City school leaders presented a healthy budget to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday morning and will not be requesting an increase in ad valorem taxes.
The city council was pleased to have both an in-person meeting with school leaders surrounding the next fiscal year’s budget and to see that the district’s trimmed budget will not require an increase in the ad valorem request.
“In the past, they would simply have sent it (the budget) to us, and then we would sign it,” said Mayor Diane Delaware. “But our ordinances do say that the school board will present its budget to us. We are working diligently to ensure that we follow these ordinances.”
Superintendent Dr. Darron Edwards said he welcomes open meetings with the city council, particularly when it comes to finances.
“We definitely want to be transparent,” Edwards said. “What better way to be transparent than to do it in person?”
Delaware reminded Edwards the city ordinances also state that the school district is to make quarterly reports to the city council. Edwards assured her that practice would continue in the future.
The District’s Budget
Letitia Johnson, director of business affairs with the school district, said the district will operate with a $12.8 million budget for the upcoming 2018 fiscal school year. She also said the district will receive $2.2 million from the city in ad valorem taxes, which is a decrease from the previous year’s $2.3 million request.
“Our request based on this year is $89,000 less than what we asked for in the previous year,” Johnson said. “And the city has done a great job in making sure the ad valorem collections are forwarded to the school district each month.”
The city school district will also not be requesting an increase in ad valorem taxes from the city. School leaders have contributed that to reduced expenditures.
Johnson said the district will be spending about $155,000 in purchasing textbooks district-wide.
“We are also buying mobile units for our elementary school because of an increase in student enrollment,” Johnson said. “We plan on purchasing another school bus because our fleet is old, and we are trying to increase that year by year. And we are planning on library enhancements and upgrades.”
The city council accepted the district’s budget, thanking school leaders for a detailed budget and professional presentation.
