HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93009_2188a. Lakeshore Middle School Phase II and III
b. A new South High School
c. An addition to the Mooresville High School
Chairman Haire said the finance director had made assurances that the 4.5 cent increase
would pay for the debt service on the three projects.
Commissioner Johnson said that during the budget deliberations he had offered some
motions to reduce the social services budget and the local community college funding. He said the
FY 1999-2000 DSS budget had increased about $1.2 million. Also, that Mitchell College's budget
had increased about 29%. Johnson said he did not think the board had been conservative during the
budgetary process.
Commissioner Fortner responded by saying that during the budgetary process last year, the
DSS budget had been cut (number of employees) and that during the middle of the year, new
employee positions were added. Fortner said the college did not receive a "great deal of money
from the county"
Johnson said the 2911'0 amounted to $378,000. He said he had made cuts during the budgetary
process not necessarily to reduce taxes, but to find some funds to set aside for the schools. There
were, however, not enough votes in favor of the motions to pass. He said this was the reason he
didn't vote to borrow money for library improvements.
Commissioner Bowles said he, too, was uncomfortable with the budgetary process. He said
it was obvious there were school needs, but he didn't feel enough "fat" had been removed from the
overall budget. Bowles said the board needed to prioritize the county's needs.
Commissioner Stewart referred to a comment made by Mr. Berst about the elimination of
trailers at the schools if the five cent increase passed. She said, "In no way will it (five -cent
increase) eliminate the trailers at the schools."
Commissioner Fortner said the board was looking at reducing the number of students at a
high school that had a capacity of 700 or 800 but now had 1400 with an anticipated enrollment of
1500 this fall.
Stewart said she didn't want the public to have the expectation that the mobile units would
be eliminated.
Chairman Haire said that "reduce" rather than "eliminate" might be abetter word to describe
the mobile units if funds could be approved for more classroom space.
Commissioner Stewart said she felt strongly that school boards should have their own taxing
authority. She said better working relationships and representation would occur if this happened.
She mentioned that on several occasions she had encouraged the North Carolina Association of
County Commissioners to initiate passage of this type of legislation.
VOTING: Ayes - 3; Nays - 2 (Johnson/Stewart)
REQUEST FROM IREDELL-STATESVILLE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR CAPITAL
PROJECT ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS (14 separate amendments needed for year-end
closings): William Barnard, the finance officer for the school system, said he had 14 budget
amendments that needed approval for year-end closings. He said the amendments were needed
because the projects were nearing closure. Excess funds have occurred due to the bid process.
Barnard said the money would be applied to other projects, and it was necessary to spend the bond
money prior to August to prevent the county from going into arbitrage.