How much interest does Leander ISD earn on its day-to-day cash?

In short

• The main fund earned about $10.5 million in interest in 2024-25. That was about 2.4 cents of every dollar the fund took in (our math).¹²
• The high point was 2023-24, at about $13.2 million. In 2021-22 it was about $0.7 million.¹
• Interest is a small, up-and-down part of the budget. Property tax and state aid are far bigger.¹

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• The main fund is the district’s day-to-day account. It pays teachers, buses, utilities and other running costs.
• Cash waits before it is spent. Money comes in at some times of year and bills are paid all year. While cash waits, the district invests it and earns interest.

What the numbers show

School year	Interest earned	Share of main-fund income
2014-15	$0.36M	0.1%
2018-19	$5.37M	1.6%
2021-22	$0.73M	0.2%
2022-23	$10.37M	2.2%
2023-24	$13.17M	3.0%
2024-25	$10.50M	2.4%

Source: Texas Education Agency, financial data reported by the district. Rounding is ours.¹²

• Interest rose and fell with market rates. It was low in 2020-21 and 2021-22 and higher from 2022-23 on. That follows the ups and downs of national interest rates (our reading; rate data is not shown here).¹

The other side

• Interest is not a reliable income source. If rates fall, this money can shrink fast, as it did after 2018-19.
• A bigger cash balance earns more, but cash held is cash not spent. This page does not judge the right size of savings.
• The district does not set interest rates. Earnings also depend on how much cash it holds and where it invests it.
• The main fund’s balance fell in 2024-25. Less cash on hand can mean less interest later.¹

Questions to ask

• When will the district report its interest earnings for the latest year?
• How much of the change came from rates and how much from the cash balance, by the district’s count?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We checked every figure against its source. We reworded the other-side points so they stick to what the sources show.

What you can do or watch next

• Board packets include a monthly investment report. You can watch it there.
• See where the money comes from for the district’s bigger income sources.

What we still don’t know

• What the district earned in 2025-26. State data for that year is not out yet.
• How much of the change came from rates versus the size of the cash balance. The state data does not split them.

Footnotes

1. Texas Education Agency, PEIMS actual financial data for Leander ISD, fiscal years 2015 to 2025 (school years 2014-15 to 2024-25): general fund, revenue object 5742 (earnings from temporary deposits and investments) and total general fund revenue (objects 57xx–59xx); general fund ending balance. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Our math. Interest ÷ total main-fund revenue: 2014-15 359,245 ÷ 277,747,094 = 0.13%; 2018-19 5,365,817 ÷ 345,846,009 = 1.55%; 2021-22 727,349 ÷ 369,615,356 = 0.20%; 2022-23 10,366,560 ÷ 462,740,908 = 2.24%; 2023-24 13,167,643 ÷ 438,492,754 = 3.00%; 2024-25 10,499,472 ÷ 441,671,149 = 2.38%. Ending balance 184,890,434 (2023-24) and 157,919,744 (2024-25). ↩ ↩²