School Board Revises Budget To Present To Committee
Helton informed the Board that it would require around 27 cents on the property tax rate to cover the full deficit, however there are other avenues that may be available to cover some of the overage.
The Jefferson County School Board held a Called Meeting on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at Mount Horeb Elementary School. All School Board Members were present for Roll Call.
Board Members approved, with a Motion from Cavanah and 2nd from Lowery, one General and one Federal Budget Amendment.
The thrust of the meeting centered around the proposed 2013-2014 budget that will be presented to the Jefferson County Budget Committee next week. Previously, the School Board received a tentative budget that showed a deficit of $3,177,655. Director of Schools Edmonds informed the Board that he would reassess the expenditures and see if there was any room for cuts. In Thursday’s meeting he presented the Board with $261,302 in cuts that included a reduction of two teaching units (not placed), one Speech Pathologist and one 100 day contract, as well as reductions in materials, a technology vehicle, diesel, gas, parts and State anticipated health insurance premium. Jefferson County Finance Director Helton stated that those reductions were offset by $107,768 needed for a 2% employee raise (non certified) and $66,505 increase in insurance for workers comp and building insurance. The total reduction of the proposed budget, including the off setting increases is $180,579 (including a revenue increase of $57,000).
The revised budget that will be presented to the Budget Committee will have a deficit of $2,997,507. Helton informed the Board that it would require around 27 cents on the property tax rate to cover the full deficit, however there are other avenues that may be available to cover some of the overage. The roll over amount from the current fiscal year will not be known until after the June payroll and there could be a $127,000 savings if the Sheriff’s Department picks up the cost of all County SROs. Currently, three SROs are included in the budget proposal. Board Member Bradley stated that he would like to see all SROs removed from the budget proposal and moved to the Sheriff’s budget for continuity. Some Board Members expressed concern that if the County Commission declines to fund the SROs, the schools that already have SROs would lose them if they are not included in the school budget proposal. Helton said that the County side of the budget is currently around $2 million dollars over, however he doesn’t anticipate the need for a tax increase on the County side of the budget. Some pennies may be able to be moved from debt service to cover the proposed deficit, which would most likely still require a tax increase of 10-15 cents to balance the budget, according to Helton.
Director of School Edmonds recommended that the Board approve the General Purpose Budget for fiscal year 2013-2014. Board Member Jarnigan made a Motion to accept the recommendation and was 2nd by Vines. The Motion Passed 6-1 with Bradley voting No.
Dr. Edmonds also recommended that the Board Approve the student nutrition budget and the Federal Budget for the fiscal year 2013-2014. With Motions from Rogers and Jarnigan and 2nds from Lowery and Rodgers the Board Unanimously accepted the recommendation.
