Warren County Public Schools has increased property taxes, citing the need for school resource officers and increasing pay across the district.

The change unanimously approved Wednesday increased the rate from 46.4 cents per $100 of assessed value to 52.2 cents.

It will generate an additional $11.8 million in revenue for a total of $61 million, according to Chief Financial Officer Chris McIntyre.

Superintendent Rob Clayton said the district is struggling to afford SROs, spending around $1.5 million annually.

“Safety is the primary (factor) behind this (tax increase), and any additional dollars will go directly toward staff compensation,” Clayton said.

Gov. Andy Beshear last year signed House Bill 63, requiring all school campuses have a SRO. Districts are expected to foot the bill.

McIntyre said the schools currently employ 16 SROs, with some dividing their time between several schools. He said 24 would be needed for ideal coverage.

McIntyre said the county government shared some of the cost of the first 11 SROs, approximately $500,000 annually, but due to budget constraints will be shifting that cost to the school system over the next few years.

“We’ve never made safety about money. It’s been our priority since day one,” BOE Chairman Gary Chaffin said. 

Clayton said officers rarely need to protect students physically, but added they more commonly benefit mental health.

“Everybody goes to the SROs,” Clayton said. “For us, that social and emotional safety has always been as important as the physical safety.”

The funding will also help retain mental health practitioners, 16 of whom are employed by the district.

McIntyre said these positions have been funded by an annual $400,000 grant from Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education) since 2018, but that grant will expire in 2024.

The board also discussed the need to retain teachers as they compete with private schools and other districts for employees.

“Even though to some people this may seem like a big increase, this is something that’s really needed for us to stay competitive with other districts because we’re competing for the best staff,” BOE Vice-Chair Amy Duvall said.

Duvall pointed out the district still has a lower tax rate than Barren County, Simpson County, Bowling Green Independent, Glasgow Independent and Russellville Independent School Districts.

Duvall said she’s heard of teachers leaving the district for a $400 increase in pay annually and “wished it didn’t come down to that.”

“I wish they loved Warren County Schools and there’s no amount of money that’d make them leave, but we all know that with inflation and everybody struggling to buy groceries and the cost of housing, our employees deserve a competitive pay,” Duvall said.

Clayton said the district has over two dozen open certified positions and three dozen open classified positions, despite raising pay as much as 25% for some departments.

“We’ve done that with bus drivers over the last decade, but it still pales in comparison to inflation and to the quality opportunities that are out there for our most talented people,” Clayton said.

Clayton said tax increases are never the district’s first choice of action, but said there’s little room for budget cuts in most departments.

“Five or six years ago, our transportation department was audited by the Kentucky Department of Education, and after that audit, their comments were that the Warren County Public Schools transportation department could serve as a model for the commonwealth in efficiency,” Clayton said.

Despite the efficiency, transportation costs are roughly $4 million, even after consolidating several bus routes this year to include neighborhood stops rather than front-door pickup.

Clayton also noted that the district became the most energy-efficient in the state just over two years ago.

The biggest cost by a wide margin is payroll, which accounts for around 85% of the operating budget, Clayton said.

“We’re trying to remain competitive within the K-12 sector, and we’re falling behind despite the pay increases that have happened virtually every year since I’ve been here,” Clayton said.

Despite being the fourth largest district in Kentucky, growing by around 400 students a year, Clayton said Warren County Schools remains the fourth lowest funded district per student in the state.

He said the district is “one of the losers” under Kentucky’s SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) funding formula, the primary source of K-12 funding in the state.

The formula determines funding based on a number of factors, such as daily average attendance and local property assessments. The goal is to reduce district inequities by redistributing state funds from “property rich” districts to areas with greater need, McIntyre said.

When property assessments go up, as in Warren County, the number of SEEK funds provided goes down. McIntyre said reassessments last year resulted in a $1 million penalty for the district.

McIntyre added roughly $4 million of the tax revenue is required to be set aside for the district’s building fund to help address growth in the district.

Clayton said the district has less funding now than it did 15 years ago when accounting for inflation, despite growing significantly in that time.

“We’ve been able to mask that primarily because of our talent that we have in our classrooms and in our specific departments across the district,” Clayton said. “But when you have a workforce shortage, that talent supply starts to dwindle.”

Clayton said the opportunities afforded WCPS students have “never been greater” despite the budget challenges, largely thanks to cooperation from the Chamber of Commerce and local business leaders.

BGISD earlier this month also approved its first tax hike since 2019. The increase brought the new rate to 84.8 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Superintendent Gary Fields said the increase will largely cover staff compensation to combat inflation.