UPDATE (May 19, 8:40 p.m.): The Rockdale School board voted 4-3 for the option with a 1.51 milage rate increase and no days cut from the calendar. Voting for the milage rate increase option were Chairman Wales Barksdale, members Darlene Hotchkiss, Jean Yontz, and Brad Smith. Voting against were board members Katrina Young, Jim McBrayer, and Don McKinney.

Young, who voted against the increase, said "After listening to all the discussion and with the way things are in the economy, I felt this was a good option for us to consider for the school system."

McBrayer, who also voted against the increse, said teachers would be paid 190 days with the increase. "I'm an ex-teacher, that's good. but the bottom line is we had a milage increase last year. It's tough to ask the citizens to go along with a milage increase two years in a row. I felt like the economic environment wasn't right."

Yontz, who voted for the milage rate increase, said "It's such a hard decision. We've already been stripped of so much monetarily.

"I'm a senior citizen. I don't want to pay more taxes. But I want the children of Rockdale County educated. And that's what it takes - money," she said. "And if the property values drop like they did last year, we won't even get what we got last year.

"As hard of a decision as it is, that's the fairest way. Instead of penalizing our educators, I think it's a fairer way to have everyone help out."

Smith, who brought up the option of a milage rate increase for discussion, said he was undecided at first.  "Most people will probably pay less taxes this year than they did last year. That's the only reason I brought it up," Smith said.

Previously, Chief Financial Officer Lee Davis said Tax Commissioner Dan Ray estimated in February values would drop about 7.5 percent.

With a drop of 5 percent in value, owners of homes between $100,000 to $300,000 would pay between $11 less to $12 more a year, according to estimates drawn up by Davis. The average home in Rockdale is reportedly about $150,000.

 Even if values did not go down, owners of homes between $100,000 to $300,000 would pay between about $38 to $160 more a year, which is about $3 to $13 more a month, said Smith.

"I brought it up. I'll stand by it," said Smith, of his vote for the rate increase and against a calendar cut. "I'm going to sleep tonight if we can pay our teachers what they're due."

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(May 19, 6:40 p.m.) Rockdale County school board members grappled with budget options that would either cut six staff days from the school year or raise the milage rate about 1.51 mils during the finance committee's meeting Thursday evening. The school board will vote on the tentative budget at tonight's meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at Heritage High School's auditorium. (Check back to www.rockdalenews.com for an update on the vote)

Rockdale County Public Schools had originally cut 6 staff days for a savings of about $3.3 million as part of budget cutting measures. Last year, the school system did not furlough or cut days but did raise the milage rate 1.99.

Chief Financial Officer Lee Davis explained that Tax Commissioner Dan Ray had given him an estimate in February that the tax digest might go down around 7.5 percent, but that could go down even further with assessment appeals. That would mean less would be collected in local taxes for education.

Davis said a property owner that saw a 6.37 percent or more reduction in the value of their home would not see an increase in their tax bill for education. A home that was about $100,000

Board member Don McKinney said he would not be voting for a milage rate increase. "Nobody's getting a social security increase. Food and gas is going up. A lot of old people are out of work, retired, and supporting children or grandchildren. A lot of people have lost jobs," he explained. "I just can't vote to increase the milage."

Board member Darlene Hotchkiss said "I understand what you're saying... My biggest hang up is, is it good business - and we're in the business of educating our children - to adopt a budget where we tell our employees that we can't afford to pay them.

"Our teachers are what our budget should be driven around," she said.

"I worked real hard to make sure the milage rate went down. But then I have even more trouble adopting a budget that doesn't pay for my employees."

"Next month, will they come and yell?" she said, referring to public hearings when the milage rate would be adopted in July. "Absolutely. But we have to understand what we're doing either way."

Board member Brad Smith said, "I'm not a tax and spend person. But we're talking about the education of our children." However, he did not indicate whether he'd vote for a tax increase or not. "I just brought it up as an option because it wasn't even discussed."

Jim McBrayer, the newest school board member, said he wouldn't be voting for a milage rate increase and didn't think the board should vote for a milage rate increase two years in a row.  "I think it'd be sending the wrong message to the community economically."

Hotchkiss asked RCPS counsel Jack Lance whether the board could tentatively adopt one option now but adopt another option later in June during the final budget adoption. Lance said that was technically possible, but politically the board might need more public notification time.