School board passes slimmed-down budget that taps 'one-time' money

Superintendent Rick Smith, seated, talks with school board members David Testerman, George Ricks, Sr., and Dr. Steve Highlander, from left, before the Hamilton County Board of Education meets to rework their 2016 budget request Monday, June 1,  2015, in Chattanooga.
Superintendent Rick Smith, seated, talks with school board members David Testerman, George Ricks, Sr., and Dr. Steve Highlander, from left, before the Hamilton County Board of Education meets to rework their 2016 budget request Monday, June 1, 2015, in Chattanooga.

Teachers and other Hamilton County public school employees would get a 2 percent raise under a slimmed-down budget that the school board passed Monday by a 6-2 vote to send to the county commission for final approval.

The raise, which a school official says would be covered almost entirely by an unexpected boost in state funding, may be consolation to school employees, who initially stood to get a 5 percent increase in pay and benefits under a proposal that called on the county government to boost the school district's budget by $34 million annually.

How they voted

* Yes: David Testerman, Sue Horn, Joe Galloway, George Ricks, Steve Highlander, Karitsa Mosely * No: Rhonda Thurman, Greg Martin * Absent: Jonathan Welch

photo Hamilton County Schools finance director Christie Jordan, foreground center, speaks to members of the Hamilton County Board of Education as they meet to rework their 2016 budget request Monday, June 1, 2015, in Chattanooga.

By the numbers

* Next year's proposed general purpose budget: $350,834,788 * Current year general purpose budget: $349,821,850 * Projected savings that helped balance the budget: $1 million in retirements; $2 million from removing spouses from health insurance * Revenues tapped to balance budget: $1,012,938 from fund balance, or savings; $1.7 million from $11.7 million liquor tax settlement with city of Chattanooga; $2,742,000 additional from state Basic Education Program school funding formula; $405,038 more local property tax than expected Source: Hamilton County Department of Education

photo Members of the Hamilton County Board of Education meet to rework their 2016 budget request Monday, June 1, 2015, in Chattanooga.

That would have required a 40-cent local tax increase, or $150 annually on a house worth $150,000. County Mayor Jim Coppinger shot the bigger budget down last week, and told the school board to pass a budget that wouldn't require a tax hike.

The school board did that Monday night, by eliminating "enhancements" that schools Superintendent Rick Smith said could help make Chattanooga "the smartest city in the South," such as $4.4 million to fund art and foreign language teachers in all the elementary grades.

School officials tapped the district's bank account and one-time lawsuit settlement money and factored in savings on health insurance and retirement to come up with a roughly $351 million budget, about $1 million above the current budget.

It didn't include any layoffs or staff cuts.

"I'm proud you didn't cut positions," said Alton Park board member George Ricks, who is chairman of the board.

Christie Jordan, the schools' finance director, said the district saved $2 million more than expected because of its decision last summer to cut employees' spouses from the district's health care plan, provided spouses could get health insurance through their non-school jobs. The district expected to drop 750 spouses, she said, but actually dropped 800.

Some school board members who voted for the slimmer budget vented about having to cut the enhancements.

"We shouldn't be proud that we're paying some of the lowest salaries for teachers in the state," East Ridge board member David Testerman said. "This town should be ashamed of itself."

Brainerd board member Karitsa Mosley, a social worker, said she's talked with Chattanooga high school students who feel let down and talk about leaving.

"We can't ... be the next Charlotte with a Mayberry mentality, we just can't," Mosley said.

The budget's two opponents didn't think it should tap roughly $1 million from the district's fund balance, or bank account, or take $1.7 million from a one-time $11.7 million settlement the school district won about a year ago in a liquor tax dispute with the city of Chattanooga.

Hixson board member Greg Martin said the school board has never had a discussion about how to spend the liquor tax money.

"I'm having a hard time with this budget," Martin said. "We spent [$1.4 million in settlement money] last Thursday [on math textbooks], and now we're getting ready spend $1.7 million."

Soddy-Daisy board member Rhonda Thurman said she would "never vote to use one-time money. We need to put that money aside because some of our schools will need a lot of work."

Coppinger will present the school system's slimmed-down budget to commissioners to vote up or down this week.

In other news, Jordan unveiled the school district's new, 12-page "Guide to Understanding the Budget" that she said school board members could use to answer voters' questions. It will be posted on the school district's website, she said.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/tim.omarzu or twitter.com/TimOmarzu or 423-757-6651.

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