After a few years of generous employee pay raises and spending growth, the Cobb County School District is taking a more judicious approach to its fiscal year 2026 operating budget.
Amid an uncertain economic climate and with lower growth in the Cobb tax digest, district financial officials on Thursday proposed a $1.8 billion budget Thursday that provides modest pay raises and includes reclassifying some teaching positions.
No layoffs are planned, but the cost of Georgia Teacher Retirement System benefits for Cobb educators, as well as other employee health benefits, has risen by $33 million from the current FY 2025 budget of $1.8 billion, Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson said during a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday afternoon.
For employees eligible for a step pay increase, those raises could go as high as 4.6 percent.
The budget proposal includes using $43 million in reserve funding to help balance the budget, with the property tax rate holding steady at 18.7 mills for the third year in a row. The district has a fund balance of $198 million.
“It’s not a great budget, but it’s far from gloom and doom,” Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said.
But he said there are “storm clouds” possible beyond the coming academic year.
“We’re not the only district in this position. It’s concerning, looking ahead.”
(The district did not have the budget proposal available online until after the board’s Thursday night meeting; details can be found at this link.)
After near double-digit increases in the Cobb tax digest in recent years, only two percent growth is projected for 2025, which would yield around $17.4 million in school revenue.
Last year, Cobb had tax digest growth of more than 7 percent and 15 percent in 2023.
Johnson detailed the major personnel changes, which would shift 57 school-leaving interventionist positions to fill classroom vacancies.
The interventionists help detect possible learning issues, but Ragsdale said their work will continue, just in different fashion.
Another 68 teachers who had been on special assignment will be also redirected to classroom teaching positions.
“We’re hoping the economy turns around and that we’ll have a different conversation [about the budget] this time next year,” Ragsdale said.
The school board will hold a second budget public forum on May 15, right before it is scheduled to adopt the budget.
The Cobb school district’s fiscal year runs from July 1-June 30.
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