- April 24, 2024
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In presenting Flagler Schools' tentative tax rate and budget to the School Board, Chief Financial Officer Patty Wormeck said the 2022-23 budget is going to be tight for all schools.
"No fluff, nothing extra," she said.
The district is projected to move $1.5 million from its fund balance to balance this year's budget, Wormeck said. That would leave $5 million remaining in the fund balance at the end of the fiscal year.
"We recognize it's going to be a lean year," Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt concluded.
The board approved advertising the proposed millage rate and budget at a special board meeting July 20. The first public hearing for the millage and budget is 5:15 p.m. Aug. 2 in Training Room 3 in the Government Services Building.
The tentative budget is more than $201 million including a general fund of over $122 million. Of that, $78.5 million is budgeted for classroom instruction.
The district's proposed millage rate of 5.546 ($5.546 per $1,000 in taxable value) is the lowest it has been since it peaked in 1995-96 at 11.436 mills. But property tax revenue has increased due to property values increasing in the county by more than $2 billion, Wormeck said.
However, property tax revenue has an inverse relationship to state funding, Wormeck said.
"When our property values go up, state funding goes down for us," she said.
Board Vice Chair Colleen Conklin — filling in for Chair Trevor Tucker, who participated in the meeting remotely — said many newcomers are not aware of the state Department of Education funding formula.
"When many people relocate from other places and they hear we're flushed with property taxes that have increased so dramatically, the natural inclination is you have more revenue. The reality is that's just not true in Florida the way the funding formula works."
— COLLEEN CONKLIN
"When many people relocate from other places and they hear we're flushed with property taxes that have increased so dramatically, the natural inclination is you have more revenue," Conklin said. "The reality is that's just not true in Florida the way the funding formula works."
The district began the 2021-22 fiscal year last July with a $9.5 million fund balance, but like all school districts, Flagler's budget took a massive hit due to school vouchers. The district lost $3.5 million in state funding to scholarships for students who switched to private or home schools, Wormeck said.
The district had already budgeted $1.2 million from the fund balance. The $4.7 million total lowered the fund balance to $6.5 million.
Since then, the state has improved FTE forecasting, Wormeck said, referring to measuring full-time students over a 180-day school year, which will help districts keep track of vouchers. The tentative budget includes a $5.5 million placeholder for vouchers as well as $1 million to cover the required increase for minimum wage employees.
"We'll have a better handle on scholarships for 2022 to '23 than ever before," Wormeck said. "So we're hoping we won't have a big surprise as we had last year."
But while forecasting has improved, the board was still concerned with the district losing a large chunk in voucher money.
"So, more than ever, private schools and home schools are in competition with public schools," board member Jill Woolbright said.
