The Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education will consider their budgets for the next fiscal year during two separate meetings tonight.
Oak Ridge Superintendent Tom Bailey will present his proposed budget to the school board during a 5:30 p.m. work session today at the School Administration Building on New York Avenue.
The City Council will consider the municipal budget in the first of two readings at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building Courtroom on South Tulane Avenue. There will also be a public hearing.
After today’s meeting, School Board members will conduct a line-by-line review of the proposed budget during a 5:30 p.m. work session Tuesday. That meeting will also be at the School Administration Building.
The proposed city budget does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include a 1.5 percent pay raise for municipal employees.
The city would give the schools the same amount as last year, or roughly $14.6 million.
General fund municipal expenditures would total about $19.5 million.
Nine new staff members would be added to help the city comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to stop all sewer system overflows by 2015.
Highlights of the proposed city budget are available in a memo from Oak Ridge Finance Director Janice McGinnis to City Manager Mark Watson.
The next fiscal year begins July 1.
kay williamson says
Well I certainly hope Mark Watson cuts some of the Fat, I know he has looked at a great deal of the departments and he’s very good at turning things around, He is very good at doing what is the best for our city. We are the lucky one’s to have such a good city leader, thanks Mark
Mike M says
Yes, fat needs to be cut where there is some. The ORS Superintendent proposed a pretty much no frills “skinny” budget tonight. We’ll lose about 10 teacher positions and 6.5 teacher assistant positions but it permits the Woodlawn structural issues to be fixed and completes another infrastructure project (Head End Room) which will save money over years to come.