ATLANTA – The House Legislative Delegation of Tift County, which includes State Representatives Penny Houston (R-Nashville), Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla) and Sam Watson (R-Moultrie), announced today that the Georgia House of Representatives’ Amended Fiscal Year 2014 (AFY 2014) state budget includes an addition of $83,027 for the Tift County Board of Education. This announcement comes following today’s House passage of HB 743. The AFY 2014 budget is the state’s mid-year spending plan which helps fund the final few months of the current fiscal year.
“This was a mistake that was made locally, however the state is going to correct this mistake by restoring these funds in Tift County,” said Rep. Roberts. “This is a one-time fix in our state budget, and if this problem comes up again in the future, we will not be able to correct it.”
This additional funding of $83,027 in the AFY 2014 House version of the appropriations bill was added for the county’s Quality Basic Education Program and will ultimately impact approximately 7,668 students. These funds were included in the AFY 2014 budget to adjust for the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment report that Tift County Schools originally sent to the Department of Education. The initial report undercounted the FTE numbers and negatively impacted Tift County Schools’ Quality Basic Education (QBE), the state’s core funding formula, earnings.
The Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act requires local school systems to report student enrollment in terms of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) students. State funding for the operation of instructional programs are generated from FTE data reported by local school systems.
To view a complete copy of the AFY 2014, please click here.
Representative Penny Houston represents the citizens of District 170, which includes all of Berrien and Cook counties and portions of Tift County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 1997, and is currently the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Economic Development. She also serves on the Banks & Banking, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Economic Development & Tourism, and Ways & Means committees.
Representative Jay Roberts represents the citizens of District 155, which includes all of Ben Hill, Irwin, and Turner counties, and portions of Tift County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2002, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Transportation Committee. He also currently serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Games, Fish, & Parks, and Rules committees.
Representative Sam Watson represents the citizens of District 172, which includes portions of Colquitt, Thomas, and Tift counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 2012, and currently serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Juvenile Justice, and Transportation committees.
###