Brooke County Schools board warns of $7.68 million drop in local tax revenue, approves proposed levy rates

Brooke County Schools officials told the board that the district faces a substantial decline in local tax revenue and approved proposed levy rates at the meeting.

A district official told trustees the district expects roughly a $7,680,000 decrease in local tax revenue compared with last year, attributing the shortfall to a drop in gas-and-oil royalty payments. "We knew last year or this year, we were gonna expect a 7 to $10,000,000 decrease in local tax revenue because of the gas and oil royalty, dip," the official said, adding later, "$7,680,000 down in comparison to tax revenues from last year." The official said the district has planned and maintained reserves to manage the decline and avoid immediate cuts to essential services.

The presenter said payroll remains the district's largest expense, noting, "Payroll is undoubtedly our largest expense. It is 80% of our budget." Trustees were told that, because of the revenue decline, the district plans to defer major projects and focus on maintaining core operations and funded maintenance projects that are already paid for by the state.

Board members moved to approve the recommended levy rates as presented; the motion carried unanimously. The board also approved other related facilities and budget items without recorded opposition.

The presentation emphasized transparency: the official offered to provide bank-account readouts on request and said the administration would supply financial readouts during future updates. Next procedural steps are implementation of the approved levy rates and continued monitoring of revenues and expenditures as the district finalizes its fiscal planning.