The Walker County School Board took the next step in its 2020 budget year process on June 20. While the new numbers reflect a higher fund balance, the budget still relies on reserve funds to make revenues match expenses.
A significant factor is the implementation of Gov. Brian Kemp's $3,000 pay raise for certified personnel.
The new budget from Superintendent Damon Raines and Director of Financial Services Rachel Elliott increases revenue by $511,727, to $96,610,818, from the initial numbers presented June 17. Projected expenses were $94,602,167, down $1,496,294 from the initial review.
The changes create a bigger rainy day fund for the district. Under the latest draft, the fund balance will grow to a little more than $2 million. The previous draft cut into the fund balance, dropping it to roughly $488,500.
Raines repeated his belief that the district will save money during the fiscal year and end with an even higher fund balance.
Elliott said personnel costs make up 90% of the school budget and that the majority of cuts came from that category of the budget.
Raines said the board will review the budget for a third time at its July 9 planning meeting and vote at its regular meeting July 15, the first official action on the budget. The district will advertise the preliminary budget prior to approval, he said.
Raines and Elliott told the board that the time has arrived when the district cannot continue to use its fund balance to cover the operating budget.
We should not pay any more than we are reimbursed. We were forced to do this by the state, and we should not have to take it in the shorts.
Many Georgia school systems began using their fund balance to offset revenue deficits when shortfalls in state revenue forced the state to withhold funds calculated under the state's education funding formula. The cuts began in 2003 and reached their peak in 2010 when the state shortfall was more than $1 billion. Walker County has used fund balance on an ongoing basis since 2010.
"We can't keep class sizes where they are unless we get a revenue increase," Elliott told board members. "It was OK to budget to spend fund balance for the years that we have done it, but we are at the point where we need revenue and expenses to be equal or we are going to start going into the hole."
The majority of the meeting focused on the $3,000 pay raise for certified personnel that Kemp signed into law as part of the state budget on May 10. Board members reviewed several handouts regarding the pay raise and budget that were not made available to the Times Free Press.
The district budget includes $3.5 million for employee raises, according to Elliott. The state is covering the mandated $3,000, not including costs for federal taxes, Medicare and the state retirement program. Step raises teachers receive based on years of service are also included in the $3.5 million.
The state is providing $2,244,791 toward the total cost, leaving Walker County with about $1.1 million of local revenue needed to cover the rest.
"We should not pay anymore than we are reimbursed," said board member Bobby McNabb. "We were forced to do this by the state, and we should not have to take it in the shorts."
Most school systems have certified employees whose salary is not covered by state funding. Elliott said Walker County has approximately 840 certified employees and the state funds 733 of those. To keep things equitable, the district's preliminary budget includes a $3,000 raise for the other 67 positions as well.
"We will poll other districts and see how they are handling the $3,000," said Raines. "We will clarify that and get you some answers."
The school board will finalize the budget in August after receiving a new millage rate from the tax district. The current millage rate paid by property owners for Walker County Schools is 16.169 per $1,000 of assessed property value. If the board elects an option that includes an increase in the millage rate, three public meetings are required before a final vote to increase taxes.
Email Davis Lundy at davislundy@aol.com