The Chilton County Board of Education held the first of two public hearings Sept. 4 to discuss the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014-2015.

Chief Financial Officer Steve Yeargan gave board members packets containing the proposed annual budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2015.

The proposed budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year is about $66 million plus a $14.3 million fund balance reserve, Yeargan said.

As of Sept. 30 this year, Yeargan projected the board to have a balance of $7.6 million in the general fund.

Starting Oct. 1, Yeargan said he projected the board would operate in credit negative of about $1.4 million, which means expenses would be more than revenues by about $1.4 million during the coming fiscal year.

Yeargan projected the board would end the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2015, with nearly $6.2 million in the general fund, about $4 million of which would be the amount in reserve as required by the state.

Subtracting the $4 million reserve from the projected $6.2 million balance in the general fund would create a balance of about $2.2 million at the end of the upcoming fiscal year.

The projected balance of $2.2 million at the end of the 2015 fiscal year is more than the projected balance of $600,000 for the 2014 fiscal year was during the board’s budget hearings last year.

Yeargan attributed the increase in the projected balance to the board spending less money on maintenance this year than was originally budgeted.

Otherwise, the proposed budget for 2014-2015 is relatively similar to the previous year’s budget.

The 2013-2014 budget was about $66 million plus a $12.8 million fund balance reserve.

Yeargan said he would have a more accurate idea of where the board is with the budget when the 2013-2014 fiscal year ends Sept. 30, but he was optimistic about the upcoming year.

“I think we’re as good as we’ve been in a while,” Yeargan said. “I think we’re in great shape, but it doesn’t take many things to go wrong.”

The second public hearing on the 2014-2015 budget will be held at 4 p.m. in the board room of the Central Office.