EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Socorro Independent School District (SISD) Board of Trustees has approved a $25.1 million loan to assist in paying employees, according to Michael Hinojosa, the Texas Education Conservator (TEA) for the district.
The loan is a Tax and Revenue Anticipation Note, which will assist the district in “uneven in expenditure vs revenue,” Hinojosa said.
“Socorro complicated it a little bit more by now paying people twice a month. So, you have to have cash on hand to make your payroll. What complicated it, is that we (SISD) don’t receive all of our tax revenue at the beginning of the year, and we don’t get all of our state aid at the beginning of the year,” Hinojosa said.
He did highlight that although receiving a note is uncommon in other districts, SISD had not done so within the past 20 years.
James Vasquez, the interim superintendent of schools, sent out an email to SISD parents to be transparent with the district’s finances.
“While borrowing money is not ideal, it puts us (SISD) in a position to best meet the needs of our district,” Valdez said.
Vasquez explained that the funding will be received in December and January 2025. The loan is to be repaid in February 2025.
Both Hinojosa and Vasquez highlighted that the loan is a “bridge” to help get the district through the holidays.
“While this change needs to be made as soon as possible, we did not want to alter the employees’ pay schedule during the holidays,” Valdez said.
Payroll for employees will be reverted to being paid once a month at the end of the month.
Payroll for non-exempt, hourly and substitute employees will not be affected by the change and will continue to get paid twice a month.
“What my expectation is that we won’t be doing this next year. So that means there’s going to have to be many more difficult decisions, a fund balance is a reserve that allows you to cover expenses during this time,” Hinojosa said.
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