DOE and County Focus on Upcoming Budget Deadlines
Jefferson County and Jefferson County Department of Education are looking at a quickly approaching deadline to complete the proposed budget document for the fiscal year 2019/20. With both the Jefferson County Budget Committee and the Jefferson County School Board hosting several budget related meetings this month, the hope is to have a balanced budget document to present to the Jefferson County Commission in June, before the expiration of the current fiscal year which ends June 30, 2019.
While the Department of Education appears to be on the way to a balanced budget to present to the Budget Committee later this month, the County side of the proposed budget is still sitting $1.3 million dollars in the red following presentations from non profits and county departments. The Budget Committee faced departmental requests late last month and will review them again at their next budget work session. They will also get a first look at the proposed school budget which may include a 2% across the board raise for all employees including supplements. While the School Board has had the opportunity to go over their budget and ask questions, no official action can be taken to approve or change the budget document until their voting meeting later this week. In addition to the inclusion of raises, the School Board also discussed the possibility of requesting a $500,000 match from the County Commission for Capital Projects that are needed across the county schools. The proposed budget has an additional $300,000 (which will be combined with the currently budgeted $200,000 for a combined $500,000) that will be allocated for projects that are identified from a professional inspection of buildings that identify areas of need. Should the Board vote to make the request of matching funds it would likely be before the Budget Committee this month. At least one Board Member has voiced interest in the inclusion of a 23rd step in the step raises but it is unclear if that will be included in the proposes budget document.
As for filling the $1.3 million hole that the Budget Committee is facing, assistance could be found when the adjusted tax rate is set and the price of a penny is known. Should the adjusted rate be less than the current $2.35 property tax rate it would provide the opportunity for the Budget Committee to raise taxes back to the $2.35 mark (which would actually be a property tax increase) and pick up some funds to partially fill the hole. Until the adjust is made and the worth of a penny is known, the the Budget Committee is largely in a holding pattern, short of making sweeping cuts, in their effort to find $1.3 million dollars to send a balanced budget to the full body for approval.
