With pension, school, transportation and health care costs rising, state lawmakers aren't likely to have a lot of money left over for things like teacher pay raises next year.
That was made clear in Gov. Nathan Deal's instructions to state agencies this week as they begin constructing their budget proposals for the upcoming year.
The state will spend about $25 billion this year on a host of things, from K12 schools to nursing home stays for the elderly, from new roads and bridges to keeping felons locked up. Tax collections rose during the recently completed fiscal year, and they are expected to rise again during fiscal 2018, which began July 1.
But a huge bump in payments to the teacher pension system, and other rising costs may mean that extra money won't go far. To read more, check out our article on myajc.com.
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