The Fayette

County Board of Education is tentatively set to approve the budget for

fiscal year 2003 at a called meeting June 4 at 4:30 p.m.

The budget

is expected to be $141 million, which is an increase of $5.4 million.

Much of the increase is due to the salaries and benefits for additional

personnel, including those who will be staffing the two new elementary

schools this fall. There will be 64 additional positions within the school

system next year, including teachers, administrators, bus drivers and

staff and their salaries and benefits will be $3.1 million.

Comptroller

Jim Stephens told the board at their regular monthly meeting Monday evening

that they are within a million dollars of where they need to be. He suggested

that if they increase the digest growth 6-8 percent the millage rate would

hold and they would not need to cut anything out of the budget. Currently,

one mill equals $3.1 million.

There have

been a number of substantial decreases in this year's budget as well,

including an $867,000 decrease in the bus lease because there will be

no new buses this year and a decrease of $167,000 in expendable equipment,

which is defined as equipment that costs more than $100 and less than

$1,000.

The Board of

Education will examine the budget package over the next two weeks and

will likely approve the package.