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Board reviews Fund 177 amendment to accelerate LED athletic lighting and Smyrna Elementary HVAC work
Summary
District staff described a proposed amendment to move $1,635,468 from Fund 177 to pay for LED athletic-lighting increases and phase 1 HVAC work at Smyrna Elementary; staff said the fund is largely property-tax supported and the amendment will require county commission approval.
Rutherford County Schools staff outlined a proposed Fund 177 fund-balance amendment at the March 6, 2025 work session to accelerate sports-field LED lighting and HVAC repairs at Smyrna Elementary School.
Trey (last name not provided in the transcript), speaking for the district’s facilities team, summarized the funding move: $1,635,468 would be shifted from account 34685 (committed for capital projects) to account 9130335 (maintenance and repair services — buildings). The allocation includes an $84,442 increase to a high-school LED lighting project and $1,551,026 for phase 1 of the Smyrna Elementary HVAC project, staff said.
Staff stated the change will let the district finish the Smyrna Elementary work this summer instead of waiting for the next fiscal year. A district finance speaker explained Fund 177 is primarily funded by property taxes and some adequate schools facility tax receipts, which typically arrive in February and March.
Board members pressed for context about the county’s budgeting process. One trustee asked whether the county commission might remove or reassign Fund 177 revenues; staff acknowledged recent commission conversations about the county’s allocation of “pennies” and said any use of Fund 177 fund balance for capital work will also require commission approval because it reduces the fund’s balance. Staff cautioned that the second half of the Smyrna project is already planned in next year’s budget, and buying equipment now would allow completion this summer.
No formal board vote on the amendment took place at the work session. Staff said the amendment will proceed through required county commission review and return to the board as needed for formal approval.
Trustees also asked operational questions about the LED work: staff reported that the county’s athletic-field LED upgrade budget was $6,000,000 for district athletic fields and that bids came in near $6,084,442 for outdoor athletic lighting. Staff said the outside fields upgrade is scheduled to be finished by mid-summer and future discussion will address building (indoor) LED upgrades.
