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$186M budget, pay raises okayed for county schools
Unlike in previous years, contract negotiations have been settled before the start of the fiscal year.
By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published September 14, 2005
INVERNESS - The School Board approved Tuesday a $186-million budget for this fiscal year and agreed to give pay raises for administrators, teachers as well as support and blue-collar workers totaling $1.609-million.
Tuesday's meeting marked the first time in recent years that the board adopted a final budget as well as pay raise packages for all school district employees. In previous years, contract negotiations with bargaining teams had not been settled before the start of the fiscal year.
"This is the first year I have seen everybody smile," said board member Linda Powers.
The new budget surpasses last year's $173-million spending plan and calls for a 7.924 mill tax rate. The current rate is 8.146.
One mill is equivalent to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessed, nonexempt real property. The new tax rate means that the owner of a home appraised at $125,000 who claims the standard $25,000 homestead exemption will pay $792.40 to support schools. Last year, the bill would have been $814.16.
The bigger spending plan will help pay for increasing expenses, including salary increases, soaring fuel and energy costs, and higher employee insurance and workers' compensation.
Under the new pay raise packages, the district will give raises ranging from $1,600 to $2,000 for school administrators. Those pay raises will cost the district $161,500.
The pay raise package for teachers and support workers totals $1.192-million. Under that plan, the district will pay an additional $1,450 to the most experienced teachers and $700 to all others on the salary scale.
Union and nonunion support workers will earn 25 cents more per hour, and the most experienced would get a 35-cents-per-hour increase.
Blue-collar workers - including bus drivers, custodians, mechanics, maintenance and food service workers - will receive raises of 45 cents per hour for the district's most experienced workers and 35 cents per hour for all others. The blue-collar worker pay raise package totals $215,314.
The raises are retroactive to July 1.
--Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.
[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]
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