The Simpson County School Board held their initial budget hearing for the 2018-2019 school year on June 26. The proposed budget for the upcoming school year will be almost $36 million.
Revenues are close at $35,639,267.42. Local taxes will account for $9, 691,568.00 with state revenue of $17,787,441.92, federal revenue of $543,945, and sixteenth section revenue of $246,250, for total revenues of $28,269,204,92.
Expenditures will be $26 million, but debt service along with other expenses must be accounted for.
This budget is expected to result in a 4 percent increase for taxpayers.
There is also a plan to have school resource officers, who will be law enforcement officers, at each campus.
These figures represent an increase in funding from the state. Last year state funding to the county school district was $16,802,873. This year state funding to Simpson County is $17,060,223. That amount, however, still does not meet the full funding formula for the Mississippi Adequate Education Funding, which the Mississippi Legislature voted down, and places a large burden on local tax payers.
The largest part of the local budget, 53 percent, goes to Instructional Services. Another 38.5 percent goes to Support Services. Non-Instructional Services gets 6.9 percent, and the remainder goes to Ancillary Services.
The request for the school year about to be completed was $9,211,732,69. The new request is $9,695, 228, including a $490.424 debt service on a 3 mil 10 to 20 year note for construction.
The budget has not been approved at this point. It will be adopted in an upcoming meeting of the school board.
