The Gainesville City Board of Education adopted a spending resolution for July and August of FY2026 during its Monday meeting.
School boards are required by law to adopt a budget for the next fiscal year by June 30 each year. When a board is unable to adopt a budget before that date, the board must adopt a spending resolution for up to one-twelfth of the previous year’s budget to continue operations through August.
According to the spending resolutions, GCSS Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Williams is authorized to expend funds from all sources for both months, so long as it does not exceed that percentage. According to Chief Financial Officer Kathy Pethel, that number would be roughly $11 million.
Superintendent Williams explained why a budget has not yet been set.
‘This year is a little different than previous years, where we were able to adopt a tentative millage rate and tentative budget in May,” Williams said. “Due to the 3% and then also the floating exemption that Hall County Schools decided to maintain, it's creating a bit of a delay in us getting our preliminary digest.”
Williams said the situation is not unique to the Hall County or Gainesville school systems, but that similar instances have appeared in districts around the state.
A delay in tax assessments has also impacted the timing of the FY2026 budget.
