May 17, 2018 3 min read

Three Greene County schools are looking at tax increases for the upcoming school year.

Central Greene School Board passed its draft budget at Tuesday’s board meeting that includes a tax increase of .8755 mills with anticipated expenditures at $34.7 million.

The future of coal is a major point of contention for the district, Superintendent Helen McCracken said, adding the board plans to meet to work on the budget ahead of passing a finalized version at their regular board meeting June 19.

“It puts us, in my opinion, in a predicament where you can’t quantify exactly what the detriment will be to our budget in the next year and the years to come. There are projections, but you can never be sure,” McCracken said. “I cannot control it. I wish I could The district is going to react appropriately and see what the future holds.”

As coal is mined from district property, that impacts property values and taxable income, and the district needs to be prepared for those issues, she said. Retirement and other costs also continue to rise, McCracken added, and healthcare costs have increased six percent between last year and this year.

Jefferson-Morgan superintendent Joseph Orr said the district also plans to increase taxes, but still within the inflationary index.

The board plans to finalize its budget in June after a preliminary budget approval Tuesday. The district is looking at $14.3 million overall, up from last year’s budget of $14.1 million.

The district’s tax rate will be 29 mills with the 0.92 mill increase. Orr said the district feels good about maintaining that rate within the inflationary index. Revenues are down, especially funding from the state, all while many school districts are seeing costs rise. Orr said insurance and paying into the state employees’ retirement system continues to be a financial strain.

But Jefferson-Morgan is trying to be creative with cost-saving measures. A vacant special education position was combined with a vacant assistant principal role to save some money.

“All districts are looking at these types of measures to save money in the long run,” Orr said.

Carmichaels business manager Julie Mascia said their district is also looking at raising taxes up to the index with their proposed budget, which should be finalized at the June 21 board meeting.

Expenses have increased about four percent overall from last year, though Mascia said Tuesday that was a preliminary number and she was continuing work to get it down further than that. Special education, retirement and salaries are major factors. Mascia said it can be difficult to anticipate special education costs from year to year.

The district is looking at a 0.9 mill tax increase to offset current building projects. Mascia said the district planned to do this until caught up with those expenses.

At Southeastern Greene, business manager Patrick Sweeney said funds are relatively consistent compared to last year and the district does not anticipate needing to raise taxes. The budget should be finalized at their May 21 board meeting with a property tax rate of 23 mills, which is in line with last year. Sweeney said expenditures have increased around $100,000 and revenue has remained steady. The board plans to vote on a 7.5 percent discount for taxes paid early, between July 1 and Sept. 30.

West Greene is in the final stages of their process, and this year’s budget is down from last year: $16.4 million from $16.75 million. The millage will remain the same at 19.96 with final approval to come June 28.