NEWBERRY — Susan Dowd, chief financial officer for the Newberry County School District, reported the District will be collecting less Fee In Lieu tax from Oscar Meyer, as reported during Monday’s Budget Work Session.

This is due to one of Oscar Meyer’s Fee in Lieu agreements expiring. With this information, it has changed Dowd’s proposed collections of Fee In Lieu Revenue for next years budget. Dowd is estimating a total of $2,528,000 for revenue in lieu of taxes. She said they will have to reduce what they are getting from the fee from Oscar Meyer by about $108,000.

She also projected Current Taxes and Operations at $16,550,000 and Delinquent Taxes at $550,000 for a local tax base subtotal of $19,628,000. In other local sources, Proviso Reimbursements from other LEAs is projected at $20,000, Interest on Investments $385,000 and Miscellaneous Local Revenue $20,000 for a subtotal from other local sources at $425,000. Total Local Revenue is projected at $20,053,000.

On the State Revenue side, Dowd reported a slight adjustment on Education Finance Act (EFA) at $15,369,889, Property Tax Relief $2,148,611, Homestead Exemption $1,200,583, Act 388/Penny Sales Tax $6,086,474, Manufacturer’s Depreciation Reimbursement $348,120, Merchants’ Inventory Tax $209,142, Motor Carrier Reimbursement $267,960, EIA Transfers for Teacher Salaries $1,876,235, State Aid to Classrooms (teacher salaries) $1,312,296, School Bus Driver’s Salary $572,104, Fringe Benefits Employer Contributions $6,857,417, PEBA Retirement Credit $363,272, Retirement Increase One Percent $144,880, Retiree Insurance $1,593,269 for a total state revenue amount of $38,350,252.

Dowd reported no changes in Food Service Indirect Cost Transfer ($164,138) or Federal Programs Indirect Cost Transfer ($118,528).

Total revenue for this year’s budget is projected at $58,685,918.

Dowd also presented budget considerations to the Board. The following are highlights from those considerations.

There is a certified position increase of $50,000 with a consideration of another $50,000, based on classroom projections, to add a teacher at Gallman Elementary School and a teacher at Newberry Middle School (NMS would come from Title One).

Also up for consideration was an administration position at the Newberry County Career Center (NCCC), with $25,000 possibly coming from Perkins Funds.

Dowd said there has also been a request to add to Reading Recovery, which increased to $420,000, and would add seven reading recovery teachers to the District. There are currently three reading recovery teachers.

In Safety and Security there was a $5,000 increase and other consideration of a $30,000 one time expense. Event security would be for $5,000 while the one time expense would be for metal detectors/wands, cameras, and could come from fund balance.

A consideration was also brought up for Transportation for $240,000 for three new activity buses estimated at $80,000 each, this could come from fund balance.

Dowd also reported a $25,000 increase in Technology for the increased costs of repair for devices, firewall and website increase costs, this would also make up for ERATE funding that is going away.

Facilities Management showed a $30,000 increase with a consideration of a one time $40,000 increase to address the increased painting needs in schools and HVAC system (from Fund Balance).

There was also an $11,000 increase to update libraries with new books.

Other highlights from the considerations include Teacher Step Increase $367,665 (Step Only); Teacher Four Percent Increase $1,339,029 (One Percent increase); Classified Step Increase $82,195 (Step Only); Classified One Percent Increase $57,635 (One Percent Increase); and Nurses $10,745 (the State mandates that nurses must get same COLA as teachers).

The total from the 2019-2020 budget considerations is $2,844,430 with an anticipated revenue of $58,685,918.

Other business:

• After returning from Executive Session, a motion was made by Board Member Ike Bledsoe and seconded by Board Member Clyde Hill to move forward with interviewing and hiring for the following positions: one teaching position at Gallman Elementary (General Funds), seven reading recovery positions District-wide (General Funds) and one teaching position at Newberry Middle School (Title One).

By Kelly Duncan

kduncan@championcarolinas.com

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3123 ext. 1868 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.