Georgetown County School District Budget Process
The Georgetown County School District is the agent for receipt, disbursement and expenditure of all federal, state and county funds allocated for public education. The Board of Education is charged with distributing the district's funds on a fair and equitable basis through a budget which translates the Board's educational priorities into fiscal terms.
Beginning in September, the Superintendent or designee works with the Board to prepare a complete budget for the schools and the district for the succeeding school year. The budget will contain proposed expenditures for all purposes anticipated for the school year, and will be accompanied by a report of expenditures for the current year in comparable format and with supporting information to allow easy comparison and complete analysis. The budget will then be presented to the Board for approval.
Prior to the Board's adoption of the budget, the Board holds a public hearing on the budget before June 25th each year. This hearing is advertised in the newspaper at least 15 days in advance.
After the public hearing, and before July 1 each year, the chairman of the Board notifies the auditor and treasurer of the county of the amount of money required for the operation of the school district for the next fiscal year. Upon receipt of this notice, the auditor and treasurer levy millage and collect taxes as necessary to provide the sum specified by the Board of Education.
The annual budget is given final adoption by June 30th. The budget adoption meeting is announced to the public. The budget is adopted following careful study by the Board and upon recommendation of the budget committee of the Board.
Once the budget is adopted, the following information is made available to the public:
line item budget for all schools and departments
salary schedules for the Superintendent, administrators and staff positions
revenues for the previous year
anticipated revenues for the coming year (when available from the County Treasurer's office)
Within 45 days after the beginning of the fiscal year, this information is available in the Business Services office for inspection or reproduction. Duplicates will be provided upon request at a fair cost.
The District budget and the respective school budgets will also be available in each school.
A copy of the annual budget will be available in each public library in the county.
The District also provides the State Department of Education copies of its annual budget by September 1 of each budget year.
Spending Transparency
Accountability and Transparency in governmental activities and spending are the cornerstones of sound governance. In keeping with the General Assembly's directive, as a result of the approval of Act 23, the District will post its monthly Accounts Payable Check Registers and procurement card statements.
Any inquiries with regards to this information should be submitted through a Freedom of Information Act request, to the District's Communications Director: Kristi Kibler, J.B. Beck Administration and Education Center, 2018 Church Street, Georgetown, SC 29440