Bibb schools weigh tough choices as $23M deficit looms

After last year’s contentious budget process and a $5 million budget error, the Bibb County School District is heading into fiscal year 2027 facing a potential $23 million deficit — and taxpayers could be asked to help cover it.

According to state law, the school board must adopt, after at least two public hearings, a budget by June 30 for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The district faces an uphill battle with a depleted fund balance after the board took on a $21 million deficit last year. If the district stays the course without cutting spending or increasing taxes, its cash reserves could be exhausted by 2028.

Board members were deadlocked last summer over the district’s financial position, with much debate surrounding new staff positions and public pressure to reduce expenses. 

Two posts on the school board are also on the May 19 ballot, with the Post 7 officeholder, Daryl Morton, meeting a term limit and the Post 8 incumbent, Lisa Garrett-Boyd, facing three contenders.

Candidates for both posts have been vocal about the need for responsible spending. In May 1 Macon Melody op-eds, the Post 7 candidates — software engineer Kerry Hatcher and family therapist and small business owner Amy Morton — acknowledged the district’s challenges.

Hatcher wrote that the school board “lacks” someone “who won’t let word salad pass for an answer” as well as the public’s trust. Amy Morton, who is married to Daryl Morton, said the district is at a “pivotal moment,” one requiring a “disciplined approach to managing taxpayer dollars.” 

Tax increase on the table

Daryl Morton, who serves as the school board’s president, said it’s “painfully obvious” the district needs to correct its financial path. He said a potential tax increase “might deal with an immediate situation, but it’s clear that’s not sustainable.”

The board voted last year to increase property taxes by 5%. In a May 4 budget meeting, an increase of two mills was floated. Raising the millage rate — how much a property owner pays per $1,000 of assessed property value — by that amount could bring in an additional $9 million in revenue.

Millage is the primary lever the board controls to increase local tax revenue. Georgia law limits school districts to a millage rate of 20. The Bibb district’s rate is currently 14.674.

Rising property values — as assessed by the county — also generate additional dollars without any action from the board. However, the district’s ability to benefit from those rising values could be hindered by a new state law that caps increases in property values to the rate of inflation.

In the past, the board has occasionally rolled back the millage rate to offset the gains from rising property values. The new law, approved Monday by Gov. Brian Kemp, will limit how much assessed values can grow in the first place, shrinking both revenue gains and the board’s ability to offset them.

Daryl Morton said the impact will depend on whether the state increases funding to offset the potential lost revenue.

State mandates add to costs

The district will also have to spend more money in response to other new state laws.

One piece of legislation, approved by Kemp last week, includes putting literacy coaches in every elementary school. That mandate will cost the school district $1.24 million, of which the state will provide $1.14 million.

The district is also eyeing the impact of other changes, including one-time supplemental payments for educators. Those provisions are both hard to plan for and costly, said Eric Bush, the district’s chief financial officer.

“It’s going to make challenges for any district,” he said.

Studies could shape the path forward

District officials and board members are also exploring early recommendations from efficiency and rezoning studies being conducted by outside consultants.

The first notes on potential rezoning pitched several possibilities for moving students around to balance enrollment and maximize state funding.

Additionally, an initial review of the efficiency study conducted by Leap Frog Consulting called for streamlining processes while also upgrading technological infrastructure.

School board member Henry Ficklin said a millage increase is a “big ask” in light of the study, which, according to him, “identified so much that can be corrected and should be corrected.”

Final recommendations from both studies are expected later this summer.