Hickman County commissioners send school budget back with direction to cut proposed tax increase

A divided Hickman County commission on Tuesday rejected the school system’s proposed budget that included a 4¢ property-tax increase, then voted to send the plan back to school leaders with specific instructions to reduce the tax ask and adjust local-option sales-tax figures.

The school’s presenter, Coates, told the committee the school board had "decided that we would or the board wanted to accept the 4¢ property tax increase for our current budget" and said the maintenance projects list would remain the same. Commissioners pressed for alternatives, saying the county’s maintenance-of-effort (MOE) obligation would grow by roughly $710,000 under the full proposal despite an estimated $286,000 increase in state funding.

Why it matters: County leaders said the proposed MOE rise would be a long-term commitment that could outpace local growth and asked the school board to consider a smaller property-tax increase combined with adjustments to the local-option sales tax. Several commissioners said the combined package — as originally proposed — would be unlikely to win voter approval in their districts.

Commission debate focused on tradeoffs between recurring property-tax increases and one-time capital expenditures. Commissioner Barnhill noted the MOE change equated to about an 11% increase and said that shift raised fiscal concerns; Commissioner Nash urged exploring a combination of a smaller property-tax increase plus sales-tax adjustments to limit long-term obligations. Some commissioners declared conflicts before voting.

A roll-call vote to approve the school budget as submitted failed, with 4 commissioners voting yes and 9 no (1 absent). After a recess and informal consultations, Commissioner Keith Nash moved to return the $1.41 million school budget to the school board with two specific directives: use a 2¢ property-tax increase instead of 4¢, pair that with a corresponding local-option sales-tax adjustment to keep the MOE near the targeted level, and include a one-time $405,000 capital allocation funded from the county’s fund balance rather than a revenue increase. Commissioner Ron Puckett seconded the motion.

That motion passed on roll call, 11 yes, 2 no, 1 absent. The commission’s action was directional — it gave the school board parameters to rework figures rather than formally adopting the school’s submitted budget.

Next steps: County staff said the school board will receive the guidance and return with revised figures; the committee scheduled follow-up budget meetings in late May and June to finalize numbers.