Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:49PM

Hall school FY 2022 budget includes full rollback and one provision not everyone liked

GAINESVILLE – The Hall County Board of Education was split in its vote over the motion to give preliminary approval to the Fiscal Year 2022 school budget Monday evening.

The motion presented to the board contained two elements and Vice-Chairman Nath Morris objected to the second portion of the motion, a move that would provide funding for healthcare insurance for board members.

Morris said he liked the tentative FY 2022 budget, one that included a full rollback on the millage rate (more on that budget below), but didn’t feel right in funding healthcare insurance for board members even though such action is approved by the State of Georgia and in practice across the state.

“As I have expressed before,” Morris began, “I am not for taxpayer money for health insurance premiums for board members.”

Hall County School Superintendent Will Schofield told those in the audience, “Approximately ten years ago Georgia Code made the health insurance that is available to all of our employees also available to boards of education and members who chose to access that health insurance, but we’ve never done that before because we’ve never had board members who said (they are) interested in that.”

“This will be the first year we offer that to any board member,” Schofield said.  “And so I think it would be healthy, so that there’s no secrets for anyone, that I’m asking this board to approve funding because it’s already legal.”

“Several of our neighbors in districts across the state do that; there’s some strong opinions about that, but this will be the first year that we do it, and again, we don’t do secrets in Hall County,” Schofield added.

Morris said, “I’ve known about health insurance for board members as long as it has been a code…insurance premiums, I think, is a personal responsibility.”

The motion presented to the board and seconded contained both approval of funding of board members health insurance coverage and preliminary approval of the FY2022 budget.  The vote was four in favor, and one (Nath Morris) opposed.

One additional public hearing on the FY 2022 budget will happen at the board’s meeting on June 28th, and that budget will contain funding for board member health insurance coverage.

“Because you are doing a full rollback,” Schofield said of the proposed General Fund budget, “there are no requirements for hearings, but every year that I have been here you have wanted to have a hearing and give the public an opportunity to speak on the budget.”

“The intent of this board, all along, has been to meet the rollback rate this year…of 1.2-mils,” Schofield added, “which is about a 4-percent decrease in the tax rate for Hall County property owners.”

School officials said the new budget reflects $21-million of federal CARES Act funding on the revenue side, and a significant increase in trauma and mental health funding due to issues created by the pandemic, as well as sustainable pay rate hikes for school personnel on the expenditure side.

Public comment will be welcomed when the board meets to give final consideration to the FY2022 budget on Monday, June 28th, at the Hall County School District headquarters building on Green Street, beginning at 5:00 p.m.

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