County school board OK’s tentative budget based on 4% tax revenue increase

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 8 p.m. — The Nelson County Board of Education approved the district’s tentative 2016-17 budget that assumes the district will receive a four percent property tax revenue increase over last fiscal year.

The board reviewed the budget with Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday night at the district’s Central Office on Wildcat Lane.

STATE VS. LOCAL FUNDING. For the next fiscal year, the district can expect about $15.57 million in local tax revenue and about $15.35 million in state SEEK funding.

SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) funding is based on a district’s average daily student attendance, Hockensmith explained. At this point, the SEEK funding number is an estimate.

The ratio of state funding to local funding has dropped in recent years, Hockensmith said. State funding at one time accounted for approximately 60 percent of the district’s revenue, while local taxes made up the rest. That ratio is now about 50/50.

“It’s not just here in Nelson County, but its that way across the state,” he said.

The district receives a total of approximately $4.9 million in funds for repayment of debt service for construction projects, Hockensmith said. The district has $4.6 million already slated in bond payments, and the budget update for the fall will include the debt service for the latest bonds issued to fund the ELC expansion and Thomas Nelson High School Phase III projects.

The district anticipates it will end the fiscal year with a slightly higher contingency fund that is higher than the 2 percent minimum required by the state.

Board member Damon Jackey asked Hockensmith if he anticipates changes in state funding that will impact the district’s tentative budget.

The state’s calculations for SEEK funding is subject to change between now and the fall, and that can increase or decrease the amount of money the district receives.

He also noted that the assumed 4 percent tax revenue increase means the property tax rate will more than likely change — but the change isn’t sure yet to be an increase in the tax rate.

The total property tax assessments in the county are used in calculating what change in the tax rate is required to generate the 4 percent increase in tax revenue. If the property tax assessments have increased sufficiently, the property tax rate could stay the same or even drop, he said.

The district will address the need to change the tax rate later this year.

BREAKFAST, LUNCH PRICE HIKE. The board also approved a recommendation to increase the price of district meals at Tuesday’s meeting.

The increase is triggered by the requirements of the federal Healthy, Hunger‐Free Kids Act, according to April Peach, the district’s director of school nutrition.

The law requires school districts to compare the cost between the average paid lunch prices with the federal reimbursement provided for free and paid lunches. If the average paid lunch price is less, the district must either gradually raise its paid lunch prices or provide non-federal funding to cover the difference.

The law allows the district to gradually adjust its prices to close the gap. The law caps the increase at 10 cents, but Peach said a larger increase allows the district to avoid increasing meal prices every year.

Breakfast meals at all schools will increase by 10 cents to $1.35; elementary school lunch prices will increase 25 cents to $2.25, and middle and high school lunches go from $2.25 to $2.50 beginning in August.

The meal price increase is not connected to the district’s participation in the Community Eligibility Program which provides free meals to all students at Bloomfield Elementary School, the Boston School, New Haven School and Horizons Academy, Peach said.

The last increase in school meal prices was in 2014.

BUS DRIVER, MECHANIC PAY INCREASE. After discussion, the board approved raising bus driver and mechanic pay in a move designed to make the district’s bus driver starting pay more competitive.

Other districts offer better starting pay, Hockensmith explained, and he recommended raising driver pay as a way to recruit new drivers and retain the ones the district depends on.

The hourly pay rate for new bus drivers and mechanics will go from $11.68 to $14.01. Newly hired drivers and mechanics will see 10 cents an hour annual pay increases for the first six years of employment and greater increases after that. The district’s current bus drivers will also see a pay increase, he said.

Mechanics were included in the pay schedule because they are required to be qualified as bus drivers in order to operate the buses they service.

In other business, the board:

— approved changes to the job description for the Director of Pupil Personnel due to the job becoming a full-time position in the fall. Previously, the DPP position was combined with the director of college and career readiness.

— approved keeping Smith & Co. CPAs as the district’s auditor.

— heard a report on districtwide professional growth and effectiveness activities planned for Monday, May 23.

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