Gilmer Co. Board of Education Takes Up 2012 Budget and Possible Millage Increase

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On Monday night, at a special meeting in a nearly empty conference room, the Gilmer County Board of Education passed a tentative budget for the 2012 fiscal year. Board members stated if all goes as planned, the budget will be balanced. But, a question from Foster MacArthur, a school board member, suggested a problematic scenario, opening a seemingly old wound. MacArthur asked Superintendent Bryan Dorsey if the budget accounted for a situation in which the new custodial contract did not work out, meaning the custodians would return to being employed by the county.

“This would not constitute that half million dollars,” Dorsey said, adding that, if the county did have to return to its previous custodial situation, the county would be over budget.

The county recently entered into contracting custodial care with Southern Management to save an estimated $500,000. If the County breaks that contract, it would potentially have to spend that amount or more to reinstate the custodians as county employees.

Monday night’s proposed budget is based on a millage rate of 17.75. The county can raise the rate to 18.02 without a public hearing. The state allows a millage rate of up to 20. Also, any meeting requiring a vote must be publicly advertised two weeks in advance.

“If the tax digest drop were equally dispersed among all citizens…and we were to use a $150,000 home as an example, with this 17.75, in school taxes, you would be paying about $55 less this next year than you would this year, assuming that all disbursements were equal as far as the tax digest (goes).”
-Bryan Dorsey
Superintendent, Gilmer County Schools

In addition to passage of next year’s tentative budget, the board also passed a tentative millage increase of 1.5. This increase, however, does not include the increase the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners is considering, which will raise the county’s millage rate to 7.583. During Monday’s school board session, Board Member Gary Hyde asked Gilmer County Director of Finance Julie Swindle if the tax proposal before county commissioners had anything to do with BOE millage. Swindle explained the two were separate. “But, what goes out to the taxpayer is a combined rate,” said Swindle. Hyde pursed the issue, asking whether the BOE’s millage increases combined with the BOC’s millage increase could result in a tax increase for the citizens of Gilmer County. Ms. Swindle said that such a scenario was very likely.

Both the FY 2012 Budget and millage increase before the school board are tentative proposals. This means the proposals must receive final adoption, giving the board time to make any necessary adjustments. As such, the 2012 Budget and millage increase will be considered for final adoption at the next BOE meeting, set for 6 p.m. on August 11 in the conference room at the Gilmer County Board of Education headquarters, located at 497 Bobcat Trail.

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