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Board workshop outlines 2–3% raise options and millage choices as budget gaps remain
Summary
Finance staff told the Cherokee County School Board the district could recommend a 3% cost-of-living raise but would need about $1.59 million from fund balance to do so without increasing millage; the presentation offered hybrid options to spread the cost between mills and fund balance and scheduled a first reading in May.
At a budget workshop, Cherokee County School District finance staff presented options to fund employee pay increases and walked the board through revenue, fund-balance projections and millage scenarios.
Mister Petty, the finance presenter, said the district’s baseline (defined as no salary changes) shows the budget is not yet balanced and highlighted that salaries account for roughly 85% of expenditures. He told the board: "So we would need $1,590,000 to balance the budget with a 3% raise and no millage levied additionally." The presentation laid out three courses of action: a 1% raise that would balance the budget, or 2%–3% raises that would require supplementing fund balance, levying additional mills, or a hybrid split of both.
The presentation noted local revenue assumptions (ad valorem real-estate collections of about $35 million, roughly $5 million in fee-in-lieu, and $2 million in delinquent collections) and that state revenue figures were based on the current SC House budget proposal. Mr. Petty also cautioned that 2027 is a reassessment year and that property reassessments could materially affect the value of a mill.
Why it matters: the board must decide whether to prioritize a higher raise now (and use fund balance or millage) or to recommend a lower raise that would not require immediate fund-balance supplementation. Mr. Petty recommended the board consider a hybrid approach if they choose a 2%–3% raise, splitting the gap between a limited millage and some fund-balance use, and then scale out of the fund balance after the reassessment year.
The board will receive more detail and supplemental spreadsheets ahead of a scheduled first reading on May 11 and a final reading and approval in June.
