Board adopts millage rate, buys new buses

Some things never change, or hardly ever change, and it’s no different at Houston County schools.

At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, the board passed the millage rate for the fiscal year, keeping it at 13.34 mills.

“It’s the same as it has been the past seven years,” said Superintendent Mark Scott. “It’s what we charge homeowners and it’s holding steady.”

The overall tax digest has removed an ad valorem tax it once imposed on automobiles, and though the total tax digest continues to go down, owners pay only a tag fee, he said.

The motor vehicle tax in 2013 was $364 million on 1.7 million vehicles, and it will eventually go away, he added.

Property values are on the rise, he said, and offsets the loss of the automotive ad valorem tax

“The tax digest stays about the same,” he said. “It’s been pretty steady these last few years; the decrease is minor and it’s been consistent.”

In other activity the board:

• Approved purchasing three new buses at $105,681 each for a total of $317,043. The buses are 54-passenger Type-C propane powered Blue Bird vehicles with wheelchair lifts. The system has not purchased wheelchair lift buses since 2013, and the units are to accommodate growth or replace older units.

• Approved an amended contract with Parrish Construction Group to build a new bus maintenance facility located at 311 Bear Country Blvd. The facility will cost $5,548,518.

• Approved The Young Group to offer voluntary student accident insurance for the coming school year at the same rate of the past school year.

• Revised its dual enrollment policy so students could earn college credit while in high school through the Dual Enrollment Move On When Ready program. Students could earn college and high school credit for approved courses.

• Revised its policy on class ranking to clarify the amount of time a student must be enrolled in Houston County Schools prior to being named valedictorian or salutatorian. A student must be enrolled a minimum of four semesters at the time class rankings are determined.

Looking ahead to next week, Scott said he and teachers are ready for the school year kickoff scheduled for Monday morning at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter.

The theme for this school year is literacy, he said.

“All third graders will be ready to be going from learning to read to reading to learn,” he said.

The event is at 8 a.m. at the Miller-Murphy-Howard Building.

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