After no public comment and very few changes to the budget in the process, the Gainesville City School Board decided to approve the budget and millage rate unanimously.
Dr. Heather Ramsey was the only member of the board not present.
Three public hearings were held for the fiscal year 2021 budget and the millage rate, one last week, one Monday morning, and one immediately prior to the board meeting Monday evening.
"There have been no changes to the budget and no comments related to the budget at this time," said Superintendent Jeremy Williams at the meeting. "So I am requesting the FY21 final adoption of the budget with the intact salary scales."
Williams said there were some very minor changes in the budget, however, they were so small it did not impact the total amount reflected.
Immediately following the approval of the budget, the millage rate - which remained at the 2019 rate of 6.614 mills - was approved as well.
"What that means as a taxpayer, is if my property value remains the same an assessment standpoint, there is no increase or decrease to my taxes," Williams explained, as the rate was not a full rollback and required the aforementioned public hearings.
Councilmember and board treasurer Sammy Smith added before the vote that the rate of just over 6.6 mills was lower than the millage rates had been for the past six years.
"We have had an increase in our digest and we are fortunate for that, but we are also budgeting conservatively and we hope the tax-paying public realizes that we can be good stewards of our funds," said Smith.
Williams followed Smith's comment and said that when looking at expenditures for the area, Gainesville Schools had one of the lowest expenditures per student compared to neighboring systems. A link to the FY 2021 final budget is available here.
One close neighbor, the Hall County School System, will finalize their budget and millage rate on July 27. A link to their proposed budget is available here.
Also at the meeting, the board approved resolutions declaring the results of the June 2020 bond referendum and authorizing bond issuance, as well as voting to approve a bid from Carroll Daniel Construction for construction management services for the new middle school.
