The Henry County School Board adopted their 2023 millage rate at the July 24 meeting. They approved maintaining 20 mills for maintenance & operations in 2023. The board also approved a bond millage rate of 3.628 mills.
Henry County Schools has levied 20 mills for district operations since 2007. Twenty mills is the maximum a school district can levy under state law. The separate bonds millage rate pays for annual debt payments on capital projects.
School Board 2023 Millage Rate
Henry County Schools receives state and local funds to pay for district operations. The district’s FY 2024 budget expects to generate $517 million dollars in revenue. From which, $250 million comes from local sources. The 2023 millage rate will collect $44 million dollars more than last year.
Teacher and staff pay raises have been a major benefactor following the increased revenue. Over the last two years, the district has raised the teacher starting salary by $7,000. The state funded $4,000 out of this increase. Bus drivers, parapros, elementary school clerks, campus monitors and clinic aides are also receiving an hourly pay raise.
Bond Millage Rate
Secondly, the district approved 3.628 mills for its bond millage rate. Funds collected for this item may only go towards debt repayment. In 2023, the bond millage rate will collect an estimated $98.2 million. The annual debt repayment costs $49.8 million.
Bond debt coincides with the education SPLOST program. Education SPLOST pays for capital projects such as new schools, classroom additions and school buses. Henry County Schools is currently in its sixth iteration of E-SPLOST.
As of June, Henry County Schools has about $328 million in bond debt. The majority — $210 million — was issued in 2021 for education SPLOST VI projects. Some of these projects include the new Birch Creek Elementary School presently under construction.
Featured image shows a group of school buses. Henry County Schools photo.
