Here’s the good news: The Leon County School District is proposing a lower property tax rate for next year.
And the bad: Leon County property owners will still pay more in tax to fund the public schools.
Here’s why: Homeowners’ bills are going down to $538.40 a year per every $100,000 of assessed property value. That will generate $146 million in revenue, including a boost of $10 million more from this year.
But the proposal is still considered a tax increase, according to the Leon Schools Chief Financial Officer Katherine Sanders, because property values in the county have gone up.
The district’s tentative spending plan is up for its first public hearing and Leon County School Board vote at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with final board approval scheduled for Sept. 10.
And the entire tentative spending plan of $666 million, which includes money from local tax revenue and other sources, reflects only a $300,000 increase from the current budget.
But there are some cautionary flags in the spending plan due to fewer students enrolling in the district.
There was no public comment at Monday’s agenda review meeting at the Aquilina Howell building, and there was no apparent discord among board members on the district’s finances.
Board Chair Rosanne Wood, who also sits on the district’s environmental sustainability committee, said she was excited to see some energy-saving incentives in the budget; Superintendent Rocky Hanna reiterated his plan to make the district debt-free by 2028, if he is reelected during the current election cycle.
Why is the budget essentially the same?
According to Assistant Superintendent Billy Epting, the relatively flat budget reflects the district’s dwindling student count. It went down again to 31,769 in 2023-24 from 32,212 in 2022-23, for example.
“There is always a certain number of funds coming in, based on the number of students enrolled,” Epting said. “And our trend has now been a declining enrollment for the district.”
Several Florida school districts have made cutbacks, sometimes drastic, because of decreasing enrollment, including plans to close schools in Duval County and, most recently, in Madison County.
“Our enrollment, our income, has gone down,” Epting told the Democrat, adding that efforts to better market the district are important. Over the last five years, the district has lost 2,578 students for various reasons, including those leaving for private and charter schools.
The state covers a number of costs for the district based on how many students are enrolled. For next year’s budget, it provide the district with $184 million, or $4.8 million less than this year. For the student enrollment allocation alone, the district is expecting $120 million from the state, or $827,810 more from this year.
Epting said the number is only an estimate, so the district would probably get a little less.
“But we have budgeted based on what we expect to receive to cover expenses,” Epting said. “We may have to decrease funds in certain areas to make up for that.”
Where is the district spending the most money?
The largest allocation of spending is on staffing, which will increase to $201 million, compared to $184 million this year. The staffing plan covers salaries and school activities and gives insight into how much each school can expect based on enrollment.
This year it showed a $17 million hike because of a $5.12 million salary increase across the board for teachers. The district gave teachers an additional $3 million after 10 months of contentious bargaining.
The district is expecting $2.12 million from the state to augment teacher salaries, which is about $500,000 less than the current year.
“What we’re able to offer on top of that is going to be limited because we’re not really receiving any more money,” Epting said.
The decision to move the budget forward for a final hearing in September will be determined at the Tuesday board meeting.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached atABrown1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter/X:@AlaijahBrown3.