School System to Vote on FY ’17 Budget Thursday

CLEVELAND, Ga. — Despite losing about $1.2 million in revenue as a result of the senior tax exemption White County School Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Wilson said after Tuesday’s meeting the FY 2017 spending plan would generate enough revenue to cover expenditures.

That’s the good news. The not so good news is that balancing the budget will require a one-half mil tax increase. “That translates to only about $44-$45 per year on a $250,000 home,” Wilson said.

The budget that will be proposed for approval Thursday evening, calls for $37,713,612 in general fund revenue and 37,691,799 in expenditures.

The most difficult task in balancing this year’s budget, Wilson said, was overcoming the loss in revenue from the senior tax exemption. “This is the second year for that exemption,” Wilson said. “Last year, we lost about $800,000 in revenue. This year it was about $1.2 million.”

About 90 percent of expenditures in the new budget will go to pay personnel and about 4 percent to fuel and transportation costs. While the state recommended a 3 percent salary increase for school system personnel, White County chose to implement a 2.5 percent increase.

The school system has also operated without several key administrative personnel for several years and will do so again in 2017, including Human Resources Director, one federal program position and a facilities manager.