MARIETTA - The Cobb School District's SPLOST oversight committee voted Monday to recommend that the school board declare $23 million in excess funds from SPLOST II to be moved to the general fund and used for the fiscal year 2011 budget.

David Wilkerson, the Facilities and Technolgy Committee's treasurer and the former chairman of the Cobb Democratic Party, made the motion. The only committee member to vote no was Kimberly Euston, a member appointed in January by school board member Dr. John Crooks.

Following the meeting, Euston said she has reservations about the legality about the process.

The board last week approved a tentative budget of $819.4 million for FY11, which begins July 1. In addressing a $126.7 million budget deficit, the proposed budget includes a property tax increase of 1.1 mills, to the maximum allowable rate of 20 mills. But Superintendent Fred Sanderson has put forth a proposal for the board to immediately vote to reduce the millage rate back to 18.9 mills, which would subsequently free up the $23 million in excess funds in SPLOST II. The phantom tax hike would not actually raise property taxes, but would reportedly be a legal way for the district to gain more money in its general fund for the FY 11 budget. By law, the school board is only allowed to do one of two things with excess SPLOST money - either pay off debt or to pay down the millage rate.

Euston said, "I still think there's a bit of uncertainty that this is something we can do. That question went unanswered... And I'd rather build classrooms with it."

While Board Chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle, who was at the Monday night meeting, told members that the legality of the phantom tax hike had been approved by district attorney Glenn Brock, Euston and other members questioned whether it would be the best course of action considering the district's past lawsuits regarding SPLOST expenditures.

Legality of the use of SPLOST dollars has been questioned several times before and created lawsuits for the district, most recently in the area of using SPLOST money to install artificial turf at the district's 16 high schools.

The board is set to vote on the excess funds measure at its May 27 meeting.

Also Monday, Wilkerson, who was appointed by school board member David Morgan, brought up the need to improve communication between the board and the F&T committee. Wallace Cooperwood, a 13-year committee member appointed by Sanderson, was rather critical of what he called a recent lack of communication from the board.

"I think that there's a lot of cherry-picking from the board to what they want to send before this committee," Cooperwood said.

Cooperwood and the other F&T members encouraged the board liaison to create a way to communicate F&T recommendations with the rest of the board. Committee member Angie May, a Cheetham Elementary School mom, suggested that Banks give a report to his fellow board members at board meetings, a tradition began by his board liaison predecessor, Crooks.