The Houston County Board of Education held a public hearing May 13 and gave tentative approval to a $636,744,000 fiscal year 2026 budget while tentatively setting the calendar-year 2025 millage rate at 11.719 mills.

Chief Financial Officer Michelle Morris presented the budget during the hearing and described it as four major funds: a general fund with budgeted expenditures of $470,965,000 and an ending fund balance of $64,758,000; a debt service fund with $9,019,000 in expenditures and $9,165,000 ending balance; capital projects with projected expenditures of $830,000,093,964,000 (as stated in the presentation) and a fund balance of $50,662,000; and other programs (largely grants) with expected expenditures of $75,954,000 and an ending balance of $13,932,000. Morris said the overall projected expenditures total $636,744,000, with an ending fund balance of $141,680,000, and that the budget assumes no change to the millage at 11.719.

The budget includes 53 additional certified positions, step increases for certified staff, a 1% increase to the certified salary schedule, a 1% cost-of-living increase for eligible classified employees and a $1,000 supplement for full-time eligible staff. The plan also lists equipment replacements, textbooks, software subscriptions, vehicle and bus replacements, and computer refreshes totaling $16,488,401. Morris said the state revenue numbers used were the Georgia Department of Educations unofficial figures and that final property digest information from the tax commissioner will arrive in July.

The board held the statutory public hearing required under state law before voting. Miss Johnson moved to tentatively approve the fiscal year 2026 budget; the motion was seconded and carried 7-0. The board then voted 7-0 on a motion by Mr. Crockett to set the tentative millage at 11.719 mills and to authorize the required five-year history advertisement and related calculations ahead of final approval.

During the hearing, Morris emphasized that the beginning fund balance projection for FY26 is derived from April monthly financials and that the projections will be adjusted as the year-end numbers and the tax digest are finalized. No members of the public spoke for or against the budget during the hearing.

The board will finalize the budget and the actual millage rate after receiving the 2025 tax digest from the county tax commissioner and completing the rollback and related calculations.