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Jackson County school officials say budget is balanced as millage rate holds near 15.395
Summary
At a required millage hearing, Anna Dodge said the Jackson County School System has a balanced budget and highlighted rising personnel and benefits costs, a $1.4 million payoff for Heroes Elementary and a lowered millage rate of 15.395; she urged patience on final tax digest timing.
Anna Dodge addressed the board during the second of three public millage meetings, saying the district has adopted a balanced budget and does not plan to draw on fund balance this year. "We have balanced our budget, we are, we have no plans of eating into fund balance this year," Dodge said.
Dodge outlined significant cost pressures that the district cannot control, including state health insurance and teacher retirement contributions. She said the district’s employer share for state health runs more than $21,000 per certified staff member and close to $17,000 for classified staff, and that the year-to-year impact on the budget is about $2.7 million. "The cost of the total cost for state health for us, for the school system, is over $21,000,000 a year," she said.
Dodge said the district has set aside a little over $1,400,000 to completely pay off Heroes Elementary and noted the recent opening of T. Rose Elementary allowed the removal of several portable classrooms from multiple schools. She also said a state increase in student-transportation funding and nearly $50,000 in additional safety funding per facility are recent developments that affect the budget.
On millage, Dodge said the combined operating and bond millage is the lowest in roughly two decades and identified the current levy as 15.395 mills. She emphasized timing challenges with the local property-tax digest, saying fiscal planning must begin before the digest is finalized and that the district is working with the county to improve the schedule for budgeting.
Dodge also noted that county tax-collection practices shift revenue — the county tax commissioner retains 2% of collections — and that the first five mills the district levies are remitted to the state under the QBE/local fair-share process and redistributed in part to other counties.
The presentation concluded with a five-year millage-history graphic and a reminder of a third required millage meeting scheduled for Friday morning.
