City of Rome

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

May 17th, 2017

PRESENT:

Committee Chairman, Evie McNiece

City Commissioner Bill Irmscher

City Commissioner Craig McDaniel

Finance Director Sheree Shore

City Manager Sammy Rich

Assistant City Manager Patrick Eidson

Guests: City Commissioner Sue Lee

City Commissioner Wendy Davis

City Commissioner Jamie Doss

City Commissioner Sundai Stevenson

City Clerk, Joe Smith

Lou Byars, Rome City Schools Superintendent

Brittney Wilson, Rome City Schools Asst. Superintendent

Elaina Beeman, Rome Board of Education

Cheryl Huffman, Rome Board of Education

Tim Williams, Rome City Schools

Carole Terhune, Rome City Schools

Kristin Wilder, Rome City Schools

Tashia Twyman, Rome City Schools

Absent: Assistant Finance Director, Toni Rhinehart

Chairman McNiece called the meeting to order, and the minutes from the April 19th, 2017 meeting were approved.

CALLED FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

Ms. Shore noted that there will be a called Finance committee meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Monday June 19th, here in the Sam King Room. This meeting will be right before the regularly scheduled City Commission meeting and will be solely for reviewing and approving Tax Anticipation Note bids taken that morning. The winning bid will then be approved at the subsequent meeting.

Review of Proposed 2017-2018 Rome Board of Education Budget:

Chairman McNiece welcomed all of the attending school board members and Rome City School staff to the meeting. Once a year we have this meeting in order to review the upcoming proposed City of Rome School budget. We are very proud of our school system. With that she turned the meeting over to Mr. Byars, Superintendent. The copy of the proposed budget was distributed to the attendees by the Rome City School staff.

Superintendent Byars warmly thanked the commission for allowing them to come today and present this budget and for being a good partner with the school system for many years. Before getting into the actual numbers Mr. Byars just wanted to take a minute and introduce his staff—Ms. Wilson, Tim Williams, Carole Terhune, Kristin Wilder, and Tashia Twyman. Mr. Byars noted that one of his goals going forward is to make all of the activity through the school board and system more transparent to the community and to encourage more interaction with the community. He wanted to just reiterate some important facts and statistics about the Rome City School system.

· It is a diverse system—35% black, 33% Hispanic, 25% White and 7% other.

· We have several highly recognized STEM school programs.

· Our graduation rate is 92% and over 20% of our students take Advanced Placement courses.

· We also have a high rate of passing scores on the A/P tests.

· The high school was awarded another U.S. News and World Report Silver award.

· Move on/Ready program for college and career.

· 16 Current career pathways.

· 3.5 of 5 Star for financial grading from the State.

Up front Mr. Byars noted that this proposed budget does not anticipate an increase in the millage rate.

Mr. Byars then reviewed the listing of proposed goals outlined in the budget proposal, noting particularly the improving of student advocacy and parent and community involvement noting to the committee, that the hiring of Ms. Wilder and Ms. Twyman to specifically address those goals. SACS just recently graded the system, and the system received a good score, with notes that improvement could be met in that community involvement area.

Mr. Byars also emphasized that one of their goals was the successful development of ELOST. On the proposed list for the upcoming E-LOST vote will be for the construction of a new Main Elementary—much like the current AK Davie. With the consolidation of the Main/North Heights schools, the North Heights School would be re-modeled into a system wide 6th grade academy. Also included in the projects would be a new building at the Rome High School, to specifically house an expanded College/Career academy. Mr. Byars noted that this year Rome would be pushing 1700 students and could be up to 1900 in two years. Additional space is needed and the CCA on site would be more benefit to house on the existing campus.

Mr. Byars next reviewed the FY 18 Budget Summary—noting first that an increase in state revenues is anticipated for next year. However, the system is still receiving austerity reductions, and through the 16 years these have been implemented, have been shorted over $30 million in these formula adjustments from the state funding.

Another large item is that non-certified health insurance costs are increasing and the system is absorbing all of this –to the tune of around $204,000 per year.

The Retirement contribution for the system is also increasing from 14.27% to 16.81%, an $800,000 annual increase.

Mr. Byars noted that there are increases in positions budgeted as noted—but do have some reductions in staff positions at the central office.

There is no proposed change to the millage rate.

Mr. Byars then briefly reviewed the line item budgets—noting significant variances from last year’s budget numbers. Main points discussed were

· Additional teachers

· Addition of Assistant Superintendent

· Additional Mechanic

· Repair/Maintenance on the Foreign Language Building

· Addition of funding for Bus Monitors on all buses

Mr. Byars did note to the committee that Rome City Schools still allocates a strong 70.7% of all its expenses to direct instruction, well above the state required 65%.

Mr. Byars noted in the funding section, that overall state revenues were up 8%. It was hoped that with final digest numbers, the amount from taxes would end up more than the anticipated City contribution as noted. Mr. Byars also proudly pointed out that this is the eighth year that there was no proposed tax millage increase.

Mr. Byars then opened up the floor for questions or comments.

Commissioner Irmscher asked if the stated graduation rate was a true 4 year rate—Mr. Byars noted that it is a true four year rate—the best ever at RHS. Ms. Wilson noted that it is very good for the region also. He also asked where athletic supplies were in the budget. Mr. Byars replied that normal supplies are distributed throughout the budget—and coaching supplements were included in salaries.

Chairman McNiece asked about the coaching salaries. Mr. Byars noted that coaches that are teachers are reflected in the teaching salaries and coaching supplements were also included. Coach Reid, as the system athletic director is part of the central office.

Commissioner McDaniel asked about the accounting for food services. Mr. Byars noted that these are all federal monies and are separate from this budget. Cafeteria workers are usually first hired as contract through a temp agency then added to full time.

Commissioner Lee applauded the concept of the 6th grade academy and the expanded STEM/STEAM schools. She is also very aware of the importance of the upcoming E-LOST.

Mayor Doss noted that the City of Rome and the RBOE has had a long standing partnership and has worked under the motto “Working together Works”.

Commissioner Stevenson also commended the 6th grade academy and the inclusion of more bus monitors.

Commissioner Davis asked about potential federal Medicaid cuts and its impact on the system. Mr. Byars responded that he had looked at that and did not think that would be a potential negative for the system because most of that funding was in the special needs sector. Ms. Davis also wanted to emphasize that the cumulative number for austerity cuts was technically a noncompliance of the state’s own education funding laws. She also wanted to just emphasize that she would certainly like to see the arts part of education be as important as well.

City School Board member and Vice Chairman Ms. Huffman noted that since its initial construction, that Rome High School has been added on to 6 times so the idea of a new building that can house a college/career academy but might also meet other needs of the school is very important. The county’s CCA is already at capacity and really cannot handle any Rome students.

Commissioner McDaniel did observe that he felt that one of the points of success for the Floyd County CCA was that they let local business and industry dictate the demand for the academy, and that he highly encouraged the input of business and industry’s needs for the Rome CCA. Mr. Byars noted that the acquisition of Ms. Wilson should be right in line with that since she was the coordinator for the Calhoun City CCA, working with the businesses there in the community.

All of the other Rome City School staff members thanked the Board and the City Commission for the opportunity to work with the Rome BOE and all are very excited about the future of the system.

Commissioner Irmscher did ask a final question as to the potential monitors on the bus, asking specifically as to their training. Mr. Byars noted that they would be school employees and would be specifically trained in those areas concerning discipline.

Again, Mr. Byars thanked his staff and board for their involvement and to the City commission for their continued support.

There was no participating public input at the meeting, and with no further business to discuss, Chairman McNiece adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted

Sheree T. Shore