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Superintendent backs 3% COLA as Savannah-Chatham County board weighs millage scenarios and budget trade-offs
Summary
Board members reviewed a proposed FY27 budget that requests $683.7M for departments and schools and a total proposed budget of $708.8M when mandatory personnel costs are added; the superintendent recommended a 3% cost-of-living adjustment while staff presented millage-rate scenarios that would change how many strategic investments are funded.
The Savannah-Chatham County board discussed the fiscal 2027 budget in a May committee meeting where staff and consultants outlined personnel cost drivers, strategic investments and several millage-rate scenarios.
Sheena Gordon of Alvarez & Marsal told the board that “in total, as of today, the total FY27 budget request for the departments and the schools is $683,700,000, which reflects a 2% increase from the revised budget of FY26,” and that mandatory salary and benefit growth, step increases and a proposed COLA would bring the full FY27 request to $708,800,000. Gordon also said the team is reviewing textbook funding and other items presented at the April board workshop.
Ramon Ray presented personnel cost scenarios and outlined COLA options. “The recommendation on the superintendent is 3.3% at this point,” he said while listing scenarios that range from 1% up through a CPI-level option. The superintendent reiterated a preference for prioritizing educators: she said a 3% COLA would be an “investment” in staff to help them keep pace with local cost-of-living pressures.
Board members were split on trade-offs. Miss Snowden said she “thoroughly, thoroughly support[s] the 3%,” citing the strain on educators; other members urged caution. Mister Moss warned about the effect on taxpayers and renters, saying the district is “the highest taxing entity here” and urging the board to consider relief for residents. Several members pressed for a stronger return-on-investment analysis before increasing ongoing expenditures, and asked staff to provide a clearer breakout of COLA versus step increases.
Staff and consultants walked the board through revenue-model assumptions: an estimated 5% growth in taxable property valuations, changes in QBE (quality-based education) earnings per student, and a projected enrollment decline of about 1.2%. Under those assumptions the presenters estimated the district’s revenue would be just under $712,000,000 — leaving a modest surplus (about $3.1M) against the proposed request — but they cautioned the model depends on the final tax digest and state allotments.
The presentation included millage-rate scenarios: holding the millage constant would cover the budget request; decreasing the millage by 0.121 mills could balance the budget while reducing some strategic investments; a 0.15-mil cut would require about $700,000 in reductions; lowering to 17.0 mills would require roughly $5.2M in cuts; and a full rollback scenario would necessitate about $13M in reductions, affecting most strategic initiatives.
There were no final votes on budget or millage in the committee meeting. Committee procedure motions were handled at the start: the agenda and the minutes were moved, seconded and approved. Staff said the board will hold additional public hearings later that evening and another in about a week, and will continue budget refinements once the tax assessor’s digest and state QBE allocations are final.
Next steps: staff will return to the board with further refinements to personnel cost modeling (including a clearer step-versus-COLA breakdown), updated revenue estimates when the tax digest is available, and refined recommendations for which strategic investments to fund under different millage scenarios. The board did not take a final budget or millage vote at the May committee meeting.
