Liberty County school board members have adopted a $160.7 million general fund budget for the coming fiscal year.
Board members, in a 5-1 vote Tuesday morning, approved the budget, which had no changes or revisions from the tentative budget presented earlier in the month. Board chair Verdell Jones thanked the system’s finance department for its work in preparing the budget.
“We appreciate everything you have done,” she said. “We know we have big cuts this year, but we are going to get through this year.”
The budget calls for $156.2 million in revenue, leaving the system to use $4.45 million from its operating reserve to make up the difference. Jones said earlier she did not want to add to the taxpayers’ burden by raising the millage rate to make up the difference.
Budget requests came in at over $161 million. Those were cut down by $3.4 million in preparing the tentative and eventual adopted budget.
The school system’s reserve covers monthly expenses of between $12-$15 million when revenues are at the lowest, such as summer and fall. The school system’s current operating reserve is around $46.7 million, which covers a little more than three months of expenses. The current fiscal year budget, which ends June 30, also used operating reserve to cover a shortfall, with about $3 million used to cover the difference in $157.5 million in spending and $154.5 in revenue.
The FY27 budget calls for a 2% increase, just under $3.2 million, in spending over the FY26 budget. The increase in revenue is nearly $1.8 million, or 1%.
The bulk of the school system’s funding, more than 62%, comes from the state. Just under 24% comes from local sources, such as property taxes, and federal funding accounts for 13.8%. Local sources are expected to account for $37.1 million in revenue, up from $32.6 million for the current fiscal year.
Liberty County schools received $100.8 million in funding from the state last year but that figure is getting cut to $97.1 million for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The school board levied a millage rate of 16.385 in 2020 but has trimmed that to 14.114.
The majority of the school system’s expenditures, $89.4 million, are directed toward instruction. Another $13.4 million is allotted to pupil services. Maintenance and operations account for more than $11.8 million in spending while $9.6 million is spent on school administration and $9.1 million goes to transportation.
Total salaries and benefits account for 82% of the budget. The school system also will be paying a larger share of employee health insurance in FY27.
The school system has an eye on several building and safety improvements to be funded through the E-SPLOST, or education-special purpose local option sales tax. Those proceeds can be used only on specific items in a list approved by voters, such as building additions or renovations or new buses. Under state law, ESPLOST revenues cannot be used for day-to-day operations, such as teachers’ salaries.
The biggest ticket item ESPLOST will fund in the next year is a HVAC system upgrade at Bradwell Institute, pegged at $3.5 million. A second phase of interior renovations at Bradwell is estimated to cost $2.2 million.
A roofing upgrade at Liberty Elementary School will take up $1.5 million in ESPLOST proceeds, and textbook adoptions will cost $1.5 million. The roof at Liberty County High School’s weightroom will be replaced, at $250,000, and another $350,000 will go toward generators and life safety enhancements at all schools.
Additions and replacements to the school system’s bus and white fleet are expected to be $825,000 and another $100,000 will be spent on new band equipment for the middle and high schools.
The school system also will set aside $2.75 million from ESPLOST to spend on a potential new school, including land acquisition, preliminary design, due diligence and reserve.