- April 18, 2024
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The Flagler County School Board adopted the state-mandated 2017-18 millage rate of 6.639, which is the lowest in 23 years, at the School Board workshop and public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 5. This year, property owners will pay $6.639 for every $1,000 in taxable value.
The rate results in $6,962 to be spent per student in Flagler Schools for the current school year, ranking Flagler County the third lowest out of the 67 Florida counties. Meanwhile, Flagler County has the sixth highest Required Local Effort property tax out of the Florida districts, according to School Board documents.
“(It’s the) lowest tax rate in 23 years. I don’t think anybody is going to be complaining about that,” School Board member Colleen Conklin said.
Tom Tant, Flagler Schools chief financial officer, said this means the district will have to reduce its budget by $400,000 in October. The 2017-18 current general funds budget is $100,508,532.
“The state always gives us a new budget in December, and it always goes down,” Tant said. “So, I really don’t think I’m going to have as much money as we have in the budget now. We’re very restrictive on spending anything in the general fund.”
Tant explained some of the effects the adopted rate will have on Flagler Schools:
Capital disbursement will go to Flagler County public schools, plus a charter school, Imagine School at Town Center. The money will not go to Flagler County’s other charter school, Palm Harbor Academy, as it earned a “D” grade ranking this year and an “F” the previous school year, ruling it ineligible to receive these funds.
Flagler Schools attorney Kristy Gavin later said Palm Harbor Academy will be presenting a school improvement plan at a future date.
Flagler Schools Chief Financial Officer Tom Tant also noted that the district is expected to receive seven new school buses in March 2018.
The air-conditioned, 77 passenger buses are long overdue, he said.
“We should be ordering 10 buses a year,” Tant said. “We’re falling way behind. The average age of a fleet in Florida is about 10 years and ours are going on 15.”
The buses will cost about $1,130. Tant explained that the motors are required to be in the front of the bus because the transportation routes include dirt roads, which would cause the motor to collect dust if it were in the back of the bus.
School Board member Andy Dance said 94 of the 106 Flagler Schools buses have over 150,000 miles and are 15 years old or older.
“I think it just highlights that even if we look at different prioritization, we’re going to be patching the buses together if we don’t replace them at a quicker rate than we’re doing,” Dance said.
Email Paige Wilson at [email protected].
