Chilton County Board of Education members are keeping their fingers crossed that if proration is declared for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, it will not exceed 8 percent.

That is the breaking point for the $73 million annual budget approved by the board Tuesday.

“If they declare 8 percent proration, we can cover up to that amount,” BOE Chief Financial Officer Steve Yeargan told board members. “But if it gets much worse than that, we’re going to have to look at a line of credit or other situations.”

There is currently just under $3.3 million in the school system’s reserves to cover mandatory cuts by the state. The board will be watching certain areas like travel expenses, power bills and maintenance, Superintendent of Education Keith Moore said.

No major projects are on tap for this year, Moore said. The total budget was more last year because it included money for the construction of the new Jemison Middle School.

“I feel like we have a good budget, and we’ll be OK with the budget we have, but there is always the fear of the government declaring proration,” Moore said.

Yeargan said when he first started working for the board 17 years ago, the budget totaled $24 million.

“Of course, that was a lot back then,” he said.