The Meridian Public School District Board of Trustees held its mandated public hearing for its proposed 2024-2025 school year budget Monday afternoon ahead of its regular monthly meeting.
The proposed budget shows total revenues of $86.8 million from local, state, federal and 16th Section land sources and total expenditures of $121.1 million, said Carolyn Davis, the district’s chief financial officer. The projected budget of expenditures includes federal pandemic relief and bond issue funds already received by the district and carried over in fund balances from previous school years. The budget does not call for an increase in the tax millage rate since the district is already at its cap of 55 mills.
“In this budget, we have total projected revenue of $86,823,942,” she said.
The transfer of $11,199,586 from a general checking account or fund will give the district $98,023,528 overall in operating revenues.
Overall, state sources are expected to bring in the largest share of the budget’s operating revenue at $33.1 million, or about 38%, including $31.2 million from the new Mississippi School Funding Formula, she said.
The new formula, which became law on July 1 and replaced the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, is designed to give districts a bump in funding for students who can be more expensive to educate, such as those with special needs, who live in poverty, have dyslexia or need to learn English as a second language.
In addition to the state funding, the district will receive more than $27.7 million, or nearly 32%, from federal revenues, and local revenues are expected to bring in $25,726,727, or roughly 29%, of the operating budget, she said. Revenues from 16th Section land will account for another $226,250.
Ad valorem taxes will make up the largest share of local revenues at $23,312,977 followed by interest income at $1.2 million and student activity funds at $705,400. Breakfast and lunch sales are projected to generate $86,400 in revenue, $32,700 from tuition and band fees, $75,000 in user charges, $200,000 in transportation fees and $93,000 in other income, such as rentals and donations.
The school district already sits at its millage rate cap of 55 mills and cannot go any higher, Davis said. Any additional ad valorem taxes will come from an increase in assessed property values, and the city’s assessed valuation has increased in four of the last five years, she noted.
The city school district is projecting total expenditures of $121,125,808 plus the nearly $11.2 million in transferred funds. The largest share of the expense budget, $42,332,912, or nearly 35%, is allocated for facilities acquisition and construction, Davis said.
MPSD has several major construction projects, additions and renovations underway at numerous campuses throughout the district mostly funded through federal pandemic relief funds or a bond issue approved by city voters in 2022.
Among the capital improvement projects planned in the budget are HVAC upgrades, roof replacements, classroom additions, safety and security work at all school campuses, major additions and renovations to both middle schools, the new baseball/softball complex at Meridian High School, the replacement of the turf and new scoreboard at Ray Stadium, upgrades to the high school’s Fine Arts Building, and upgrades to elementary learning spaces, media centers, science labs, playgrounds and auditoriums.
The district’s second biggest expense will be for instruction, which includes salaries and benefits for teachers and teacher assistants, as well as supplies and materials for classrooms. Expenses of $40,463,802, or 33.4%, is projected for the instruction budget, Davis said.
Another $30,097,358 is budgeted for support services, which includes student support, improvement of instruction/media, general administration, school administration, business services, physical plant maintenance and operations, student transportation and central support services. Expenses for non-instructional services, which includes food services, is projected to be $5,287,436 with $56,550 in expenditures for 16th Section land and $2.8 million for debt service.
“To give you an overview of what the projected enrollment is, it’s a total of 4,521. That’s what this budget is based on,” Davis told board members.
She said the school board will adopt an order requesting the levying of the final ad valorem tax request at a special called board meeting Tuesday, July 30.
During its monthly meeting following the public hearing, the school board approved the district’s financial reports, cash disbursement reports and activity funds reports, as well as approved the lists of temporary and full-time employees presented by district officials for hiring.