A financial outlook for McKinney ISD's fiscal year 2026-27 shows a potential $7.5 budget shortfall, district officials said.

The big picture: Budget discussions began ahead of the upcoming fiscal year, with McKinney ISD’s Chief Financial Officer Marlene Harbeson giving a presentation at a March 23 meeting. The budget shortfall is a projection and could change, she said.

The details: As of late March, district officials are predicting to end the 2025-26 fiscal year with a fund balance of about $93.4 million, which would result in just over $321,000 in surplus funds, according to district documents. Various factors could change that number by the time the fiscal year ends, Harbeson said. 

“As far as this year is concerned, it’s definitely a moving target,” she said.

Diving in deeper: The projected budget predicts the district will generate about $261.7 million in revenue from sources including property taxes, state revenue and federal revenue, per district documents. It shows that expenses will total an about $269.2 million, which includes costs for staffing, transportation, recapture and more.

Brush365 is set to open soon in McKinney, a company representative said.

What they will offer: The dental practice will provide a variety of services including sedation dentistry meant to lower anxiety, cosmetic dentistry and dental implants.

• 1550 S. Custer Road, Ste. 100, McKinney

Election season is just around the corner with races at the local, county and district level. In other news, a $40 million community park is set to be completed this summer in Frisco while the city of Plano is planning to establish a nonprofit hub. 

Catch up on some of the top trending stories from Community Impact's Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas. 

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University of North Texas to end, consolidate programs as university faces $45M budget shortfall

Plano to buy Harrington House for $2M nonprofit hub
 

In the nine months until Texas’ 90th legislative session begins in January, state lawmakers are expected to hold information-gathering hearings on hundreds of topics that will lay the groundwork for next year’s policymaking.

During a March 27 legislative summit in New Braunfels, four longtime lawmakers shared some of their top priorities for next year.

What they're saying: The legislators said they were focused on furthering some projects from previous legislative cycles, including water preservation initiatives and a new education savings account program.

More details: They said they also intend to study data center operations and how the large facilities impact local water supplies, noting that the legislature will work with local officials to determine how much data center regulation should happen locally and when the state should step in. 

“Does the state need to be involved? Yes,” Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, said. “Does local government need to have a say? Yes. But we’ve also got to remember, so does the private taxpayer. So we need to get a combination of all three.”