Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel Costs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance director: 3% raise would require $1.59M from fund balance without millage
Summary
Finance staff told the board a 3% cost-of-living raise for employees could be accommodated without a millage increase only by using about $1,590,000 in fund balance; staff presented hybrid millage/fund-balance options for scaling out recurring costs.
Finance director Mr. Pettit presented courses of action for employee pay increases and the funding trade-offs trustees would face. He told the board a 1% raise would balance the budget under the baseline assumptions, while 2% or 3% raises create deficits unless the board supplements with fund balance or levies property mills.
"So we would need $1,590,000 to balance the budget with a 3% raise and no millage levied additionally," Mr. Pettit said, offering hybrid options that mix partial mill levies with a fund-balance supplement as a path to scale out recurring costs. He cautioned that relying on fund balance year after year is not sustainable without a plan to reduce that reliance.
Mr. Pettit also noted the board could split the difference by levying part of the necessary mills now and planning for reassessment or other revenue next year, and that 2027's property reassessment could materially affect available revenue.
