www.dadeinfo.com

By JULIE HUBBARD
It’s not the right time to ask property owners to ante up more tax money, Bibb County school board members said as they tentatively adopted the system’s millage rate.
The board voted unanimously in a called meeting Thursday to keep the school system’s millage rate for fiscal 2011 at 17.9 mills, although doing so won’t generate all the money in property tax collections that board members initially were counting on.

A revised tax digest in late July showed that local tax money for the school system dropped $423,302 from the original digest figures.

Regardless of the shortfall, school board members said they aren’t comfortable asking taxpayers for more.

“Everybody is in a tough situation. It’s not a time to be talking about raising taxes,” board member Susan Middleton said. “We have to make do with what we’ve got to gain the confidence of the community.”

By keeping the millage rate at 17.9 mills, it means an owner of a $100,000 home in Bibb County would pay about $540 in taxes to help fund Bibb’s public schools, officials said.

The board had increased taxes in February when setting its millage rate for fiscal 2010, and that also weighed on the board, board President Gary Bechtel said.

“Everybody (on the board) had that in consideration,” he said.

Not only do school officials expect less funding from local taxes this school year, but they also faced an unexpected $317,821 state and federal shortfall that will require either changes to the Bibb school board’s $178.5 million budget or taking money from its roughly $12.4 million reserve.

School officials put a $2.8 million contingency in the budget to help offset budget cuts, and they expect $2 million in payments of owed property taxes due this past school year will help offset the budget.

The school system was told July 22 that Gov. Sonny Perdue had issued an order requiring all state agencies, except school districts, to withhold 4 percent of fiscal 2011 budget payments due to a continued decline in state revenue.

Since, the state office of planning and budget has asked school districts to submit a 2 percent budget reduction plan should the governor revisit the issue.

A 4 percent cut would mean a $3.8 million loss for Bibb County schools, and a 2 percent cut would mean a $1.9 million loss.

Ron Collier, the Bibb school system’s chief financial officer, said the board also needs to be aware that Georgia Power electric rate increases will kick in this school year and an approved charter school, Macon Academy of Excellence, is set to start in 2011. At some point, that could pull away further state resources for the district.

The school district will advertise its tentative millage rate starting Tuesday and plans a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 24, followed by a final adoption at 6 p.m.

To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.

Interesting part in the article is about the charter school I wonder what would happen if all the home schoolers started a Dade County Homeschool Charter School? I bet they could rent out a part of the South Dade Community Center if need be.

The Board discussed the possibility of joining the Georgia School Board Association (GSBA) and the Georgia School Superintendent Association in filing an amicus brief against the Charter School Commission. Superintendent Patty Priest said that there would be no cost to the Dade County School System in joining the brief. “If a charter school popped up around this area, then local revenue would be calculated against both of the systems,” Priest said. “Charter Schools take away local control but still use tax dollars.” She said that the GSBA and the GSSA have looked into the situation and feel that the brief would be the best for the public school systems. Any action on the issue was tabled until next month’s meeting.
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By: Ben Benton
IF YOU GO

The Board of Education will meet Thursday for a public hearing at 6 p.m. followed by a called board meeting. The meeting will be at Dade County Schools central office at 52 Tradition Lane, Trenton, Ga. For more information, call 706-657-4361.

PROPOSED INCREASE IMPACT

The millage rate is applied per $1,000 of taxable property.

* 12.42: Current

* 12.92: Proposed

* $19: Additional annual tax on $100,000 home

* $200,000: Estimated revenue produced

Source: Dade County Schools

A half-mill property tax increase could be approved by the Dade County school board Thursday in an attempt to boost funding for the cash-strapped district.

The hike is up for a third public hearing before board members cast votes on the proposed increase.

Ben Hill, owner of a local accounting firm and a lifelong resident of Dade, said officials should look for savings elsewhere before hiking taxes amid the job losses that have plagued county residents over the past couple of years.

“I don’t think that this school system has tightened their belt in the manner that they should have tightened,” said Hill, 65. “It’s just spend, spend, spend.”

He suggested officials study Chattooga County’s switch to a four-day school week to cut transportation and utility costs. Chattooga officials estimate the schedule, approved last month in a 3-2 decision, will save about $260,000, though one official was worried about the impact of long school days on young children.

But system money problems arise from more than operating costs, Dade Schools Superintendent Patty Priest said.

Priest said the proposed increase from 12.42 to 12.92 mills per $1,000 of taxable property would produce another $200,000 annually for the school system. That is a fraction of the $1.5 million in state cuts the system endured over the past two budget cycles, she said, but it could help avoid borrowing money to operate.

The proposed tax hike follows a number of recent cost-saving moves such as cutting the school year by five days, furloughing teachers for seven days and administrators for 10, she said.

On Aug. 4, board member Ronnie Page cast the lone no vote on the budget containing the proposed tax increase, but he could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Board Chairwoman Carolyn Bradford said the increase must be passed to avoid worsening the system’s financial problems. Without the increase, the school system might be forced to borrow money to make payroll until state funding is allocated for the fiscal year, Bradford said.

It’s likely the state Legislature will slice away more money during more midterm cuts this winter, she said.

“Next year, the budget looks even worse,” she said.