Jun 21, 2019 3 min read

NEW EAGLE – Ringgold’s board of school directors passed a $46.8 million budget for the district on Wednesday, with an increase for taxpayers.

According to Business Manager Randall Skrinjorich, the 2019-20 budget includes a tax increase of 2/10 of a mill. He said taxpayers will see an increase of $1 per 1/10 of a mill for every $10,000 in assessment. That equals $22 more per $100,000 in assessed property value, which happens to be the median assessed value across Ringgold School District.

“When you look at the budget, two-tenths of a mill is less than half of what we were legally allowed to go up to,” said Skrinjorich, during the board’s monthly meeting. “We stayed well below the index.”

Last year, Ringgold passed a $45.25 million budget, which also included a 2/10-of-a-mill tax increase. Skrinjorich said Ringgold was able to avoid a higher tax increase this year because it put extra tax revenues from last year’s budget into the budgetary reserve.

Board member William Stein Jr. estimated that 90 percent of the tax increase reflects higher costs for salaries and benefits.

“Going into this budget, we knew our costs would be higher because of our new teachers contract,” said Stein, who serves as chairman of the business and financial services committee. “We have to honor the commitments we made. Still, our tax increase isn’t as much when you compare it to some other school districts.”

The board briefly discussed the pros and cons of adding another tenth of a mill to the tax increase and putting that money aside in the budgetary reserve. But when it came time to vote, the board chose to stick to its original plan.

“We’re comfortable with the budget as it stands,” said Stein.

In other business, the board:

• Approved restructuring of a contract with the director of food services
• Approved a full-time paraprofessional compensation plan
• Accepted a contract for special education therapy services from River Pediatric Therapies
• Accepted a contract from Frontline Technologies LLC for a paperless time and attendance tracking system for $16,713
• Approved a one-year license agreement between Ringgold School District and Lincoln Learning Solutions to provide online courses for the district’s cyber program
• Ratified a tentative agreement reached between the district and the Custodial-Maintenance Union
• Accepted a proposal from CCL Technologies in the amount of $43,900 for switching and wireless service at all Ringgold schools
• Accepted a $8,161 donation from the Ringgold Rams Booster Club
• Observed a moment of silence for Kaitlyn E. “Moe” Rosensteel, 18, a 2019 Ringgold grad who was killed by lightning on
• June 13.