HPSD proposes 2016-17 budget - WDAM-TV 7-News, Weather, Sports-Hattiesburg, MS

The Hattiesburg Public School District School Board met Friday morning to discuss the school's 2016-2017 budget. 

The proposed budget for the 2016-2017 school year is $36,087,078, with the district planning to spend $34,172,029. That means, the district is hoping to save about $2 million dollars to start replenishing its depleted general fund.

HPSD has said throughout its financial crisis that 80 to 85 percent of a school district budget is spent on salaries and benefits for personnel, which is why the district cut positions and slashed all salaries by 5 percent for the 2016-2017 school year. According to Friday's presentation, those cost-cutting measures will save the district a little more than $3 million.

The district's general fund is made of money from local, ad valorem taxes, and state, Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), sources.

HPSD said it plans to collect a proposed $16,727, 079 in ad valorem taxes in the next fiscal year that will go into its general fund. 

Ad valorem taxes are also used in the district's maintenance fund and debt repayment. It plans to request $16,606,079 of those taxes to pay for district operations and $2,120,930 for debt repayment.

Mississippi lawmakers didn't fully fund MAEP for the upcoming year, the district will receive $19,112,393. That's $1,454,103 less than the district would have received if the program had been fully funded.

Going into the 2016-17 fiscal year, HPSD has almost $200,00o less in MAEP revenue to use on expenditures. 

Mississippi school districts have until Aug. 15 to adopt a budget, but HPSD's Board of Trustees said it plans to adopt its final 2016-17 budget at its July 7 meeting.

You can view the entire budget presentation here. 

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