BURTON SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS TAX RATE AND BUDGET
The Burton School Board reviewed their proposed budget and tax rate and listened to comments from the public at their meeting Monday evening. One resident asked several questions about the budget. Board member Felton Cox said he didn’t think the board spent enough time on the budget and that he wasn’t comfortable with it. Board member Linda Hasten asked if they could look at lowering the tax rate to help property owners. The board discussed dropping the tax rate one cent. They were concerned that may cause a budget shortfall at the end of the year and it would only save the average taxpayer $14. Board President Demetrius Colvin stated that they were there to do what was in the best interest of the students. He also said that any dollar they waste is a dollar that doesn’t benefit the kids. The board voted to adopt the budget with members Hasten and Cox voting against it. The board then voted to adopt the tax rate of $1.17 per $100 valuation, the same as last year’s rate. Linda Hasten was the only member to vote against the tax rate.
In other action the board voted to approve $78,000 in budget amendments to last year’s budget in order to close it out. The new budget begins in September.
Finally, the board accepted the resignation of District Diagnostician Megan Pape. She recently received her doctorate and has accepted a position elsewhere.
I would like to wish Dr. Pape the best of luck with her new position as an Assistant Director for Resource Students with Bryan ISD. She did a great job in helping the new Burton Co op get off to a good start.
In reviewing the past Board Workshops, it appears the Board spent several months on the Master Facility Plan. The Board had one Workshop on the Budget and Tax rate, and that was two weeks before both had to be adopted. That left the Board two weeks and maybe one other meeting to review a multi million dollar budget. The Board had no reference on how the Budget was developed, what programs were cut, what was added, what was being spent on in-service and more. Two weeks before the deadline date for the budget the Board had not voted on salaries and benefits.
It is the Board’s duty to ask questions, call meetings and workshops and give the superintendent a timeline for having the budget available for review. The problem Mr. Cox and Mrs. Hasten had with the budget and tax rate was they did not know what was in it or what they were approving. The budget planning process starts in February. I suggest Mr. Cox and Mrs. Hasten start early next year.
Of course, they can still ask the superintendent all your questions, ask how they got their numbers, compare the numbers to last year’s numbers. Good luck.