• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Chatham Unswayed By Schools' Hike Pleas

Posted on: Thursday, 18 May 2006, 18:06 CDT

By Jennifer Ferris, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

May 17--PITTSBORO -- Chatham County officials didn't come any closer Monday to closing the gap between what the county school system wants and what they're willing to give.

The Chatham County school board has asked for more than $23 million from the county for its next year's budget. The county has offered up 85 percent of that, or $19.8 million.

Last week, the commissioners attended a meeting with the school board to hear more about the request, but it seems the presentations and impassioned pleas from school board members didn't sway them one bit.

"There is no way for us to have that budget," County Manager Charlie Horne said at a commissioners' work session Monday. No school officials were present at the work session on the county budget.

Instead, the commissioners tried to apply a little creative thinking to the dilemma. Commissioner Tommy Emerson wondered whether the county or school system could dip into their respective fund balances -- kind of their savings accounts -- to solve the problem.

The fund balance is a reserve of money used for emergencies and to offset any future financial liabilities. Governmental bodies try to keep the amount of the fund balance to a certain percentage of the annual operating budget.

"We have excess fund balance to some degree," Emerson said. "If we go to our policy target, we'll still have some money left to play with."

The commissioners also considered whether lottery funds, recreation fees or impact fees could carry a heavier load. Horne estimates that proceeds from the lottery will cover $1 million in capital expenditures for the schools.

The commissioners said they were willing to try to help the schools, but not at the expense of other county programs.

"It used to be the schools were the most important," Commissioners Chairman Bunkey Morgan said. "Now water is."

The commissioners also seemed somewhat dubious of the schools' needs.

"If we make any kind of adjustment, we have to make sure to designate it," Morgan said. "Last year we said, 'Do you have any extra fund balance?' and they said 'no' and then they bought $2 million worth of computers. That was stepping on our toes."

The school board's budget request reflects a 26-percent increase over last year's request, Horne said. Much of the additional need is for extra personnel, such as two school nurses and five new teachers to work with at-risk students.

Another major increase is for supplement increases for teachers -- each teacher is slated to get $300.

The county commissioners did not reach a decision on the schools' request Monday, but did commit to exploring solutions to the problem. They've asked county staff to analyze the district's budget for anything that can be altered.

-----

To see more of The Herald-Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald-sun.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Herald-Sun

More News in this Category