DALTON, Ga. — Spending would increase by just over $2 million but the local property tax rate would remain the same under the first draft of a fiscal year 2020 Dalton Public Schools budget the board of education recently reviewed.

Fiscal year 2020 starts July 1.

The budget calls for $83.213 million in spending, up from $81.032 million in the 2019 budget.

Chief Financial Office Theresa Perry said the “predominate factor” in that increase is a permanent $3,000 a year pay increase for teachers proposed by Gov. Brian Kemp. The budget passed by the state House of Representatives last week lowered that pay raise to $2,775 but also expanded it to school counselors and other staff certified by the state.

The school system budget draft anticipates that salaries would increase to $46.613 million from $44.961 million. But Perry says the majority of that increase should be covered by additional state funding.

“It isn’t completely clear how much they will be funding, but based on the information I have, I expect it will be about 70 percent,” she said.

Perry says the system should be able to cover its share of that new spending without raising local property taxes.

“This budget assumes no increase in the millage rate,” she said.

The tax rate would remain at 8.2 mills for the sixth year in a row. The budget projects that tax rate would bring in $31.909 million, up from $30.374 million thanks to growth in the tax digest.

The school board is scheduled to discuss the budget further when it meets on Monday at Dalton City Hall.

“There are going to be some things in the budget we have no discretion over, the governor’s pay increase, for instance,” said Board of Education Chairman Rick Fromm. “But there are some things we do have discretion over.”

Fromm says board members have asked staff to look at “adding teachers or keeping teachers so that we can reduce the number of students in each class.”

He says that board members would also like to provide a pay increase for staff members who aren’t covered by the governor’s pay increase.

The timetable calls for public hearings on the budget in April and May, with the board to give tentative approval to the 2020 budget in May and final approval in June.