Nassau County School District Budget 2017-18

Nassau County School Superintendent Dr. Kathy Burns

Submitted by Dr. Kathy Burns
Superintendent, Nassau County School District
November 5, 2016 1:00 p.m.

 

On September 28, 2017, the Nassau County School Board approved the District’s 2017-18 budget in the amount of $160,175,887.90. The board also approved the required local effort millage as 4.350 mills. The Discretionary Millage was set at .748 mills and the Capital Outlay Millage was set at 1.5 mills. The district’s budget is made up of many different categories of funding. These categories include:

 

The FTE Funding comes from the State. Our legislators determine the amount districts receive per student based on many factors.

Required Local Effort funding comes from the local taxpayers. As our taxable values have increased, the amount received locally is coming close to matching the state funding. A homeowner with an assessed value of $225,000 and eligible for the $25,000 school taxes homestead exemption saved $71.80 in FY 2017 and another $59.20 in FY 2018 in school taxes as a result of reductions to the Required Local Effort. The maximum Required Local Effort must be levied in order to receive $45,244,892 from the state.

Capital millage is a portion of the Nassau County School Board tax that homeowners pay annually. Capital millage funds may only be used for capital projects. The district is required to have a 5-year Capital Outlay Project plan. This assists in prioritizing new construction as well as capital improvement projects. Over the past ten years, the maximum allowable local capital outlay millage has been reduced by the legislature. The district relies on capital millage funds as well as impact fees to plan and build without long-term debt. Example: Wildlight Elementary’s cost of approximately $25,000,000 was funded from millage and impact fee monies primarily.

The Discretionary Millage has been a part of the Legislative package for funding education for over twenty years now. It helps to fund areas of the budget for which we do not receive full funding from the state to operate mandated operational costs such as transportation.

The District receives additional funds from the Federal Government for the operation of the School Nutrition program and other programs such as Title I and IDEA. The district receives $6,819,090.21 in funding for Federal Grant Programs and $3,690,500 is expected to be received for the Food and Nutrition program in addition to the $2,062,000 expected to be collected for the sale on breakfast and lunches in the district.

There are many laws that govern the use of funds and the reporting of funds received by the school board. The district is audited annually by the Office of the Auditor General and has monitoring visits by state and federal agencies on a rotational basis to ensure we are meeting the legal requirements for the use of funding received by the district. In order to be transparent concerning our finances, financial documents are posted on our website including the annual audits.

Florida’s K-12 education spending ranked 42nd in the United States. Florida’s average teacher salary ranked 36th in the United States. Per student funding for 2016-2017 year from the Fourth Florida Education Finance Program Calculation was $7,230.18. Based on the final reported General Fund expenditures, the district spent $7,410.67. The difference in funding was generated from other local sources not included in the state funding formula such as funds received through Medicaid Claiming, Workforce Development Funds, and non-federal grant funds. There are many needs relating to quality instruction that must be funded. Over 79% of the District Budget is salaries and benefits for employees. The district is also required to maintain a 3% reserve.

The citizens of Nassau County have entrusted their greatest possession, their children, to the Nassau County School District. They have also made financial sacrifices so that the School District has adequate funding to provide our children with the best possible education. As a steward of that public trust, it’s important that the Nassau County School District strives to be effective, efficient, and excellent with the funding provided.