The economic impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic will force state agencies to make significant budgetary cuts.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget office and members of the Georgia General Assembly’s budgetary committees contacted state agencies May 1, which included all K-12 public schools.
“The actions we have had to take as a state and as a nation to protect the health of our citizens is significantly impacting our economy and our state revenue,” the memo read. “As you know, we have a strict constitutional mandate to create and adopt a balanced budget for our state.
“Due to the rapidly changing revenue picture for FY (fiscal year) 2021, at this time we are asking every state agency to prepare for an FY 2021 budget that includes a 14 percent reduction from their FY 2020 original base.”
Fiscal year 2021 begins July 1, and a 14 percent reduction equates to $4 million dollars for the Gilmer School System.
“At first we weren’t sure if it was going to be a full 14 percent cut for schools, and so far they’re saying it is,” Gilmer Schools Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs said Monday.
“Four million dollars is extremely painful. Eighty-five percent of our budget is personnel and the other 15 percent is made up of transportation, facilities, utilities, etc. We have immediately started looking where we can tighten the belt with the least amount of pain to our staff members.”
For now, Downs does not anticipate any new hires.
“There are some positions where people are retiring that we are not filling for the upcoming year,” said Downs. “We’re simply going to absorb those positions, which means there will be some larger class sizes in some areas. We have enjoyed being able to provide some services to our schools and personnel that we won’t be able to do in light of those budget cuts.
“I’m really hoping the economy begins to recover very quickly now that the state’s back open.”
Georgia’s year-to-date FY 2020 net tax collections total $19.23 billion, down nearly $680 million from FY 2019’s $19.91 billion, according to the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission’s Monthly Department of Revenue Collections.
Georgia’s April net tax collections ($1.03 billion)were down 35.9 percent compared to last April’s $1.84 billion.
The Georgia Department of Education has taken advantage of the CARES Act, which is part of the federal government’s $2 trillion dollar stimulus package.
The state applied for federal relief and received $457 million. The state is withholding 10 percent in case schools need more assistance in the future, dropping the total to $411 million to be distributed to school districts.
Gilmer will receive $1 million, but Downs noted “any and all unemployment has to come out of it.”
The school system currently has multiple on-going construction projects. Most notably, they include the construction of Clear Creek Elementary School, phase three renovation at Gilmer High, as well as projects associated with technology and safety.
Those projects are being completed with the use of Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) funds that cannot be redistributed to lessen the burden of a reduced budget.
“ESPLOST can only be spent on items that were on that voter referendum,” Downs said. “Even if the state cuts our 14 percent (to a lesser amount) for personnel, we still have ESPLOST we can’t spend on personnel. I’m sure the question will come up, ‘Why are they continuing to build the new elementary school?’
“ESPLOST can only be used for particular purchases that were on there (referendum) and we had already done the ESPLOST and bonded the money.”
Downs noted that school districts in more densely populated areas are exploring A/B scheduling, which would be cost prohibitive for a county like Gilmer. Plans are to continue with the planned school calendar for the 2020-2021 academic year as voted on by teachers, students and parents.
“My goal is to work with the budget in the manner that is least harmful to our people,” Downs said. “Our people are what’s most important and they make a difference with our kids every day.”