Fort Mill administration recommends 10.5-mill operations levy after state funding correction; debt rollback to soften homeowner impact

Leanne Lordo, the district's finance presenter, told the board at a special-called meeting that corrected state allocation spreadsheets reduced Fort Mill's projected state aid by $1,041,723 after errors in weighted pupil units and charter enrollment projections were discovered and reissued by the South Carolina Department of Education. She said the correction redistributed a large amount of funding to charter schools (reported in the presentation as roughly $52 million flowing to Erskin charter) and affected nearly every traditional district statewide.

Lordo said the district rechecked all local revenue sources, including updated York County tax collections and newly collected non-resident tuition fees for employee children, and concluded the district can still fund categories one through five but would need 10.5 mills for operations rather than the 8.5 mills reflected in the Senate projection. "We were optimistic when I updated the budget numbers," she said, "but the state identified errors in their calculations and they resubmitted the allocation spreadsheet to all the districts." She added that the corrected numbers put the district back at a 10.5-mill requirement to fully fund the proposed package.

To limit the net impact on taxpayers, Lordo and the board discussed using recent bond-sale results and rising assessed values to roll back debt-service millage. Lordo said the district and its bond financial advisors believe they can reduce debt-service millage by about 2.0 mills in addition to a previously expected 1.5-mill reduction, producing a roughly 3.5-mill reduction in debt-service that would lessen the burden on homeowners. "That's going to benefit every taxpayer in our Fort Mill community," Lordo said, explaining that the debt-service rollback would show up on homeowners' tax bills.

Board members pressed for clarification on how the mills combine and who benefits. Presenters explained that the recommended 10.5 mills for operations paired with a 3.5-mill rollback on debt would result in businesses and vehicles netting a lower effective increase while homeowners would see the combined effect of the two changes. Lordo cautioned that the debt rollback depends on continued favorable market conditions and county calculations and that the district will continue to monitor assessed values and possible refinancing opportunities this fall and next spring.

Lordo also highlighted per-pupil funding disparities revealed by the corrected spreadsheet: charter schools were shown receiving roughly $7,100 per pupil (Erskin cited at $7,133) while Fort Mill's allocation was reported at about $3,800 per pupil. She and board members said that difference underscores calls by districts and by the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office to treat charter allocations separately from the "big pot" so forecast-driven changes do not destabilize traditional districts' budgets.

The administration presented budget totals for the recommended 10.5-mill plan, reporting a proposed budget figure in the transcript near $27.25 million for the general fund and new items totaling about $17.7 million; the presentation also listed a net state-and-federal funding loss described as $156,000 after some smaller state increases in specific line items offset a larger classroom-aid decline ($590,391). Lordo recommended the 10.5-mill plan with a $224,000 contingency to manage the risk of future state recalculations or true-ups.

The board was scheduled to present this recommended 10.5-mill budget at a public hearing the next evening; Lordo said the administration would continue to press state agencies for clearer forecasting processes and additional face-to-face review of the allocation methodology. The board did not vote on the millage at the special session; the hearing and final vote were set for the following meeting.