 | $8,251,223 | $0 |
Disbursed amounts for FY2024 onward are still accruing. Query filter: ben='141223' AND form_version='Current'.
- Build America Bonds subsidy: HISD still receives the 35% federal interest subsidy on Series 2009A-2 and 2009A-3. Since Oct 2020 it has been cut 5.7% by sequestration (OS26 p.31). The dollar amount was not extracted.
- Title I-IV and IDEA-B allocations for 2025-26 and 2026-27: NOT FOUND. TEA's entitlement pages require a login (403), and ED's Title I LEA tables returned 403. The SEFA expenditures above are the best primary proxy.
2. Debt, bonds, and facilities money¶
2a. Outstanding debt¶
- At June 30, 2025 (ACFR25 pp.72-75;
hisd_debt_obligations_page.html): - Debt payable: $1,513,635,000. This is bonds of $1,378,515,000 plus "notes" of $135,120,000.
- It consists of tax-supported debt of $1,486,130,000 plus Public Facility Corporation lease-revenue bonds of $27,505,000.
- Unamortized premium is $45,003,038, giving bonds plus premium of $1,558,638,038.
- "No authorized but unissued debt capacity": the 2012 authorization is fully used (ACFR25 p.72; OS26 Table 9 p.31).
- Debt per capita is $1,021.24 (website).
- Interest rates run 1.00-6.17%. Final maturity is Feb 15, 2043 for bonds and July 15, 2045 for the 2025A notes.
- Bonds outstanding by series at 6/30/2025 (ACFR25 p.75, decoded; matches the website):
| Series | Outstanding | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2009A-2 BABs | $148.85M | |
| 2009A-3 BABs | $62.30M | |
| 2016A | $374.395M | original $757.195M |
| 2017 | $315.545M | original $848.74M; 2016A and 2017 are the 2012-program bonds |
| 2018 | $8.49M | |
| 2023A | $26.81M | |
| 2025A refunding | $149.685M | |
| 2025B refunding | $264.935M | |
| Maintenance Tax Notes 2018 | $114.565M | |
| Maintenance Tax Notes 2025 | $20.555M | |
| PFC 2017 | $10.77M | |
| PFC 2019 | $16.735M |
- Trend in tax-supported debt (OS26 Table 4 p.27):
| FY end | Tax-supported debt | Share of taxable value |
|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | $2.343B | |
| FY2023 | $2.084B | |
| FY2024 | $1.781B | |
| FY2025 | $1.486B | |
| FY2026, after Series 2026 | $1.282B | 0.55% |
ACFR25 p.146 gives net bonded debt per student: $14,262 (FY2016) falling to $6,942 (FY2025). Net bonded debt was $1,276,072,323 in FY2025. - OS26 Table 1 (p.7/25): gross debt after the Series 2026 refunding is $1,282,135,000. That is $1,040,270,000 payable from I&S taxes plus $241,865,000 payable from M&O (maintenance) taxes, excluding $22,045,000 of PFC lease obligations. Net of the debt service fund ($156,388,194) it is $1,125,746,806.
2b. Paydown and refunding actions, FY2025-FY2026 (ACFR25 pp.72-73, p.83 in OS26 App. A)¶
- May 28, 2025: defeased $115.42M with available debt-service cash. This was $52.705M of Series 2017 and $62.715M of Series 2018.
- Mar 6, 2025: tender offer refunded $183.78M through Series 2025A ($149.685M) and 2025 MT Refunding Notes ($20.555M). Debt service savings were $14,764,530; economic gain $10,927,064.
- May 1, 2025: all variable-rate debt redeemed (2014A-2, 2023C, and 2014B) through Series 2025B ($264.935M). $268,655,000 was refunded. Debt service savings were $57,389,278; economic gain $17,500,810. Variable-rate debt outstanding at June 30, 2025: $0.
- Series 2026 Limited Tax Refunding Bonds, $342,790,000 (OS26 pp.1-2, 11, 46). Priced May 4, 2026 and delivered May 27, 2026. Board order Nov 13, 2025.
- PSF-guaranteed; rated Aaa/AAA.
- Refunds $343,800,000 of Series 2016A maturities from 2027 to 2041 (4-5% coupons, called 6/29/2026).
- The new bonds mature 8/15/2026-2/15/2030 at 5% (yields 2.69-2.76%), with $222.33M due 2/15/2027 and $84.46M due 2/15/2028.
- Premium was $7,161,126.20; escrow deposit $348,286,954.14; cost of issuance $1,664,172.06.
- Effect: about 12 years of repayment are compressed into about 4. Total debt service jumps to $438.5M in FY2027 (OS26 Table 8 p.30). No NPV savings figure is stated in the OS.
2c. Debt service schedule¶
Pre-Series 2026, from ACFR25 p.74 (tables decoded from a font-scrambled PDF; totals check exactly):
| FY | Principal | Interest | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 322,835,000 | 70,890,803 | 393,725,803 |
| 2027 | 159,675,000 | 57,910,331 | 217,585,331 |
| 2028 | 109,415,000 | 49,674,643 | 159,089,643 |
| 2029 | 76,360,000 | 43,954,393 | 120,314,393 |
| 2030 | 89,915,000 | 39,879,127 | 129,794,127 |
| 2031-35 | 401,345,000 | 130,759,486 | 532,104,486 |
| 2036-40 | 279,150,000 | 49,322,150 | 328,472,150 |
| 2041-45 | 74,940,000 | 4,153,000 | 79,093,000 |
| Total | 1,513,635,000 | 446,543,933 | 1,960,178,933 |
Post-Series 2026, from OS26 Table 8 (p.30), I&S plus M&O debt service:
| FY | Total debt service |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $389.6M |
| 2027 | $438.5M |
| 2028 | $200.9M |
| 2029 | $92.5M |
| 2030 | $104.4M |
From FY2031 to FY2038 it runs $50-106M a year, then about $33M a year through 2042 and about $9.9M a year (M&O notes only) through 2046. Grand total: $2,019,157,153, of which $370,958,390 is M&O-fund debt service on maintenance tax notes.
Compare I&S collections: debt-service property taxes were $363.1M in FY2025 (ACFR25 p.127). (Corrected 2026-10-08 after independent review.) The $438.5M FY2027 total in OS26 Table 8 (p.30) is $418.2M of I&S-fund debt service ($150.4M outstanding + $267.8M on the Series 2026 bonds) plus $20.3M of M&O-fund debt service on maintenance tax notes, so it should not be set against I&S taxes alone. The adopted FY2027 Debt Service Fund budget (S27) shows revenue $399,524,026 (local $383.0M + state $16.5M), expenditure $444,356,039, transfers in $26,068,025, refunding premium $4,767,364, and a net use of fund balance of $13,996,624 ($187.2M → $173.2M). The OS schedule and the adopted appropriation differ in scope and timing and were not reconciled issue by issue. The debt service fund balance was $174.2M at March 31, 2026 (OS26 p.34).
2d. Debt issued without voter approval after the failed 2024 bond¶
- $114,390,000 Variable Rate Maintenance Tax Notes, Series 2025A (OS25A cover; board resolution May 8, 2025; priced July 10, 2025).
- Authority: TEC §45.108. Repaid from M&O taxes, no vote needed.
- Rate: 5% fixed until the 7/15/2028 mandatory tender. If not remarketed, a 7% stepped rate applies. Final maturity 7/15/2045.
- Purpose: "repair, renovation, improvement, and equipment of existing school facilities ... building systems." The ACFR25 transmittal (OS26 p.59) describes "approximately $120 million in Maintenance Tax Notes ... HVAC, roofing, technology, and transportation upgrades, and to fund development of the new [CTE] Center at the Grimes Facility."
- Rated Moody's Aaa / S&P AA+ (no PSF guarantee).
- FLAG: the ACFR25 subsequent-event note (p.91) describes "Series 2025 Variance Rate Maintenance Tax Notes issued on 7/31/2025 with Par value of $20,555,000." That conflicts with the OS25A par of $114.39M; the note text appears to be copied from the March 2025 refunding notes.
- Up to $182.5M lease-revenue bonds for a new CTE center, authorized by the Board of Managers at its Nov 13, 2025 meeting (Chronicle via Yahoo,
yahoo_hisd_cte_lease_bonds.html, SECONDARY). No voter approval is needed. The 2024 bond had budgeted $125M per CTE center. No issuance was found on EMMA as of 2026-10-06; the EMMA issuer search lists no PFC issue after 2019.
2e. Credit ratings and PSF guarantee¶
- Underlying (unenhanced) tax-supported debt: Moody's "Aaa", S&P "AA+" (ACFR25 p.27; OS26 pp.5, 41; OS25A cover).
- PSF-guaranteed issues are rated Aaa/AAA. The Series 2026, 2025A, and 2023A refunding bonds carry the PSF guarantee. The 2025 MT refunding notes and the 2025A VR notes do not.
- No rating downgrade or outlook change since the June 2023 takeover was found, and no Fitch rating was found.
- FLAG: the Moody's rating on PFC lease-revenue bonds is "Aaa" in ACFR24 (p.24, reviewed March 2024) but "Aa1" in ACFR25 (p.27, reviewed Feb 2025). This is a possible downgrade or a correction; not confirmed with a Moody's release.
- Payment record: "never defaulted" (OS26 p.6).
2f. The failed November 2024 bond¶
- Prop A: $3,960,000,000 for new, renovated, and expanded schools and safety infrastructure. Yes 187,634 (42.07%), No 258,373 (57.93%).
- Prop B: $440,000,000 for technology. Yes 184,787 (41.80%), No 257,262 (58.20%).
- Results are certified per Ballotpedia, which reproduces the Harris County canvass (SECONDARY). The ballot text carried "THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE."
- Cost per HISD's Voter Information Document, as transcribed by TPPF (
tppf_hisd_vid_chart_2024.jpg, SECONDARY):
| Principal | Interest | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prop A | $3.96B | $4,429,342,063 | $8,389,342,063 |
| Prop B | $440M | $89,401,276 | $529,401,276 |
| Total | $4.4B | $4,518,743,339 | $8,918,743,339 |
Press citing the same VID: existing debt of $1.77B principal plus $664M interest, for about $10.9B total if both passed. Planned issuance spanned 2025-2028 over 30 years. HISD said the I&S rate would not rise. - Planned uses (press, SECONDARY): - $2.3B to rebuild or renovate schools - about $1B for lead remediation, security, and HVAC - $1.1B for pre-K expansion, 3 CTE centers ($375M, $125M each), and technology - consolidation of 15 schools into 7 campuses (HPM 2026-02-12)
WS24 p.5 states "the need is over $10 billion." - Bond campaign: KPRC reports a "$2 million initiative" in the adopted budget for bond planning and consultants, and questions its legality (SECONDARY). - New bond plans for 2025/2026: none found. HISD's response has been the M&O notes and lease-revenue route (§2d), closures (§4e), and property sales. - 2012 bond program ($1.89B): fully issued; there is no remaining authorization (ACFR25 p.72). At FY2025 the Capital Projects Fund held $25.5M: restricted bond funds $40.69M and unassigned $(16.37)M (ACFR25 p.34). - FY2024 included a $70M transfer of TIRZ funds from the Capital Projects Fund to the General Fund "for restricted TIRZ funded capital projects" (ACFR24 pp.31, 69). - A 2019 HISD statement that the program was 85% complete and the 2015 $212M overrun come from press only (not fetched).
3. Pension and OPEB (TRS headlines)¶
Sources: ACFR25 pp.84, 89, 96-99; OS26 pp.31-32.
| Item | FY2025 | FY2024 |
|---|---|---|
| HISD net pension liability (TRS) | $767,987,153 | $985,320,732 |
| HISD share of NPL (proportion) | 0.012572604 | 0.014344383 |
| State's share of NPL associated with HISD | $938,780,815 | $835,422,834 |
| HISD contractually required TRS pension contribution | $72,193,127 | $72,224,501 |
| HISD net OPEB liability (TRS-Care) | $502,451,392 | $382,621,558 |
| HISD OPEB contribution | $13,601,350 | $15,243,481 |
- Pension expense was $216,691,371, including $112,200,013 of state on-behalf support (ACFR25 p.84).
- For FY2025, OS26 p.31 states that the State contributed $81,617,665 on behalf of HISD to TRS, employees paid $128,535,260, and HISD paid $72,193,127. For OPEB, the State paid $17,803,890 and employees $10,127,347.
- NOTE: the on-behalf figures differ between the expense measure ($112.2M) and the contribution measure ($81.6M). These are two different measures; the ACFR agent may reconcile.
4. Policy-driven money flows¶
4a. NES (New Education System)¶
No state NES allotment exists. NES is an internal reallocation. Miles: "intervention districts should get a little extra money, but we haven't" (Tribune 2026-09-21, SECONDARY). SOF line items contain no NES line.
Campus budget blocks (WS24 pp.31-32, PRIMARY):
| Campus group | FY2024 (2023-24) | FY2025 (2024-25) |
|---|---|---|
| NES schools | $513.4M (85 schools) | $732.2M (130 schools) = $478.9M for the original 85 + $253.3M for 45 new |
| Non-NES schools | $923.2M (189 schools, incl. the 45 to convert) | $686.6M (144 schools) |
| Central office | $790.2M + $323.9M ESSER + $62.4M one-time ESSA | $697.9M (WS24 p.30) |
Incremental cost estimates (Tribune, SECONDARY, citing WS24 and later budget files): - The 45-school expansion needed $31.7M extra in its first year, about $704,000 per campus. This figure is not in WS24's text layer; it is probably in a slide image. Unverified. - About $2,200 more per student per year after that. - In 2026: about $8,500 per pupil for about 63,000 NES students versus $6,300 at other campuses. - $96M was budgeted for technology, furniture, and equipment in year 1, mostly for 85 NES schools. - NES teachers receive an extra $3,000 or $9,000.
Funding source: reserves. - General fund balance (OS26 Table 11 p.33):
| Date | General fund balance |
|---|---|
| End FY2023 | $1,127.1M |
| End FY2024 | $1,047.2M |
| End FY2025 | $748.1M |
- The FY2025 general fund decrease was $299.11M (ACFR25 p.27).
- The Tribune says about $450M was drawn in the first two years. WS24 p.27 set a floor of "did not go below $800 million fund balance" for the FY2025 budget, and the actual FY2025 ending balance ($748.1M) went below it.
4b. Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) and Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA)¶
SOF, PRIMARY:
| School year | TIA | TRA |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 (final) | $510,864 | n/a |
| 2025-26 (near-final) | $11,255,032 | $29,500,000 |
| 2026-27 (preliminary) | $15,043,486 | $29,500,000 |
The Tribune says HISD's pay overhaul "brought in just under $30 million" from "a state-funded incentive system." That figure matches the TRA ($29.5M) better than the TIA. FLAG: ambiguous.
4c. TIRZ (tax increment reinvestment zones)¶
HISD participates in 12 City of Houston TIRZs. Interlocal agreements remit a portion of the increment back for school facilities (OS26 p.23). There are two directions of flow.
HISD taxes paid into TIRZs (ACFR25 p.140 and ACFR24 p.131, line 9000; matches SOF):
| Period | Total | M&O | I&S |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $48,441,742 | $39,286,256 | $9,155,486 |
| FY2025 | $37,922,743 | $30,649,756 | $7,272,987 |
| SY2025-26 (SOF NF) | $29,664,195 | ||
| SY2026-27 (SOF prelim) | $29,664,195 |
TIRZ revenue recognized by HISD (government-wide general revenue, ACFR25 p.127):
| FY | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $28.26M |
| 2017 | $29.37M |
| 2018 | $30.25M |
| 2019 | $29.61M |
| 2020 | $28.62M |
| 2021 | $30.60M |
| 2022 | $31.17M |
| 2023 | $36.73M |
| 2024 | $33.39M |
| 2025 | $54.53M |
- A third, different measure:
notes/acfr.mdlists a General Fund expenditure line "TIRZ payments" of $72,368,633 (FY23), $75,544,048 (FY24), and $56,066,884 (FY25). These are larger than the line-9000 tax amounts above. The GF expenditure probably includes the increment HISD remits on its full levy, plus timing effects, but this was not reconciled. - FLAG: OS26 p.23 says "In fiscal year 2025, the District recognized approximately $38 million in net revenue from TIRZs." That conflicts with the $54.53M above (and resembles the $37.9M paid in). Unresolved.
- FY2025 transfer: $4,762,500 from the Capital Projects Fund to the Debt Service Fund for "TIRZ High School and Elementary School debt payments." The FY2024 figure was $5,861,125 (ACFR25 p.71).
4d. Chapter 313 / JETI¶
None. Houston ISD does not appear on the Comptroller's Chapter 313 agreement list (comptroller_ch313_agreements.html). OS26 p.23 says "The District does not offer tax abatements." ACFR25 contains no GASB 77 abatement disclosure.
4e. School closures and property sales¶
- On Feb 26, 2026 the board unanimously voted to close 12 schools in 11 facilities (HPM; OS26 p.10).
- FLAG on timing: OS26 says "at the end of the 2025-2026 school year." HPM's Feb 12 article says the closures are "for the 2026-27 school year," and a photo caption says "at the end of the 2026-27 academic year." Most likely the schools close for 2026-27.
- Projected savings were not disclosed at the time of the vote. (Update 2026-10-08: HISD's May 20, 2026 budget workshop, slide 14, projects a $15M FY2027 saving from "consolidate schools"; no school-by-school figure, transition costs or realized savings have been published.) The HISD press office did not answer; HPM reports savings were not discussed at the meeting.
- District cost figures: about $75M to rebuild an elementary school, about $40M to renovate one. 23% of schools are below 50% capacity (HPM 2026-02-12).
- About 30 district buildings or land parcels have been listed for sale since 2025 (Tribune); 16 properties covering 300+ acres were in bidding (Chronicle). Proceeds were not found.
4f. Outside contracts and procurement¶
- About $870M in cooperative purchase agreements were greenlit Sept 2023-Dec 2024 without the required board approval, then ratified 7-1 on Jan 16, 2025 (Houston Landing, SECONDARY).
- About $200M had been spent at that point.
- The potential spend averaged about $55M a month, against about $30M a month before.
- A $1M Kitamba MGT consulting contract (Feb 2024) was the only one brought to the board in that window.
- An audit firm reviewed the agreements of $1M or more and "found no issues."
- Miles' outside consulting (search snippets only, UNVERIFIED): $190K or more in fees from his charter network; he helped arrange a $950K contract between ILTexas and Education Partners. His 2024-25 bonus was $173,660.
4g. Charters, vouchers (TEFA/ESA), and enrollment¶
- Enrollment (OS26 pp.9-10, PRIMARY):
| Date | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 196,943 |
| 2025-26 | 168,812 (-14.3%) |
| Mar 24, 2026 | 166,608 |
2025-26 fell 7,915 against the budgeted 6,700. The OS attributes the decline partly to "increasing competition with charter schools and private education." - Charters: OSOD (advocacy, SECONDARY) estimates 53,954 HISD-resident students attended charters in 2024-25 (30.5% of 176,727) and puts the revenue loss at $470,317,724. Method: transfers times average revenue; not a TEA figure. TEA PEIMS transfer data is in another agent's lane. - Vouchers / Texas Education Freedom Accounts (SB 2, 2025): 1,207 HISD students were awarded and funded as of Aug 10, 2026. This is the largest count of any district, per OSOD and Every Texan from Comptroller PIR records (SECONDARY). At their roughly $8,000 per student, that is about $9.7M (my arithmetic). Statewide, about $227M is estimated for 184 districts and about $294M in total. - The program is capped at $1B for 2025-27, and funds flow from 2026-27 (OS26 p.15).
4h. Governance context relevant to money (OS26 p.10)¶
- The Board of Managers has been in place since June 1, 2023. TEA extended the intervention to June 1, 2027.
- Miles' contract was extended 5 years in June 2025. A TEA conservator was named in Feb 2025.
- The TEA financial rating ("FIRST") was "A - Superior" for 2023-24 through 2025-26 and "C" for 2022-23.
- Accountability rating: B (2025-26), C (2023-24 and 2024-25).
5. Property tax: rates and taxable values¶
Sources: ACFR25 pp.135, 137, 140 (from HCAD), OS26 Table 4/5, and the HISD tax page. Rates are per $100 of value.
| FY (tax yr) | M&O | I&S | Total | Taxable assessed value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 (TY2015) | 1.0267 | 0.1700 | 1.1967 | $152,860,482,797 |
| 2017 | 1.0267 | 0.1800 | 1.2067 | $165,861,644,665 |
| 2018 | 1.0400 | 0.1667 | 1.2067 | $171,610,628,471 |
| 2019 | 1.0400 | 0.1667 | 1.2067 | $173,923,630,109 |
| 2020 | 0.9700 | 0.1667 | 1.1367 | $185,535,534,086 |
| 2021 | 0.9664 | 0.1667 | 1.1331 | $196,631,674,148 |
| 2022 | 0.9277 | 0.1667 | 1.0944 | $200,674,561,625 |
| 2023 | 0.8705 | 0.1667 | 1.0372 | $218,175,138,362 |
| 2024 | 0.7016 | 0.1667 | 0.8683 | $229,523,362,674 |
| 2025 (TY2024) | 0.7016 | 0.1667 | 0.8683 | $233,190,075,832 (ACFR) / $238,619,804,243 (OS26) |
| 2026 (TY2025) | 0.7116 (adopted Oct 15, 2025; see flag) | 0.1667 | 0.8783 | $232,601,493,050 (OS26, after the $140k homestead exemption) |
| 2027 (TY2026) | 0.6754, adopted Oct 8 2026 (Legistar 26-346) | 0.1667 | 0.8421 adopted | n/a |
- The I&S rate has been flat at $0.1667 since FY2018.
- The M&O rate fell 39 cents from 2018 to 2025, through state compression and HB3 in 2019 and 2023.
- Market ("actual") value was $326.9B in FY2025 (ACFR25 p.135).
- Tax year 2025 timeline:
- Sept 11, 2025: board agenda item 9 recommended $0.8489 (M&O $0.6822 = MCR $0.6322 + 5 golden pennies).
- Oct 15, 2025: board added $0.0294 "disaster pennies" for Hurricane Beryl and May 2024 storm costs, making $0.8783 (M&O $0.7116). Storm costs were cited as $9.87M (Beryl) and $15.8M total (KPRC/Chronicle; HISD tax page).
- FLAG: OS26 (May 2026) Tables 1 and 5 still show TY2025 at $0.8489 (levy $1,937,629,363). The same Table 5 lists FY2025 at $0.8783, which contradicts the ACFR's $0.8683 for FY2025. Whether the disaster pennies were actually levied is unresolved; the levy is roughly $68M a year apart.
- Resolved 2026-10-12: the FY2027 M&O rate was $0.6754 in the budget and $0.7048 in the SOF preliminary (runs 47318 and 47363, the latter issued Oct 9, the day after adoption). The board adopted $0.8421 (M&O $0.6754, I&S $0.1667) on Oct 8 2026 (Legistar file 26-346, Passed). That is the compressed rate ($0.6254) + 5 golden pennies; the $0.0294 disaster pennies were dropped. The SOF preliminary's $0.7048 kept them.
- Recapture history (ACFR25 p.141):
| FY | Recapture |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $91.5M |
| 2018 | $168.3M |
| 2019 | $185.1M |
| 2020 | $74.9M |
| 2021 | $198.1M |
| 2022 | $186.5M |
| 2023 | $275.3M |
| 2024 | $0 |
| 2025 | $56.9M |
WS24 p.18 says HISD paid over $1.1B from 2016-17 onward. - FLAG, four different FY2025 figures: - SOF Final: $49.1M (project README) - ACFR25 statistical section: $56,900,029 - OS26 p.19: "approximately $65 million" - Texas Tribune: $55.5M
Accrual versus cash timing and TEA's 5-year adjustments probably explain it. The ACFR/TEA agents should reconcile.
6. Could not find / open items¶
- TEA Title I-IV and IDEA-B planning allocations for 2025-26 and 2026-27 (TEA login wall). Federal FY2026 SEFA (single audit due about Dec 2026, not yet filed).
- Rating-agency press releases. No rating action was found; the PFC Aaa-to-Aa1 change is unconfirmed.
- HISD's own Voter Information Document (only TPPF's transcription); Harris County canvass PDF (Ballotpedia used).
- Whether the $182.5M CTE lease-revenue bonds have been issued (not on EMMA as of 2026-10-06).
- School-closure savings (only a $15M FY2027 projection, May 2026 workshop); proceeds from property sales.
- NES total all-in cost after FY2025, and the source document for the $31.7M figure (Tribune; not in WS24's text layer).
- Whether TY2025 disaster pennies were levied ($0.8783 versus $0.8489).
- Reconciling the FY2025 recapture and TIRZ revenue figures above.
- Any TEA intervention-specific grants to HISD. None appear in the SESA ($974K total) or as SOF line items.
7. History extension: federal SEFA FY2018-FY2019 (added 2026-10-07)¶
Source: FAC federal_awards for report IDs 2019-06-CENSUS-0000174326 and 2018-06-CENSUS-0000174326
(fac_awards_<id>.json, PRIMARY, retrieved 2026-10-07; IDs and totals from fac_general_hisd.json). Summary
table regenerated with scripts/fac_summary.py into fac_sefa_summary_FY2018-2025.txt (line numbers below);
its FY2020-FY2025 columns are identical to the §1a table. Auditor both years: Weaver and Tidwell; unmodified
opinion; FAC flags "internal control deficiency disclosed = Yes", material weakness = No, going concern = No,
not low-risk (fac_general_hisd.json). FAC findings / findings_text return no rows for either year
(fac_findings_*_2019-06-CENSUS-0000174326.json, ..._2018-...json); these are Census-era records migrated to
GSA (auditee_uei = GSA_MIGRATION), so the finding detail may simply not have been migrated — not verified
against the audit PDFs.
| Program (summary-file line) | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 (for reference) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total federal expenditures (SEFA) (l.82) | 345,229,820 | 325,864,703 | 347,690,150 |
| ESSER (84.425) (l.65) | - | - | 76,418,652 |
| Title I-A (84.010) (l.27) | 106,444,112 | 100,035,304 | 81,772,372 |
| IDEA-B + Preschool (84.027/84.173) (l.31, 37) | 39,230,226 | 40,777,069 | 41,344,438 |
| Title II-A (84.367) (l.54) | 11,852,614 | 10,954,445 | 10,154,362 |
| Title III-A (84.365) (l.52) | 10,275,388 | 8,288,747 | 5,531,694 |
| Title IV-A (84.424) (l.63) | 1,135,112 | 4,592,643 | 4,091,218 |
| Perkins CTE (84.048) (l.33) | 2,717,683 | 3,001,005 | 2,853,384 |
| 21st CCLC (84.287) (l.46) | 3,923,964 | 3,217,612 | 3,080,697 |
| Child nutrition cluster + CACFP (l.2-5, 7) | 120,965,560 | 132,154,823 | 96,734,322 |
| Hurricane Education Recovery (84.938; Harvey) (l.68) | 29,836,468 | 150,273 | 712,829 |
| Teacher & School Leader Incentive (84.374) (l.59) | 1,972,971 | 6,703,992 | 10,845,419 |
| School Improvement Grants (84.377) (l.60) | 4,934,024 | 4,829,288 | 4,253,887 |
| Race to the Top - District (84.416) (l.62) | 5,133,997 | 2,226,361 | - |
| Magnet Schools Assistance (84.165) (l.35) | 2,487,035 | 3,812,683 | 4,286,475 |
| FEMA Public Assistance (97.036) (l.81) | 364,348 | 15,682 | 552,158 |
- Pre-ESSER baseline: ~$326-347M a year of federal expenditure (FY2018-FY2020), of which Title I was $82-106M and child nutrition $97-132M. ESSER more than doubled the total at the FY2023 peak ($836.6M); FY2025 ($389.6M) is back to ~1.1-1.2× the pre-COVID level.
- Title I fell before COVID: $106.4M (FY2018) → $100.0M (FY2019) → $81.8M (FY2020), then rose to $167.2M by FY2024 (§1a). FY2018 included $29.8M of Hurricane Harvey education recovery (84.938) — the largest one-off pre-COVID federal item. A negative 84.938 adjustment of −$10.7M appears in FY2023 (l.68).
- Several competitive grants ran out between FY2018 and FY2022: Race to the Top-District (last FY2019), School Improvement Grants (last FY2022, $88K), TSL incentive grants (peak $10.8M FY2020, last FY2022).
- Major programs (FAC
is_major): FY2018 — child nutrition, Hurricane Education Recovery, Race to the Top- District, School Improvement Grants, 21st CCLC; FY2019 — Title I, IDEA-B/Preschool, Title II-A, Title III, Title IV-A, Perkins, Magnet Schools, TSL/Teacher Incentive Fund. - PEIMS cross-check: AF federal revenue 2018-19 was $331.4M (
sources/tea_peims/pwr/pwr_actual_2019_101912.txtline 14) vs. SEFA FY2019 expenditures $325.9M (different bases: PEIMS revenue incl. commodities/SHARS coding). - FLAG vs. TEA FIRST: HISD's FIRST pages report a material weakness in internal controls for FY2019 (indicator
2.B "No") and FY2020-FY2021 (indicator 17 "Ceiling Failed", C ratings) — see
notes/tea_peims.md§6 and H4 — while FAC's federal-program flags show "deficiency" but not "material weakness". The weakness was presumably in financial-statement controls; the FY2019-FY2021 ACFRs were not checked here. - FY2017 and FY2016 audits (Deloitte & Touche) exist in
fac_general_hisd.json(totals $299.3M and $294.0M) but their award detail was not downloaded.