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City Schools of Decatur tentatively keeps millage at 20.3%, approves $127.9M FY26 budget
Summary
The Decatur school board on a unanimous vote tentatively kept the maintenance-and-operations millage at 20.3 and approved a $127,859,888 final budget for fiscal year 2026, using a projected beginning fund balance of about $20.8 million to balance the plan.
The City Schools of Decatur Board of Education on a unanimous vote on Tuesday tentatively kept the maintenance-and-operations millage at 20.3 mills and approved a $127,859,888 final budget for fiscal year 2026.
The board approved the recommended budget after the district's chief financial officer, Dr. Lonita Broom, told trustees that higher-than-expected property tax collections and other revenue projections allowed the district to begin FY26 with a projected fund balance of about $20.8 million. "To develop a more realistic budget closer to where we think we will end this year, we will use fiscal year 25 projected ending fund balance of $20,800,000 at the beginning fund balance for fiscal year 26," Broom said during her presentation.
The final appropriation across all funds is $127,859,888, which the board approved by motion. The package includes the general fund, capital, special revenue (grants) and school nutrition budgets. Under the final plan, the general fund appropriation is approximately $111.86 million; capital and slot funds total about $9.1 million in expenditures with roughly $11.5 million in anticipated slot revenue; special revenue (grants) were budgeted at roughly $2.79 million; and the school nutrition program was budgeted for about $4.0 million in expenditures and roughly $3.4 million in revenue, requiring a general-fund supplement of approximately $728,500.
Why it matters: the board considered two millage scenarios. At the higher 20.8-mill option, staff estimated the district would need to deduct about $1.5 million from the fund balance and would result in an ending fund-balance share of about 17 percent of expenditures — above the board policy target range. A 20.3-mill rate was presented by administration as compliant with board policy DCF's recommended fund-balance range and sufficient to cover the budget without driving the fund-balance percentage above the board’s target.
Board discussion focused on transparency and long-term projection assumptions. Broom briefed trustees on a recent unexpected distribution from DeKalb County — an $3.9 million transfer related to prior intangible-tax adjustments — that materially improved FY25 revenue projections and therefore the FY26 starting balance. Broom also explained the district used a conservative digest-growth assumption for multi-year projections and that continuing work on the district’s ERP and tighter budget controls are expected to reduce recurring unallocated amounts.
Formal actions: Board member Herndon moved to tentatively approve the 20.3 millage rate for maintenance and operations; Board member Anderson seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Board member Johnson Davis moved to approve the FY26 final budget; Board member Herndon seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
What comes next: The district will hold the statutorily required tax hearings in June before adopting a final millage. Trustees also discussed continuing multi-year budget planning and implementing zero-based reviews of operational requests for FY27 to limit future deficit projections.
