This is an often-quoted movie line used in various contexts. Recent federal government news has been dominated by a constant discussion of tracking down perceived wasted tax dollars or people getting rich from government spending. Coinciding with all this attention on federal spending, are our annual local property tax notices and the beginning of the annual budget process for the state.
Naturally, people look at their tax bill and hear about what the Governor and General Assembly are debating and wonder ‘where does all this money go?’ The answer to that question is a very long and complicated list that includes roads, bridges, law enforcement, fire protection, prisons, healthcare, k-12 education, colleges & universities, etc, etc, etc. Many critical public agencies and services that we all know about and some that, unless you’ve personally needed them, we may never hear about. One of these that we all see, experience, drive by and are very aware of is our own local school district.
The 2024-2025 operating budget for School District 56 is $33,128,569. That does not include the special State and Federal programs and grants. The published annual audit report for District 56 shows that all expenditures totaled $52,081,196. This included $3.2 million in federal food service operations, $6.6 million in debt service and capital improvements, $9 million in federal and state special grants, nearly $4 million of this federal funding total went away in June 2024. (i.e. Title I programs, Special Needs programs, 4K programs, ESSER COVID response programs, etc.) By anyone’s standards, that’s a lot of money and a big operation.
So, why does a relatively small school district cost so much? Believe it or not, the local school administration and school board have limited control of the major operating costs. Just like nearly all businesses, the largest part of the operating budget is people. Payroll and benefits paid by the employer make up between 85% to 90% of the operating budget for District 56. Over 70% of District salaries are mandated by the state each year in the form of minimum salary schedules for teachers and bus drivers. All other salaries (aides, food service, maintenance, business offices, etc.) are driven by “the market”. In this case, “the market” is similar positions in surrounding school districts in South Carolina.
In 2024-2025 the State mandates that a first year teacher salary is at least $47,000. Depending on actual degree (bachelors, masters, doctorate) and years of experience, that minimum salary may be as much as $77,000. Historically, these minimums were much less, and districts actually paid much more than minimum to be fair & competitive in hiring staff. Still today, some districts with larger local tax bases offer much more than these minimums. For next year, the governor has requested to increase the minimum to $50,000. House Ways & Means is budgeting this to be $48,500. The other thing controlled by the State is the cost of benefits. Currently, for every salary dollar, the District pays nearly 50 percent more in retirement, FICA, and health & dental insurance. So, that $50,000 salary actually translates into nearly $75,000 in total payroll expense. The average teacher salary in District 56 for over 225 teachers from first year to over 30 years is between $47,000 and $84,000. Using formulas that consider degree, years of experience, work schedule, grade level, and “the market”, the average salary of all assistant principals is just over $90,000. The average salary of all principals in the district is approximately $100,000. The average salary of all district level directors, assistant superintendents, and managers is just over $108,000. All other part-time and full-time instruction and support positions across all departments have wide ranging annual salaries anywhere between $15,000 and $50,000.
So where does the money come from to pay for such a large, mandated salary & benefit budget expense? The are basically two funding sources for the district operating budget. The State Budget provides funding to k-12 school districts on a 75 / 25 split basis. This assumes and expects that local school boards and counties will provide local tax funding for at least 25%. In other words, maintain local efforts or “do their part” to provide for schools and students. Depending on how valuable your local tax base is (business, industry, etc.), this is easier for some than others. If the district pays more than the state mandates, the district must pay for it locally. If the district wants to have programs over and above the state and federal requirements, the district must pay for it locally. If you want to build schools or renovate old ones, you must borrow money through bond issues and pay for it locally.
The School District 56 Board of Trustees have been very cautious and protective about levying local taxes. The total local tax millage (247.5 mills) for schools has not changed since 2013-2014 (12 years). This total local tax millage includes 80 mills to pay construction debt was approved by the voters in 2005 for construction of Clinton High School. This 80 mills levy will be in effect until the debt is paid off in 2033. Due to changes in interest and bond rates since construction, a piece of the revenue from this levy has been available to borrow for recent repairs and improvements at our elementary schools, high school, middle school, stadium, transportation, etc. Without this fund source, most of the recent improvements would not be possible within normal operating budgets.
In addition to State control of pay scales and at least 75% of operating budget funding, state law also restricts how much the school board can increase local tax millage for operations in any given year. Any tax increase is limited to the increase in the national consumer price index. For Clinton’s tax base this would translate into a few mills of tax, or the equivalent of approximately +/- $200,000 added to the operating budget. Looking back over the past 12 years, if the school board had increased taxes each year that they could have, it would have provided over $2,000,000 in funding to the operating budget.
So, what does all this really “show us about the money”?
District 56 is a relatively small district in a relatively small town of Clinton. However, due to state mandated salary scales and state-controlled funding and/or local funding restrictions, our teachers, administrators, drivers, aides, business office staff, food service staff, etc are being compensated with salaries and benefits that are comparable to any district of our size in South Carolina. Due to the approval of the voters in 2005 and annual efforts by the School Board, our students and teachers have modern facilities that are being maintained and improved constantly.
