WARNER ROBINS -- The Houston County Board of Education will look to approve its tentative budget Tuesday for fiscal year 2013.

The budget mostly mirrors a preliminary view Stephen Thublin, assistant superintendent for finance and business operations, presented to board members in May, but features a $3 million drop in expenditures due to state mandated changes to health care costs for certified employees.

The tentative budget calls for $215 million in revenue for the general fund and $217 million in expenditures for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The overall budget allocates for $279 million in revenue and $307 million in expenses, Thublin told board members Monday at a monthly study session at Houston County Career Academy.

Calculations were made with the expectation that the district will take in an additional 250 to 300 students, which is in line with new enrollment numbers in recent years.

Thublin also pointed out that the budget included no work calendar adjustments of furloughs.

“That is unheard of,” he said, adding that districts throughout the state have needed to put such measures in place to balance their budgets.

The budget includes 14 additional certified positions, including six special education slots and an assistant principal.

The new positions account for $885,000 of the budget, Thublin said.

More than 90 percent of the budget will go toward personnel salary and benefits, he said.

If board members approve the tentative budget Tuesday, they will wait the mandatory two weeks advertising time and reconvene at a called meeting June 27 to approve and adopt the budget, Thublin said.

The state requires that districts approve their FY 2013 budgets by June 30.

To contact writer Caryn Grant, call 256-9751.