Rankin County school district requests $9.7 million funding increase
BRANDON - Officials say a state-mandated teacher pay raise, folded into Mississippi's funding formula rather than covered separately, is driving a proposed 3.75-mill increase in local school taxes.
Rankin County school officials told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 14 that the $2,000-per-teacher raise cost the district about $5.5 million, while the state provided under $2 million in additional funding. A district representative, whose identity was not confirmed in meeting records, described the funding process: "The house had a formula. They had theirs that they were going to give 2,000 and they going to add it in the formula. The Senate had one that was going to give more but funded outside. Somehow or another we ended up getting the teachers got a $2,000 raise. It got added to the formula." The speaker added, "They didn't fully fund it."
The board's attorney said the district's revised $9.7 million funding request, an 11% year-over-year increase, complies with the state's 7% cap once new growth and new programs are excluded. The Board of Supervisors is expected to adopt its budget and set millage rates Sept. 8.
The increase would add an estimated $100 to $115 annually to a $300,000 home's tax bill.