County school board OKs budget proposal

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By NATHAN GREGORY
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The Oktibbeha County School District Board unanimously approved the proposed school district budget for the 2012-13 school year at its special call meeting Monday.

The budget has a total projected revenue of $11,223,915.96, $2,838.96 more than the 2011-12 budget of $11,221,077.

Of the amount projected for 2013, $3,467,985, or 30.89 percent, is to be generated by an ad valorem tax levy. This is an increase from last year’s figure of $3,313,969, which was 29.53 percent of the previous budget.

The only change between the two budgets, OCSD Superintendent James Covington said, was the increased value of a mill.

Money from local sources adds up to $3,987,051.82 of the total revenue. $4,518,100.16 comes from state funding, while $2,291,623.98 comes from federal funding. The remainder of the total revenue, $427,140, comes from 16th section sources.

Projected expenditures from the 2013 budget add up to $10,539,134.76. Nearly half that amount — $5,227,840.31 — is to be spent on instruction. The budget will devote $4,236,234.13 toward support services. $693,782.74 of expenditures are devoted toward 16th section expenses. $76,733,92 is to be devoted to facility acquisition and construction. Principal debt service will add up to $259,173.90, with an additional $45,369.76 of interest. Under the plan, the district would be operating under its budget by $684,781.20.

OCSD Superintendent James Covington said the district is operating on a budget in which it can succeed to provide a quality education to county school students.

“We always want to do more. We wish there was money for the fine arts and technological programs such as (Information and Communication Technology) 1 and 2,” Covington said. “There are tons of things that we want to do that we just can’t afford, but will the boys and girls be successful? Yes.”