School board expected to OK budget
Staff report
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Charleston County School Board is expected to vote to approve its budget at 5:15 p.m. Monday at the district office, 75 Calhoun St. Board members deadlocked in their first vote on the budget. The proposed operating budget, which covers salaries and classroom expenses, is $323.5 million, a $2.3 million increase from this year's budget. The debt service budget, which repays debt on school building projects, would increase $2.5 million to $60.6 million. The proposed operating budget would increase the tax rate 3.5 percent next year for most businesses assessed at 6 percent, and the proposed debt service budget would cause taxes on a house assessed at $100,000 to increase $22, to $95.60 next year.
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Posted by karmann on June 19, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have little problem w/ an increase in taxes if I know that the money is being used wisely. I propose that an outside audit be done of CCSD books to make sure they are in order, and that there is no waste. I would like to know that CCSD is becoming a more efficient and effective agency.
Posted by mlm on June 19, 2008 at 7:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember the outside or independent audit that was done on just the telephone system several years ago. That limited audit found more than a million dollars annually could be saved. Changes were made for future years and some of the wasted money already spent was recovered for that year.
Imagine what could be saved with an audit of the entire operation. The key is to have a truly independent audit that is aggressive in its search to expose waste. The annual audit is too passive. A typical annual audit isn't really "outside" or "independent" since CCSD maintains some control over where it goes and what its sees. This is an internal audit and does little more than confirm the status quo.
Maybe others will agree to this suggestion and ask for a more thorough audit. A good operation should do this anyway every ten years or so just to check itself and to double check the validity of its annual audits. I'd also like to know where the additional taxes are going and if the money is reaching where its needed most.