It's a big budget, $17 million more than last year, and it requires a projected 5 percent property tax hike.
Doug Aiken hopes they can cut some of it.
"No one is so good at budgeting they can't cut some of it," Aiken said. "The larger the number, when you're talking about a quarter of a billion dollars, surely you can cut 5 percent."
School Board Vice Chairman Nath Morris said the budget was a work in progress.
"Until we do adopt the millage rate there are some places where we could continue to do some cuts and we need to look at it," Morris said. "We can go back and look at our expenditures through 11 out of 12 months compared to our budget from the previous year."
Morris said don't expect a huge amount of cutting.
"I'm talking about little amounts here and there, an example would be the ROTC program we wanted to start at West Hall; we may not be ready for it yet," Morris said. "That's $50,000, so there are some small items we may pull out."
School Superintendent Will Schofield said teacher salaries make up the biggest portion of cost increases in the 2009 county schools spending plan.
"Cost increases (to the budget) of course are always driven by salary," Schofield said.
The biggest increase is $5.6 million to add 83 additional teachers to deal with student growth. Another big cost is $5 million for state-mandated raises for certified employees.
High gas prices have taken their toll on the school board as well with $800,000 budgeted for diesel fuel cost.
Monday's night's hearing was the second of the day.
EARLIER HEARING
At a morning session, North Hall resident Russell Smith expressed concern over the potential property tax increase. He said he paid $9,000 in school taxes last year but doesn't have, and has never had, a child in the Hall County school system.
"These are hard economic times," Smith told the school board. "I work seven days a week just to make ends meet."
School board Chairman Richard Higgins said he understood Smith's concern, saying: "We're trying to be as prudent with the tax dollars as we can. We're here to educate the kids and I think we're doing a great job."
Schofield said it is "refreshing" to be part of a community that wants to be a part of the budget process.
"We're always looking for input and ways that we can improve and be more efficient," he said.
The board expects to take official action to set the millage rate at its regular meeting next Monday, which begins at 5:30 p.m.
Doug Aiken
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/6/210475