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Board adopts 2026 millage rates and proposed budget; members warn amendments could shift local costs
Summary
The St. Bernard Parish School Board adopted the same millage rates for 2026 and reviewed a proposed 2026–27 budget; staff and trustees spent extensive time outlining how constitutional Amendment 3 (teacher pay/retirement changes) and Amendment 4 (inventory tax options) could alter district finances and local responsibilities.
The St. Bernard Parish School Board’s committee approved the district’s 2026 millage levies and reviewed the proposed 2026–27 general fund and special revenue budgets and salary schedule at the meeting.
Mr. Fernandez presented the budget exhibits, noting a conservative $200,000 reduction in projected sales-tax revenue and an MFP projection decrease; he said the district budget reflects step increases on the salary schedule and a net expected savings as the employer retirement rate was projected to drop (teacher-retirement rate noted as falling from 20.95% to 19.11% in the materials). “There are a few adjustments to revenues,” he said, and walked trustees through the exhibits and the special-revenue projections applied to grants and programs.
The board devoted extended discussion to two constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot. Staff and the superintendent explained Amendment 3 would direct a large trust-fund transfer into the retirement system and, in the plan proponents describe, allow a reduced employer retirement rate. The amendment would also create a permanent pay increase—proposed in ballot language as $2,250 for certificated staff and $1,125 for support staff—paid from savings the plan anticipates from lower employer retirement contributions. The superintendent warned the mechanics could leave some local revenues unreplaced: "We're going to have to dig deeper into our existing revenues to give that raise," she said, noting the district’s estimate of modest net savings after state adjustments and the possible loss of some interest-based allocations the district previously received.
Staff also reviewed Amendment 4, which would give local governments the ability to reduce or eliminate the inventory tax; the district’s assessor figures place taxable inventory in St. Bernard Parish at about $86 million, producing roughly $3.66 million annually for the school system under current law. The superintendent told trustees that removing or reducing the inventory tax locally could create a substantial multi-million-dollar annual shortfall for parish services and the school system.
The committee voted to adopt the millage rates (motion announced as passed) and to send the proposed 2026–27 budget and salary schedules forward for final consideration at the regular meeting, with a public budget hearing scheduled at the start of that meeting.
What was not resolved: several trustees raised concerns about long-term sustainability if the state actions reduce recurring local revenues; staff said any final changes triggered by the amendments would be brought back to the board for formal adoption.
