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Instead, in a 6-5 vote Monday, council members told the school district it should use money from reserves to fully fund the proposed $175 million budget.
"It makes sense, unless (the school board) can prove otherwise, that we don't really need to raise the taxes this year in very, very difficult times because we might have a problem two or three years in the future," said Stu Rodman, chairman of the council's Finance Committee.
Council approved budgets for both county government and the school district Monday, after having tabled both budgets June 14. Although neither budget includes a tax increase for operating costs, both the county and school district plan to raise taxes to pay down debt.
Several school administrators, Board of Education members and teachers asked council members during public hearings in May and June to raise taxes on non-resident homes and commercial and personal properties by about 2 percent to fund the district's operating budget. State law exempts resident homeowners from paying school operating taxes.
The increase would have added about $21 to the tax bill for a $200,000 home. District officials said last week that council's rejection of the increase could mean $2.3 million in cuts.
Rodman, however, introduced a plan Monday he said would allow the district to keep taxes flat this year by taking an additional $2.3 million from its savings. The district already planned to use about $4 million from its $30 million reserve fund.
Rodman's plan traces the district's budget through 2014 and says the district would be able to maintain a healthy reserve without a tax increase this year as long as operating costs don't rise by more than about 2.6 percent each year. The plan would require tax increases over the next few years.
The district's budget grew by about 2.6 percent in the current year and the board asked for a similar increase for fiscal year 2010-2011.
But district officials said Rodman's plan relies on too many unknown variables that could jeopardize the district's reserve fund and high credit rating.
For example, board chairman Fred Washington Jr. said a 2.6 percent growth rate is unusual for the district and the result of the state's decision to deny cost-of-living raises to teachers during the recession.
"Those numbers are down and they are false," he said.
If the state mandates even small raises for employees in future years, the district's costs would increase significantly, Washington said.
School board member Bob Arundell said it isn't Rodman's responsibility to create his own version of the school district's budget, which was not verified by district staff.
"It's not his job to make an alternative proposal for the school board," he said. "Not any more than the school board can take the county's budget, and say, 'Well, we've looked at your budget and decided that if you did it this way, you'll be able to save taxpayers money.' "
Rodman said that if the school district discovers a problem with his plan, he expects council would be willing to reconsider the district's budget request before the tax rate is set in August.
The school board called a special meeting for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Okatie Elementary School to discuss its plans for coping with the revenue shortfall.
HOW THEY VOTED
Beaufort County Council voted 6-5 to deny a tax increase for school operations.
Against the increase:
Weston Newton
Rick Caporale
Steven Baer
Stu Rodman
Brian Flewelling
Jerry Stewart
For the increase:
Paul Sommerville
William McBride
Gerald Dawson
Herbert Glaze
Laura Von Harten
IF YOU GO
The Beaufort County Board of Education has called a special meeting to address a revenue shortfall for the 2010-11 school year for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Okatie Elementary School. A closed session of the board will be held before the meeting, said board chairman Fred Washington Jr.
COUNTY BUDGET
Beaufort County Council approved, by a 7-4 vote, a $104 million operating budget for county government and agreed to raise property taxes to pay debt.
The 1.57-mill increase means $12.56 more in taxes on a $200,000 owner-occupied home, according to a presentation by county staff.
