LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The Fayette County School Board is expected to discuss a possible tax increase at a meeting Tuesday night.
While most of the district's budget comes from property taxes, leaders are looking at potentially increasing the occupational tax.
Those dollars come from the paychecks of people who work and live in the county.
Parents tell WKYT Investigates that it is not a revenue problem, it's a spending problem.
Fayette County Public Schools has been talking about a potential budget shortfall for more than a month now. A possible $16 million deficit in the next school year.
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I think the first place they could make up some of this deficit is to eliminate all admin travel for the calendar year," said Norma Justice with the Fayette County Children's Coalition.
Administrators want to increase taxes.
On Tuesday night, the board will consider raising occupational taxes from .5% to .75%.
The additional money would come directly from employee paychecks and business profits.
"A new tax could be the difference between mom being home to help you with your homework and not," said Justice. "Could be the difference between staying in the district you're in currently and having to move because mom and dad can't afford to stay there anymore."
WKYT talked with Board Chair Tyler Murphy this week during a taping of Kentucky Newsmakers. He said rising costs and inflation are partly to blame.
"We have one of the lowest administrative costs here in Fayette County. It may not match some of the headlines or social media scuttle we see, but 1.2% of our budget goes toward administrative costs. When you compare that to similar districts or even private sector, it's relatively low," Murphy said.
According to the Kentucky Department of Education, Fayette County is one of only nine districts in the state that collect an occupational tax for schools, including neighboring Scott County, which also imposes a half percent tax. While Jefferson County in Louisville currently receives 8 tenths of a percent.
Whether you are a high school student socking away money for a new car or a local business owner, every single one of us is going to pay for this decision.