The Fayette County Board of Education Monday night gave the green light to spend $179.5 million next year to educate Fayette County’s students.

Monday’s approval was the next to last step in the budget approval process; final approval of the budget is expected at the board’s June meeting.

Finance Director Lee Davis said the system is expecting to roll back the millage rate slightly this year, but won’t know how much until the final tax digest is received by the school system in July.

The biggest portion of this year’s budget is $123.2 million, or 68.6 percent for instruction costs.

“The new law signed by the governor requires 65 percent to be spent for instruction, so we’re above that,” Davis said.

The budget is nearly 6 percent larger than last year’s $164.2 million budget and has the spending almost split between state and local sources. More than $88 million will come from ad valorem taxes, while $87.5 million comes to the system from state funds.

“It used to be the equation was 60 percent funded by the state and 40 percent by local sources, but we’re now at 51 percent local funding,” Davis said.

If the system does not roll back the entire amount of reassessed property value, the board is required to hold three public hearings later this summer on the actual tax increase.

Superintendent of Education John DeCotis complimented the staff on the work done in this year’s budget.

“There are a lot of metro systems that are slashing programs, but we didn’t have to do that,” he said.