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The Franklin County Education Association’s president has personally gone on record asking the county government to approve a 10 percent pay increase for teachers to stave off losing them to better-paying school systems.

Dwayne Thames told the School Committee on April 11 that other school systems pay more than Franklin County. He added that even if the County Commission were to approve a budget with an 8.75 percent pay increase to match what the Social Security Administration has set for benefit recipients, the other systems will probably be doing the same.

Thames said that, as a result, Franklin County will continually be playing catchup while simultaneously losing top-quality educators to other school systems.

“We have really fallen behind,” Thames said, referring to the county’s teacher pay scale compared to other school systems.

He provided the county’s School Committee with figures that show Franklin County’s teachers are paid between 3.6 percent and 7.3 percent less annually than other surrounding school systems.

Thames said that if the neighboring school systems give an 8.75 percent pay increase and Franklin County does the same, Franklin County will still continue to lose teachers.

“The point is we’re losing teachers. That is the issue,” he said, adding later: “We’re asking for a 10 percent raise. It gets us closer, but it won’t match what the others are doing.”

Commissioner Johnny Hand, a School Committee member, asked how much new Director of Schools Dr. Cary Holman will be making, which School Board members agreed will be $150,000 annually.

Hand said that is about 18 percent more than what’s being paid for the position now. He asked how the difference could be justified.

Thames said the School System has to be competitive in its salary range to draw in better candidates.

“I think you have to attract talent. You have to attract qualified people,” he said, emphasizing that proper compensation is paramount to that objective. “If not, they’re here today and gone tomorrow.”

Commissioner Bruce McMillan, a School Committee member, said that if Coffee County were to grant its teachers a 10 percent pay increase and Franklin County were to do the same, “we’re still behind.”

“I want us to do the best we can with our revenue,” he said. “I’d hate to see us give with one hand and take it away with a tax increase. Every department wants 10 percent.”

McMillan said that although Franklin County is losing teachers to better-paying school systems, the Sheriff’s Office is also losing deputies.

“We’ve got a bigger picture to deal with,” he said, combing the scope of what the County Commission is dealing with.

Commissioner William Anderson, who chairs the School Committee, asked if providing the 10 percent pay increase would slow down the rate of teachers moving to other systems.

Thames replied that Franklin County ranks 117^th out of 141 school systems in Tennessee in pay scale.

Anderson asked if a 10 percent increase this year would alleviate some of the burden in subsequent years.

“What I’m worried about is we’ve got 10 percent this year, what about 10 percent next year?” he said.

Thames replied he doubts that the teachers would be expecting annual pay increases of 10 percent.

“I don’t think teachers think that way,” he said.

The committee also discussed pay increases in addition to step raises teachers receive for having gained more experience at their positions.

Anderson said that an average increase with those getting the step raises would be 12 percent.

Thames said that even with the 10 percent increase, Franklin County would still be behind the other school systems.

County Mayor Chris Guess said that the county can’t continue delaying taking care of the problem. He added that if Franklin County only partially addresses the pay issue, it will gain nothing in being competitive with the other school systems.

“You can do something this year and nothing next year, and in four or five years, we’ll be right back where we started,” he said.

In an effort to stave off a financial shortfall and avoid a property tax increase to offset it, the Finance Committee has adopted a move to include anticipated sales tax growth in balancing the county’s budget.

David Eldridge, who chairs the Finance Committee, made the following motion, seconded by Commissioner Dale Schultz, at the Finance Committee’s April 6 meeting:

“To comply with the maintenance of effort, the total budgeted 2024 local sales tax revenue will remain the same as the 2023 level. The following will also apply. The 2024 local option sales tax budget will be increased above the 2023 level to include reasonable anticipated 2024 growth. The 2024 property tax budget will be equally reduced from the 2023 level to offset this local option sales tax growth.”

Director of Schools Stanley Bean was the only Finance Committee member to vote against the motion.

The County Commission will consider later whether to adopt the Finance Committee’s motion.

Eldridge told the Finance Committee on April 6 that the School System has never included anticipated sales tax growth as part of its budget process. He added that the school’s budget has always been set using sales tax figures from the previous year, although receipts have traditionally increased annually.

The county, according to state law, is required to follow a “maintenance of effort” plan where it cannot provide the School System with less money than it did in the previous budget year.

Eldridge said the additional sales tax revenue the School System has been receiving has increased the annual maintenance of effort required by the county.

He explained the School System’s maintenance of effort includes a combination of local taxes involving property and sales taxes and other fees included in the total.

Eldridge said that since the School System’s budget has not included anticipated sales tax growth at the outset, the school-fund balance has increased annually.

He said that if the anticipated sales tax growth were included in the budget, the property tax amount could be reduced, and the sales tax growth could be used in other areas of the budget with the county still complying with the maintenance-of-effort requirement.

“We don’t need to be raising taxes when there’s money there that could have been used up front,” Eldridge said.