Beaufort Co. schools’ 2021 budget has eye-catching price tag. What’s proposed?
Beaufort County School District plans to increase pay for employees and improve security at schools next year — but the price tag might make some taxpayers wince.
The school board voted 8-3 Tuesday to approve the proposed $274.3 million budget for 2021-22. William Smith, David Striebinger and Rachel Wisnefski voted no.
Smith said he wanted more opportunities for community input prior to the vote. Wisnefski said she wanted a tighter budget. Striebinger did not give a reason for his vote.
In the budget, the district is asking the county to increase the tax rate on secondary residences, such as apartment buildings or vacation homes — along with businesses, vehicles and other properties — from 114 mills to 121.6 mills. That’s a $114 tax increase for the owner of a second home worth $200,000.
While the budget has been approved by the school board, it still needs final approval from Beaufort County Council in the form of three public votes. The first hearing, which is title-only, will take place at 6 p.m. Monday. The other hearings will take place June 14 and 28.
This is a change from last year’s budget, which was approved as a “temporary budget” and identical to the 2019-20 budget due to the pandemic. If approved, the new budget will go into effect July 1.
Here are four things to know about the budget going into the county council hearings:
It’s a $20 million increase from last year’s budget
The most eye-catching detail of the budget is the price tag — it’s $274.2 million, compared to the $254.3 million budget for 2019-20 and 2020-21.
The largest chunk of that increase is $7.8 million in federal and state mandates, including back pay for annual raises that were frozen during the pandemic and a 5% pay raise for bus drivers. The district expects about a $7 million increase in state funding this year, chief financial officer Tonya Crosby told board members Tuesday.
Another $4.2 million is directed at restoring an annual raise step for second-year teachers and increasing the maximum number of years employees can work and get an annual raise from 24 to 25.
To fund these increases, the district suggests raising the tax rate on secondary residences.
For the owner of a second home worth $400,000, it’s a $182 increase.
Security guards are coming to elementary schools
One of the other large increases is a $1 million line item to hire 15 private security guards for the district’s elementary schools.
The request for security guards at each elementary school was originally made in 2019.
While each district middle and high school has its own school resource officer assigned from Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office or a town police department, district elementary schools have been sharing five community resource officers who also police the county’s private schools. In total, the five officers patrol more than 30 schools, which has led to infrequent campus visits in past years.
In the 2019-20 school year, Red Cedar and Port Royal elementary schools each got their own school resource officer, district spokeswoman Candace Bruder said.
More than $80 million in COVID relief funds
One thing isn’t included in the budget — the $82.1 million in COVID relief funding that the district received from the federal government in the past 18 months.
So far, the district has announced how it will spend $31.2 million of the money, which will be paid out of the district’s pocket and then reimbursed by the government.
The relief funds can’t be used to fill in the blanks on the general budget, and instead must go toward COVID-related issues such as addressing learning loss, returning to face-to-face instruction, holding summer and afterschool programs and increasing school cleanliness.
As of Wednesday, the district has spent about $7.7 million in relief funds and gotten reimbursed for $6 million, Crosby said. That spending addressed teacher training, technology needs for virtual classes, contact tracing, sanitation and student summer camps.
On April 30, the district was approved to receive $50.9 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. An application on how the district plans to use that funding is due in August.
How the public can weigh in
Those with questions about the budget can submit them to budget@beaufort.k12.sc.us or call 843-322-5928. They’ll receive a response on the phone or in an email. Crosby said Tuesday that 90 people had viewed the budget forum video since it was published Friday and that she’d received about five questions.
Members of the public can also sign up for public comment related to the budget at county council meetings.