By Casey Jarmes | The News-Review
THORNBURG – During the Feb. 18 meeting of the Tri-County School Board, Superintendent Chad Straight discussed several budget options with the board. He stated that, with a 0% increase to State Supplemental Aid, the per-student funding the state gives to schools, the tax rate would likely be $11.76 per $1,000 of taxable property. This is in contrast to last year’s rate of $11.95. Straight said that, with an increase of 1.75%, which had been put forward by the state senate, the tax rate would be $11.59, assuming they left the management fund the way it is. Straight discussed several more options based on different SSA and management fund rates.
Straight explained that SSA had been increased by 2% or lower each year over the past decade, which was cutting into the district’s unspent balance, causing it to go down by close to $1 million over four years. He estimated that their unspent balance would be $2.5 million next year, which the state government would say is way too high. However, he stated that if they had kept the balance under $1 million five years ago like the state wanted, the school would now be in the negative.
Straight also mentioned the 2024 Teacher Salary Supplement bill, which increased teacher salary minimums, explaining that the state had initially given schools extra money to cover those raises, but would no longer guarantee these funds going forward. Straight stated that their budget was good, but that they were running out of different things they could do to save money and that, if funding stayed lower for three or four years, they would have to look at cutting staff. Board member Heather Schmidt stated it was hard to understand the legislature’s thought process and board member Chad McKain stated that they keep fixing one problem by creating two more.
The board decided to move their next meeting to March 25 and hold a budget hearing during that meeting. Straight stated that the tax mailers would be sent out soon, noting that they are confusing an inaccurate, because the state forces schools to send them out before SSA is decided. He stated that the legislature began requiring this mailers because they believed schools weren’t transparent enough, but that now people misunderstood things. McKain noted that the state requires schools set an inaccurate budget before they set their own budget.
