Bibb BOE tentatively approves millage increase to fund raises

In an expected move, the Bibb County school board tentatively approved a property tax increase for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The 2-mill increase was approved 6-1 at a called meeting Thursday, with Daryl Morton as the lone opposition. Board member Tom Hudson said that he’s been advocating a millage rate increase for several years now, but other board members were not in favor until now.

“I think we waited until we got to bare bones,” Hudson said.

Board Vice President Jason Downey was absent.

The millage rate increase came into play to fund a 3-percent raise for employees, which was included in Gov. Nathan Deal’s budget announcement this year. Even though Morton opposed the millage increase to 19.945 mills, he said he was in favor of higher pay for employees.

“These folks deserve a raise,” he said.

Rather than a permanent increase, though, Morton said he would’ve preferred a one-time bonus while the board gave the public more time for consideration and input similar to what took place prior to last year’s ESPLOST vote.

“I don’t feel like we did the same thing here,” he said.

Morton added that while Deal announced the raise for teachers, he didn’t actually fund a pay increase at the state level. Instead, he just added money back to districts’ funding to get them closer to the state’s Quality Basic Education formula, which Morton described as “gaming” the local officials.

He said state officials should have increased the state salary schedule and funded that increase fully.

“There’s a fair way to do this,” he said.

The legally required process for a millage increase calls for three public hearings. The full tax report also will be published in The Telegraph later this week, said Ron Collier, the district’s chief financial officer, which will allow stakeholders to be informed ahead of the hearings.

“The purpose of the hearing is to allow the public to express their concerns,” he said.

The first hearings are scheduled at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 9. The third hearing is set for at 6 p.m. Aug. 16, to be followed by the board’s regular meeting where the millage rate increase would likely gain final approval.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Bibb BOE tentatively approves millage increase to fund raises."