The Highlands County School Board approved a tentative $189 million budget this coming fiscal year. That's down by more than $11 million over last year’s tentative budget.

State law requires notifying the public of the tentative budget ahead of a public hearing when the official budget and millage rates are set.

Tentative budgets can change before final adoption, but generally they only go down. Should an increase be needed, governments would have to restart the notification and public hearing process with the new, higher budget and milage rate.

The new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

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