FAYETTEVILLE — School District employees are in line for a 3 percent bonus in November, if approved next month.
The proposal was presented Thursday during a School Board meeting and will be the second bonus awarded this year, if approved, and the fourth in the last four years.
A 3 percent bonus for more than 1,300 employees will cost about $2.4 million, said Lisa Morstad, chief financial officer, who made the recommendation. All certified and support staff will receive the bonus based on annual salary.
At A Glance
Board Reorganization
The Fayetteville School Board reorganized Thursday, with board members electing Tim Hudson as president. Jim Halsell was elected vice president and Bryn Bagwell was elected secretary-treasurer. The board also welcomed its newest member, Traci Farrah, who was elected to the Zone 4 seat Sept. 18.
Source: Staff Report
The proposal was presented as an information item on the agenda. In keeping with the board’s established policy, the proposal will come back as an action item at its Oct. 25 meeting.
The bonus is possible because of money the district has left from a one-time windfall in January.
The windfall resulted from the repeal of pullback funding, Morstad said. The repeal was passed in the 2011 session of the Arkansas General Assembly in Act 871.
The pullback works as follows: The state sets a cap on the amount of property taxes a school district can receive from Jan. 1 to June 30 each year. Any money over that amount, the pullback, is withheld from the district until the start of the new fiscal year.
A school district fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
Pullback that exceeds the cap is recognized as deferred revenue through June 30 and is recognized as current tax revenue on July 1, Morstad said.
Several capital projects were approved in January along with a bonus of 3.5 percent. The original estimate of pullback money was $6.6 million, however the district actually received $7.9 million, Morstad said.
A total of $5.4 million was obligated during the last fiscal year, leaving an available balance of $2.5 million.
This is the last of the pullback money, Morstad said.
Susan Heil, School Board member, said she hoped the district could soon revisit the salary schedule with an eye on elevating salaries.
Tim Hudson, newly elected board president, agreed, saying, “Getting the salary schedule up is a goal.”
Morstad said a review of the salary schedule was already in the works because property values were slowly increasing, meaning more revenue for the district.