May 4, 2021 at 5:30 PM - Bradley County Board of Education Work Session

Discussion:  Susan Willcutt, Finance Director, presented the 2021-2022 Budget to the Board for their consideration.  As always, the objective is to provide EVERY CHILD in BRADLEY COUNTY SCHOOLS the best possible educational opportunities and to maximize the use of available resources.  There have been many unknowns during this year, but we have also been beneficiaries of some very positive impacts.  Such as, the Technology grant, ESSER funds which allowed us to close the gap in providing every student a device, move forward with technology initiatives, and funding for the PIE Center.  Our Local Sales Tax number has increased, she told the Board.  

Sources of Revenue:

• State Revenue - BEP funds driven by our ADM.  The state legislatures passed a bill to hold our ADM numbers harmless.  Even though our ADM is down due to COVID, our BEP funding can not drop lower than our 19-20 number to calculate our BEP for 20-21.  ADA affects our local funding due to the percentage split with the City School System.  
• The Governor's 21-22 Budget - 4% increase to the salary component for positions funded in the BEP formula and only funds about 73.99% of that.  
• Local Revenue - Local Option Sales Tax, Property Tax, and Payment in Lieu of Taxes.

Expenditures:

• Salaries/Benefits
• Contract Services
• Supplies & Materials
• Utilities
• Other Charges
• Equipment & Capital Outlay

Budget Highlights:

• Funding Step Raises
• Funding a 3% across the board raises
• Funding a 2.5% Health Insurance Increase
• Funding $1.3 million for Capital Outlay, funding ESG payment, and Technology refresh for a total of $2.1 million
• Increase mileage rate from .36 to .45 cents per mile.
• Increase Substitute daily rates.

Fund Balance:

• current fund balance is approximately 9.3%
• Year-end roll will increase to between 13.5% to 14%.  
• After close of year, it is recommended to look at using some of the Fund Balance for one-time expenditures, including but not limited to, capital outlay projects.