Director of Financial Services Dee Wrisley presented the budget amendment to the board due to midterm adjustments.
“The state has cut us 2 percent for nurses and 2 percent for transportation,” Wrisley said. “But we’ve also had some increases in revenue to make up for it.”
Wrisley said tax revenue and payments from the board’s insurance company to pay for damage incurred from recent storms account for some of the increased income.
“There were also some increases in expenditures since some employees earned certificates, and we also had to pay for the repairs and maintenance as a result of that damage,” Wrisley said.
According to Wrisley there will still remain a few variables in the budget until the end of the fiscal year, such as utility bills; however, she said they were expected to come in under budget.
Also during the meeting, the board approved three resolutions related to the issuance of bonds in order to borrow against incoming SPLOST revenue: a bond resolution, an intercept resolution and a post-issuance policies and procedures resolution.
Attorney for the board Jim Parnell was on-hand, along with representatives from Morgan/Keegan, to administer the paperwork, review the terms of the loan and answer any questions the board may have had.
“The first resolution approves the bond and sets up the payments and interest rate,” said Parnell. “The second states that you will participate in the state’s intercept program, where the state of Georgia will intercept the state-level funds you get and use it to make payments for you if you, for any reason, can’t make the payments. This will also lower your interest rate. The third resolution says you will comply with certain policies and procedures after the bonds are issued.”
The board also signed a fourth resolution, a purchase agreement, stating the board will hold up their end of the deal until all the paperwork has cleared and they receive the bonds on June 28. As part of the bond resolution, the board will begin payments on the bonds on April 1, 2013, and continue payments through Oct. 1 2017. The board received an interest rate of 0.867 percent on the $5 million. Making the total cost of the loan $5.44 million.
$1.2 million will immediately be placed in an escrow account to pay the loan that was taken out in 2006. The rest will be used to pay for projects the board wants to begin right away.
“You are expected to receive $2.34 million a year from SPLOST revenue,” said Morgan/Keegan representative Bill Camp. “So $1.1 million of that will be used to pay your debt service. The rest you can use as it comes in for your other projects.”
In other business, the board:
• Approved the budget for the Career, Technical and Educational vocational plan, which has also seen cuts from federal funding.
• Tabled any action on purchasing new buses until FY 2013 begins, as the system will receive more funds for their bus replacement allotment at that time.
• Awarded bids for paving projects to A&S Pavement Maintenance Inc. of Lithia Springs to pave portions of the parking lots and drive areas at Haralson County High School and Haralson County Middle School.
• Tabled action on awarding bids for improvements to the HCHS track.
• Awarded a bid to resurface the tennis courts at HCHS.
• Approved an agreement with the city of Tallapoosa for the use of the Tallapoosa Gym. The city will be allowed to use the facility for recreation purposes and will take over insurance and utility costs.
• Renewed yearly waivers from the state for non-traditional programs, block scheduling, teacher work days, and class size exemption.
• Reviewed several policies, which are available for public review on the BOE’s web site: www.haralson.k12.ga.us.
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