Friday, September 13, 2002

Schools borrowing money until tax time By JOHN THOMPSON jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com The Coweta County School System Tuesday night gave finance chief Keith Chapman the authority to borrow up to $12 million this year for system operations. But officials are saying this is an annual event, and taxpayers should not be concerned. "Our costs occur all during the year, but the revenue comes in big chunks," said public information officer Dean Jackson. With many of the school system's operations being funded by property tax receipts, Jackson said the majority of those funds don't come flowing into school coffers until the end of the year. Many times, the school systems funds its operations through its reserve funds and then replenishes the fund with property taxes, Jackson said. But this year, the system had to contend with lower funding from the state because of smaller sales tax dollars. Also, the system just completed an ambitious construction program that siphoned off money, Jackson added. When the property tax money starts flowing in, Jackson said the loan would be repaid. What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor. Back to News Home Page | Back to the top of the page