Hickman County school official seeks 4-cent tax to avert deeper cuts after 14 positions eliminated

HICKMAN COUNTY, Tenn. — A school representative identified in the transcript as Miss T told the county legislative body on May 26 that the school system has already cut 14 positions and is asking the county to approve a four-cent property tax increase to cover teacher pay raises and other needs.

"What greater impact can this county commission have than to support the education in this system," Miss T said, urging commissioners to back the revised budget that reflects four cents and $45,000 in maintenance projects.

Miss T said the school board had earlier discussed a 13-cent proposal that the board later reduced and then brought back a four-cent plan after deliberations. She also said the board considered a two-cent alternative at a recent meeting but that motion failed for lack of a second on the school-board floor. Miss T told commissioners she had already reduced staff to bring spending under control, saying the 14 eliminated positions included certified staff (teachers), paraprofessionals and some central-office roles.

Commissioners pressed for details about that process and the dollar impact of different tax options. A county commissioner summarized the difference between the two-cent and four-cent options as about $180,000. The budget committee chair and other commissioners described a planned budget-committee meeting on June 4 to resolve remaining school and solid-waste items so a countywide budget can be posted by June 5; if the committees do not finish, staff were instructed to prepare a continuing resolution as a fallback.

Several commissioners said they were frustrated with how prior budget discussions had been handled: one commissioner said the budget committee should have separated a motion rejecting a previous school submission from the guidance that accompanied it, which may have inhibited a clearer vote. Commissioners agreed to act as a committee of the whole for the meeting's school discussion but ultimately discharged that committee and postponed final action until the budget committee meets again.

The meeting record shows no countywide budget approval at the May 26 session; commissioners said they expect to revisit the school proposal and related budget items on June 4 and again during the June regular meeting. If budgets remain unresolved, county staff said a continuing resolution would keep current funding in place until Aug. 31, after which minimum-state maintenance-of-effort rules would apply.

The county did not vote on the four-cent school request on May 26; the school official requested commissioners' support and urged them to consider the broader local economic impact of further staff cuts.