The Fulton

County Board of Education gave tentative approval Tuesday night to a budget

that could see a tax rate reduction for property owners.

If the reduction

receives final approval, some homeowners' actual tax bill may still increase

because the value of their homes has increased.

The general

fund budget is $559 million, which includes a 4 percent salary increase

for all employees.

Other items

in the budget include:

$5.6 million

for three charter schools.

An additional

$11 million for Fulton's contribution to the state's Local Fair Share

Program.

Funds to accommodate

anticipated student growth.

$2 million

to grant additional credit, up to seven years, to teachers with experience

in other systems.

Funds to improve

the new teacher induction program, support an alternative certification

program, and peer diversity and cultural awareness programs.

Added to this

list during Tuesday's called meeting were stipends for lacrosse coaches,

high school extramurals and seventh grade intramurals.

Several items,

though, did not make the cut in this year's budget.

Eliminated

from the budget are funds for off-grade testing on the Stanford 9, the

new test that has replaced the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in Georgia schools.

The test will now be given only in grades three, five and eight, as required

The purchase

of school buses, textbooks and curriculum assessments were delayed until

2002-2003, as were several instructional technology, maintenance and operations

items.

Also delayed

was the roll-out of a new team approach to evaluating student progress.

Class sizes in summer school increase in the new budget, while funding

for summer school support personnel decreases.

Furniture and

equipment purchases were eliminated, computer upgrades and field maintenance

were reduced, and reductions were made in operating costs for personnel,

student services and staff development. Reductions were made throughout

the system in professional contracted services and out-of-system travel.

The tentative

budget is revenue-neutral. This means that the property tax rate must

be rolled back to offset any increased revenue due to property reassessments.

The board anticipates a rollback of approximately one mill for operations

and .05 mill for debt service in the final budget.

At the meeting,

the members approved a tentative millage rate of 19.35 mills for maintenance

and operations and .8 mill for retirement of debt, a total of 20.15.

But at its

June meeting, after receiving the tax digest, the board is expected to

approve a rate of 19.1 to reflect the increase in property values.

A mill is one

dollar per thousand dollars of a home's assessed value. Assessed value

is 40 percent of the market value, minus any exemptions.