NEWTON COUNTY — The Newton County Board of Education is anticipating increases to its millage rate and revenue collections for the upcoming fiscal year.
At Tuesday’s combined work session and board meeting, the board passed a tentative FY27 budget of $259,461,966. This would mark a $13.9 million increase in revenue collections from the FY26 amended budget.
Should the figure pass as presented, it’s expected that the board would increase its millage rate from 15.25 to 16.25 mills. This would mark the first time since 2019 that the board has increased its millage rate.
Chief Financial Officer Erica Robinson dove through the numbers during Tuesday’s meeting. Robinson said that around 56% of revenues will come from state funding. This is a net increase of $1.5 million in funding but a 2% decrease in proportional balance.
Local funding is expected to rise from 42% to 44% of overall revenue collections.
The Newton County local property digest is expected to increase by 6%, according to the presentation. The district also plans to receive $670,000 from the revenue sharing agreement with the Joint Development Authority.
The proposed expenditures for FY27 are $269,865,415, which is a slight decrease from FY26. Approximately 88.6% of the money will go toward salary and benefits with textbooks and supplies at a distant second at 3.91%.
The district is projecting a decreased enrollment number of 18,292 but an increased estimated per-pupil expenditure of $14,753.
District 1 Board Member Trey Bailey noted that this $10 million difference between revenues and expenditures would result in the district utilizing money from its ending fund balance.
“I think this is a tentative budget that is still difficult for me to swallow,” Bailey said. “I would hope that we could find more ways to de[in]vest in things that would be redundant or not having the ROI we’re hoping to have.”
Bailey added that the funding percentage changes from the state have made this process difficult.
District 3 Board Member Shakila Henderson-Baker wanted further review into items that could be redundant. Henderson-Baker said that she had not heard back on those requests at the time of the meeting.
One budget cut that was presented on Tuesday was a change to the district’s retirement plan contribution. The district sought to change the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) contribution system to a match program of up to 5%. Currently, employees contribute 0.5% while the school system matches 5.5%.
Henderson-Baker was adamantly opposed to the idea, claiming that this plan would harm the “nameless and faceless” employees who make up the school system. She also added that the district does not pay into Social Security for its employees and that the current system was designed to make up for that.
“When I think about this plan, I think about how this amendment will take away from people who are nameless and faceless,” Henderson-Baker said.
Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley, III noted that this measure would save the district $4.3 million. Bradley warned board members that failing to pass the measure could result in personnel and income cuts. The board opted to table the item until its June 16 meeting after a previous motion to approve the change failed.
After discussion ended, the board voted 3-2 to pass the tentative FY27 budget, with Bailey and Henderson-Baker voting in opposition.
The board will hold two required budget meetings, one in May and one in June. Afterward, the board is set to vote on a final budget adoption at its June 16 meeting and a firm millage rate in the following months.
