Stephens Co. BOE Proposing 1.45 Mill Cut in Tax Rate

Those who pay Stephens County school taxes would see that millage rate drop more than a mill under the tentative Fiscal Year 2017 budget approved unanimously Tuesday by the Stephens County Board of Education.

On Tuesday, the Stephens County school board approved that tentative Fiscal Year 2017 budget, which had just under $32.5 million in general fund revenues and about $31.75 million in general fund expenditures, creating an estimated surplus of about $740,000.

The proposed millage rate for the Stephens County school system is 18.3 mills, a cut of 1.45 mills from last year’s 19.75 millage rate and one-tenth of a mill lower than the 18.4 mills that the system was at prior to the start of the financial crisis a couple of years ago.

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey said he is very pleased to be able to put forth this budget and this millage rate.

“To be able to watch our staff come up with plans that could be orchestrated to put us back where we needed to be, to have the support of our Board of Education move forward on that, and to have the support of a great deal of our community members, our business communities, is certainly something that we can now see the fruits of that labor,” said Dorsey.

Also, Dorsey said that the tentative FY 17 budget includes pay increases for employees.

“Most of our classified folks are getting a three percent raise,” said Dorsey. “Some of our certified, it just depends on where you are, we adjusted the local teaching supplement and the more years and degrees you have, then there is an increase, a financial incentive for that.”

The budget is also built for a 180-day student school calendar.

If the budget goes as planned, Dorsey said the estimated surplus of $740,000 at the end of the next fiscal year would go into a fund balance for the school system that he expects to be at a figure slightly over $4 million at the end of this fiscal year.

Dorsey said that fund balance keeps the school system from having to borrow money to cover expenses until tax revenues come in.

Just two budget cycles ago, the Stephens County Board of Education was in the midst of budget deficits and cash flow problems, raising taxes and cutting positions to re-coup millions of dollars.

To go from there to where the system now, Dorsey said, is the result of a well-executed plan and the efforts of everyone involved.

“We knew we were going to save a lot of money because we kept the same number of students, but we have reduced our operational costs almost by one-sixth,” said Dorsey. “Once you pile up savings and get over the cash hurdle and you quit spending things on interest payments for loans and all that stuff off of your general fund side, the rewards are very quick and they are very beneficial. It is a scenario of ‘Do you like your Band-Aids ripped off slowly or do you want them pulled off quickly?’ The Board, our staff, has made some decisions about getting this pulled off quick and that we were into the fastest recovery possible.”

Dorsey noted that the school system probably employs about 80 less people now than it did a couple of years ago when the financial crisis started, even with the positions that have been and are being added back in.

The Stephens County Board of Education will vote on July 19 to approve the final Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

A vote next month will also finalize the millage rate.

To cover until then on Tuesday, the Board of Education unanimously approved a July spending resolution that Dorsey said is a precaution.

The spending resolution allows the school board to budget and spend 1/12th of the current fiscal year’s budget during the month of July.