Hall County School Board members got their first look at a draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year at a Monday evening work session, and school system finance officials are suggesting an increase in spending of $12.8 million.
At this point, the proposed spending plan totals just over $263.5 million.
Superintendent Will Schofield explained that most of the additional expenditures will go to employee pay raises and benefits, even though the size of the employee pool will stay the same.
"Let me tell you where that money is right now," Schofield told board members. "With a two-percent raise, the salary increases equate - for our current employees - to $4.7 million...$6 million in increased benefit costs for next year."
Schofield said $3.9 million of the benefits increase would go to the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) with the remainder going to increased costs for health care insurance.
Schofield emphasized that the spending plan was in its very early stages.
"Again, this is strictly a draft at this point. We haven't even gone through and started a line-by-line...but this gives you an idea of where we are at this point," Schofield said.
He also told board members he has heard preliminary numbers that suggest the tax digest will be about five-percent, although that final number will not be verified until later in the spring. That makes Schofield hopeful that there will be no millage rate increase with the FY '18 budget.
According to the budget adoption calendar, the adoption of a tentative budget is scheduled for May 22, 2017 with a final vote on the budget on June 26, 2017.
