Houston County school board adopts $658M budget with one-time staff bonuses

The Houston County Board of Education unanimously approved its final budget for fiscal year 2027 totaling $658 million in expenditures.

The budget passed 6-0 on June 23 after the district held its second and final public hearing. Included in the budget was a continuation of local and state step increases for staff and a 2% cost-of-living adjustment increase for all certified and classified employees, according to a Houston County School District memorandum.

At the tentative budget adoption session in May, HCSD Chief Financial Officer Michelle Morris said the 2% cost-of-living increase will raise beginning teachers’ salaries to more than 20.4% above Georgia’s state salary scale, with more experienced teachers and those holding advanced degrees earning up to 32% above the state scale.

The budget also allocated more than $4 million for one-time bonuses of $1,000 for all full-time employees and one-time bonuses of $500 for eligible part-time employees, the memo said.

The supplements will be paid in November 2026, as previously reported by The Telegraph. District officials confirmed Wednesday that the payment timeline remains unchanged.

For the sixteenth consecutive year, the budget included no work calendar adjustments or furloughs, according to the district.

When all funds and grant programs are included, the district projected $622 million in revenue and $658.8 million in expenditures.

District officials said the projected $36.7 million gap is tied to long-planned capital projects that have been in development for several years, not day-to-day operations. As major building projects move into the construction phase, funds that were received and set aside in earlier budget years will be spent during fiscal 2027.

“In other words, we are spending funds that were intentionally reserved for these specific capital projects, not using our general fund reserves to support operating expenses,” the district said Wednesday in an email.

District officials project ending FY27 with $80.2 million in reserves after increasing the estimated fund balance by $4.3 million. The ending fund balance equals to about two months of budgeted operating costs.

“The District continues to maintain a healthy general fund balance of approximately two months of operating expenditures, which provides financial stability and flexibility for the school system,” the district said. “This fund balance level helps ensure the district can manage fluctuations in revenue, unexpected expenses, and cash flow needs throughout the year.”

The budget’s spending breakdown shows that instruction accounts for 61% of the district’s general fund. Overall, about 87% of general fund expenditures are tied to staff salaries and benefits.

The budget also added 45.5 positions for FY27, including school administrators, paraprofessionals, state-mandated literacy coaches, a social worker, a bookkeeper, a teacher for the district’s new Academy of Innovation and other grant-funded support staff.

The budget assumes property tax revenue will increase by about 2.6%, based on expectations that the county’s 2026 tax digest will grow compared to last year.

District officials said the final tax digest is expected in July, and no actual changes will be known until that time.