What’s the best way to spend $100 million? For the Fayette County Board of Education it will be identifying expenditures from the ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) in areas such as technology and equipment, facilities, debt service, textbooks and school buses.
The school board on Nov. 3 heard a proposal that would outline the expenditures associated with the five-year SPLOST that took effect in mid-2014 and is expected to generate approximately $100 million in revenue.
“This is our first attempt at looking at SPLOST 2 (possible expenditures),” said Superintendent Dr. Joseph Barrow. “We want to get things lined up with a degree of clarity.”
The board heard a proposal that would allocate $40 million to technology, equipment, furnishings, safety and security.
Approximately $35 million would go to renovating, repairing, improving and equipping existing school buildings and facilities.
Bus replacement would receive $10 million while another $5 million would go for textbooks and instructional materials and $10 million would be allocated for debt service.
Assistant Superintendent Tom Gray said the guidelines for the expenditure categories came from the SPLOST committee during the renewal process. Expenditures from the various categories can be changed if desired, Gray said, with the exception of the debt service category which has a maximum ceiling of $10 million.
Deputy Superintendent Sam Sweat said department heads will generate a list of proposed expenditures by category and will present those to the board for consideration on an individual basis.
