ubmitted by Donna Beavers

Crisp County BOE

The Crisp County Board of Education approved a $44.4 million tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2018 during its May 9, 2017 meeting. The new budget includes a 2 percent raise for all full-time employees and also provides for full step pay increases for all eligible employees. The 2% raise will be approved for the Fiscal Year 2018. This raise has been added to the state salary schedule. The 3% local raise adopted last year will roll over to next year as a local supplement based on the employees FY 2017 salary.  Fiscal Year 2018 begins July 1, 2017 and runs through June 30, 2018.

The FY2018 General Fund Budget includes $34,200,272 in revenue and $35,082,577 in expenditures. The budget is based on a predicted enrollment of 3,919 students. The district’s prudent financial management has left the district in a sound financial position.  As a result, the district plans to use $882,305 million in revenue reserve to offset the shortfall in revenue. The Crisp County School System (CCSS) has remained debt free since the last principle and interest payment was made in 1996.

CCSS has experienced a rebound in our state revenue stream for the past few years. State of Georgia Quality Basic Education (QBE) revenue provides approximately 70.6% of Crisp’s revenue from predetermined formulas. The revenue related to these formulas is calculated based on the total number of students. Local Property Tax Revenue generates approximately 29.4% of Crisp County’s revenue. The value of property in Crisp County is taxed using a tax rate called millage. The Board of Education is responsible for setting the millage tax rate each year. The school millage rate has remained at the same mill for the last 6 years, since 2012.

As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we have carefully and responsibly prepared the FY2018 Budget. This budget reflects our goal to provide teaching and other appropriate educational services. This budget also reflects the mission of the CCSS to graduate competitive college and career ready students. The mandates for improving education services place significant challenges upon the budget to maintain spending controls. The Budget is a prudent plan that balances the many needs of our students with the economic realities of our county.

The proposed FY2018 budget was made available for public comment at the May 4, 2017 board meeting and will be available for public comment at the June 1, 2017 board meeting. The budget is also posted on the school systems’ website. The final budget is expected to be presented to the Board for a vote at its June 6, 2017 meeting. For additional information on the FY2018 budget, please view the CCSS website under the Resources page at www.crispschools.org.