OTHER BUDGET HEARINGS
The following offices or groups will also present their budget requests to the commission starting at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. * County clerk * County trustee * African-American Museum building maintenance * Juvenile Court judge * Criminal Court clerk * Criminal Court judges * The Humane Educational Society * Register of deeds * District public defender * Soil Conservation * District attorney general * Hamilton County Sheriff Narcotic Enforcement Division * State sexual offenders program
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Rick Smith says $23 a year per pupil isn’t enough to run Hamilton County school system
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith has spent weeks touting his proposed 2016 school budget to the community. On Wednesday he will make his official appeal to the County Commission.
Smith’s $379 million budget, which is $34 million higher than the current year, would require an estimated 40-cent property tax increase to happen. That would raise the tax rate to $3.16 per $100 of assessed value and add $150 annually to the tax bill of a $150,000 home. The school budget was $345 million this year.
The extra money, Smith said, would go toward a 5 percent raise for teachers and staff, art and foreign language teachers in every elementary school, more graduation options for students, help cover some maintenance costs and a handful of other items he says are needed.