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The Franklin County government is eyeing across-the-board employee pay increases, but for how much is another issue.

The Finance Committee adopted a 10 percent pay-increase recommendation at its March 7 meeting, but School Committee members questioned going that high at their March 14 meeting. The ultimate decision on what will happen will be decided by the full County Commission in the next few months.

School Committee Chairman William Anderson said a 10 percent pay increase would be difficult for the county to fund. He recommended the county stay with an 8.7 percent increase approved recently at the federal level as a cost-of-living increase for Social Security beneficiaries amid times of extremely high inflation the nation hasn’t seen in four decades.

School Board members have said Franklin County trails other surrounding counties in teacher compensation. Even if the 8.7 percent pay increase were approved, the other school systems would probably do the same, and Franklin County’s teachers would continue to remain behind in compensation, they said.

School Board members have said the system is losing high-quality teachers to the other systems because of the pay differences, and something needs to be done as an incentive to retain them.

The commission is developing the 2023-24 fiscal budget based on last year’s appropriations which totaled $90.8 million with $49.9 million going to the School System.

Last year’s budget did not include a tax increase. The commission agreed to not raise taxes and agreed to remain with the certified tax rate at $1.87 per $100 in property valuation from the state which raised the same amount of revenue as the previous year after a property reappraisal.

School System employees received an average 5 percent pay increase along with the system paying a 6 percent insurance increase.

The budget included $350,000 for bus drivers which was $10,000 per each of the system’s 35 routes.

County employees also received an average of 5 percent in pay increases, excluding the Highway and Solid Waste departments with those employees getting 5.9 percent increases to accord with state law.

County Mayor Chris Guess said remaining with the certified tax rate has left the county with a financial shortfall. He said if the tax rate had been adjusted to $2.05 instead of $1.87, it would have worked much better in the county’s favor.

The increase would spell a $90 property tax increase on a $200,000 home with the taxes increasing annually from $935 to $1,025.

Finance Committee Member David Eldridge has estimated that the county is faced with having to raise at least an additional $4.5 million to pay salary increases to keep up with the inflation rate. He added that the figure could easily be more like $5 million to $6 million.

Eldridge said county leaders have their hands full in dealing with the issue because economic growth is expected to generate only $1.6 million in additional revenue.

The county has been waiting on word from the state about what it will be receiving from the new Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement program.

The School System has been getting about $27 million of its $49.9 million overall budget from state Basic Education Program dollars. However, the state has abandoned the BEP, replacing it with the TISA program which has been deemed to update the way Tennessee funds public education for the first time in more than 30 years.

Program officials have said TISA updates the way Tennessee invests in public education by moving to a student-based funding formula, which includes:

— A base funding amount for every public-school student.

— Additional weighted funding to address individual student needs like those students who may be low-income, have a disability, be gifted, have characteristics of dyslexia or live in a sparse community.

— Additional direct funding intended to support students in key priority areas like early literacy, CTE programming and high-dosage tutoring. 

— Outcome incentives based on student achievement to empower schools to help all students reach their full potential.

While the objectives may sound good on paper, what the School System will receive through the new program is unclear.

Director of Schools Stanley Bean has said initial word is that Franklin County could be getting up to $4 million more through the new program. However, he said that until the state releases the figures, the School System will not know what funding may be available to work with.