Collierville holds public hearing on FY2025-26 town and schools budgets; vote set for June 9

Collierville officials presented the proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budgets for the town and Collierville Schools during a public hearing; the Board of Mayor and Aldermen will consider adopting the budgets at its June 9 meeting. No vote was taken at the hearing.

Collierville Schools Director of Schools Dr. Russell Dyer summarized the school board's approved budget, saying the school system planned a cost-of-living increase of 3% for all employees and a step increase for eligible staff. The district would add a new step 20 to the teacher pay schedule to benefit long-tenured teachers and proposes a mid-year bonus program that includes a $2,000 portion funded by state dollars and a $500 bonus for other eligible employees; substitute teachers would be eligible for a $250 bonus.

The school budget presented totaled $132,351,973, according to Dr. Dyer. He said the budget included an additional $6,224,491 for teacher salaries and benefits compared with the prior year and projected K-12 enrollment of 9,509 students under a new projection tool the district is using.

Dr. Dyer listed staffing additions the school budget would fund if adopted: 15 general-education teachers, five special-education teachers, two career-and-technical teachers, one school counselor, two instructional coaches (one for each middle school on a pilot basis) and one general maintenance technician for operations. He also said capital work this summer includes major interior renovations at West Collierville Middle School (including a $250,000 elevator), continued renovations at Crosswind Elementary and ground improvements at Collierville High School.

Town staff, led in presentation by Finance Director Felisa Wells and budget staff, described the town's proposed operating budget and capital investment program. The town reported serving about 36.5 square miles with an estimated 2025 population of 55,789 and said the general fund is the primary discretionary fund for operations. The proposed general fund revenues were presented as approximately $93.6 million with expenditures of about $85.5 million; staff projected an $8 million surplus that would be transferred to the capital investment program (CIP).

The town budget emphasizes public safety and infrastructure: staff said 47.4% of general fund spending supports public safety (police, fire, ambulance, court operations, code enforcement and animal control), 24.2% supports infrastructure (paving, street repair, drainage and facilities), and 11.3% is committed to education support (maintenance-of-effort payment, debt service on the high school, school resource officers and crossing guards).

Key town budget items presented included a 5% general wage increase for town employees, funding for three new patrol officers and phase two of the patrol officer pay plan, continued investments in IT and network infrastructure (including an ERP implementation), and a $14 million CIP. The Water and Sewer Fund was presented with approximately $17.9 million in revenue and $17.8 million in expenditures; staff recommended continuing a previously approved 10-year rate schedule with a proposed $1.35 rate increase in FY26 that would raise the average household monthly bill by about $2.67, leaving a projected fund balance of roughly $172,000. The Sanitation Fund will buy a new garbage truck and brush truck; staff noted the fund's balance is declining and future fee adjustments are likely. The town staff said recycling collection will continue but is not a profit center and carries costs for the town.

Mayor Frasier and board members thanked staff and employees for the months of work preparing the budgets. The public hearing remained open until town staff closed comments; a resident asked whether the budget included recycling funding and staff confirmed recycling continues and that the program is not a revenue source. The board will consider resolutions to adopt the town and Collierville Schools budgets at the June 9 meeting; if approved then, the budget would take effect July 1, 2025.

Direct quotes in this article come from the meeting transcript.