Commission rejects $103M Sullivan school system budget

BLOUNTVILLE — The Sullivan County Commission voted by a 4-to-1 margin of commissioners present Monday not to approve a school board-proposed fiscal 2026-27 budget of more than $103 million. Commissioners during the special called meeting balked at the reliance on unrestricted fund balance or surplus to balance the proposed budget. Although the commission cannot dictate how money is spent, commissioners also cited the addition of associate or assistant principals at four elementary schools. Those were among four new positions in the budget, the other three being additional school resource officers. The action sends the school board back to the proverbial drawing board at its upcoming July 6 meeting to come up with a budget that will garner at least 13 yes votes on the 24-member commission. Assistant Director of Finance Leslie Bonner said, after the meeting, the plan is to have the rest of the county budget undergo first reading at the regular July 16 commission meeting and then approve the overall county budget at a called meeting in late July. Director of Schools Chuck Carter said the plan is to bring another budget proposal back to the commission next month. Vote The vote was 4-16 with four absent. The approval of the budget, recommended by the county Board of Education at a called June 11 BOE meeting, came just before the deadline under a private act for the school budget to be submitted and approved by the commission. The private act, among other things, requires a school budget be approved by July 1, this Wednesday, which is the official start of the new fiscal year, or the school budget falls back to the existing 2025-26 spending levels. Commissioner Dwight King of Piney Flats, as chair of the Budget Committee, introduced the resolution for approval but voted against it. The only commissioners voting for the school budget proposal were commission Chair John Gardner, along with Hunter Locke, Joe McMurrary and Jessica Means, all of Kingsport. Those voting against the school budget were David Akard, Darlene Calton, Joe Carr, Michael Cole, Larry Crawford, Joyce Crosswhite, Hershel Glover, Caryle Harvey, Barry Hopper, Mark Ireson, Sam Jones, King, Archie Pierce, Gary Stidham, Zane Vanover and Travis Ward. Vanover is the Republican nominee for county mayor, unopposed in the Aug. 6 county general election. Absent were Andrew Cross, David Hayes, Daniel Horne and Tony Leonard. "I'd like to see a little bit more support from the schools," Akard said during a discussion during the meeting with Carter. "Be our partners." Budget The budget proposal would use up to $11.78 million in fund balance or unrestricted surplus to balance the budget, taking away from an estimated fund balance of $17.53 million as of June 30. The exact fund balance as of that date, however, won't be known until August, according to county finance officials. The school budget historically overestimates expenditures and underestimates revenues, with unspent money flowing back into the unrestricted fund balance. That is a type of savings or rainy day fund for the school system, covering everything from cash flow needs to emergency fixes for things like roofs or heating and cooling system breakdowns. Carter, who proposed the 2026-27 budget to the school board, said commissioners repeatedly told school officials to spend down surplus three years ago. Joshua French, an independent running for commission in Kingsport in August and a teacher at the city's Dobyns-Bennett High School, during public comment cited standardized test score increases over the past few years and urged funding for education in the county, Kingsport and Bristol. Akard later said he was impressed by those test score increases but that the county and its school systems simply can't live beyond funding means. County school funding is share proportionally by the city systems. Akard, Ireson and others against the proposed budget said it would lead to future county property tax rate increases countywide. The assistant or associate principal would be one each at Central Heights, Sullivan Gardens, Miller Perry and Emmett elementary schools. Currently, those four schools have teachers who get a small stipend for filling in for the principal when they aren't available. What's next? Commissioner Ireson of the Colonial Heights area repeated concerns he expressed at first reading of the budget June 18, saying that the school system was on a path of running out of fund balance in about 14 months. Other commissioners, including Glover of Bluff City and Akard of Bristol, said the county faces a tough budget year, including finishing the construction and opening a new jail. They and Harvey of the Bristol area said 2 cents of 2.6 cents in property tax funding of the Highway Department may be taken away to help balance the budget. "We'll be back," Carter said after the meeting while talking with commissioners.