Mineola ISD employees will receive an additional $1,000 payment in September, with another $1,000 planned for December if district finances remain on track.
The payments are included in the district’s 2026-27 budget, approved unanimously by the Mineola ISD Board of Trustees during a special meeting Thursday, Aug. 27.
The first payment is expected to go to all district employees before Labor Day. The second is planned for December as long as the district does not face any unexpected financial issues.
The money is intended to help offset insurance costs for employees.
Trustees adopted a general fund budget with revenues and expenditures of $24.49 million. The board also approved the district’s food service and debt service budgets.
The board adopted a total tax rate of $0.92181 per $100 of taxable value, down from $0.9304 last year. The rate includes $0.7484 for maintenance and operations and $0.17341 for interest and sinking.
Although the tax rate went down, district officials said rising property values mean the tax bill on a median-value home is expected to increase slightly.
The district is also looking at ways to reduce HVAC costs.
Mineola ISD budgeted $140,000 for HVAC maintenance during the past year but went over that amount by $253,000. Several large units have been replaced during the past two years.
District officials are considering hiring a licensed HVAC technician to handle repairs and regular maintenance. They estimate having someone on staff could save about $15,000 each time a unit needs to be replaced.
The employee would also clean coils on units throughout the district each year.
“I think that the savings we’ll see will pay for that salary. So we haven’t officially hired them yet, but that’s the plan,” Assistant Superintendent Keith Sparkman said.
Food service was another area discussed during the budget presentation. Revenues did not cover expenditures during the past year, and officials said the district faced a similar situation the year before.
Money has been included in the new budget for a possible consultant to look at food ordering, menus and costs. The district will gather more information before deciding whether to move forward.
Trustees also made changes to how the district’s fund balance is designated.
The district previously had $5 million assigned for district improvements. Officials recommended removing that designation because of a Texas Education Agency requirement that the district maintain 75 days of operating expenses in unassigned fund balance.
Instead, trustees approved assigning $1,728,023.03 for the planned auto shop. The district had about $6.25 million in unassigned fund balance at the close of the year. Final numbers will be determined during the fall audit.
The district is projecting 2025-26 revenues to finish about $1.1 million above expenditures.
Trustees also approved final amendments to the 2025-26 budget. Maintenance, transportation and extracurricular activities were among the areas that went over budget.
Higher fuel and contracted service costs affected transportation, while band uniforms and contracted services contributed to the extracurricular overage.
The board also accepted $68,512.17 in fixed assets purchased through booster clubs, activity funds, donations and Mineola Education Foundation grants.
The items included athletic equipment, a 12-foot LED scorer’s table, video equipment, an agriculture program cargo trailer, a book collection and a mobile vision screener.
The list also included a portion of the cost of the laser projection system installed in the gym. The system cost about $40,000 to $45,000 and was paid for through multiple funding sources.
All action taken during the special meeting was approved unanimously.