By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó County commissioners have agreed to provide half the cost of building a consolidated administrative offices facility for the Rowan-Salisbury School System.
The county’s initial payments will come from savings or the fund balance.
Four out of the five members of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners agreed Thursday to give school system officials the go-ahead to spend up to $7.5 million on building a new facility or renovating and expanding an existing building.
The decision on location and construction will be left to the county school board.
The county will put up $350,000 yearly and the school system will match that to pay off the loan over 15 years.
Commissioners discussed the school project during the final day of their three-day retreat at the Tadlock South Rowan Library.
Although it wasn’t an official vote, commissioners came to a consensus on the matter, directing County Manager Gary Page to include the county’s $350,000 payment in the budget for the coming fiscal year.
Commissioners on the current board and prior boards have struggled with the central office issue for years.
School officials have repeatedly cited inefficiencies and other problems related to system administration being spread out over four sites.
But the winning argument came down to safety. Rowan-Salisbury officials told commissioners Wednesday that due to safety issues at the system’s Long Street building in East Spencer, the school office is their No. 1 priority.
Commissioner Chad Mitchell said the county should have provided a central office years ago and has neglected its responsibility.
He repeatedly cited an engineer’s report from the school system that labels the Long Street building unsafe because of structural problems and age. He said the safety issue outweighed concerns over the economy, pointing out the tremendous liability if a section of the building collapses.
And Mitchell said putting any money into trying to repair the Long Street building would be a waste.
On that matter, the board unanimously agreed with Chairman Carl Ford’s assertion that he wouldn’t “spend a red cent on Long Street.”
Mitchell joined Commissioner Raymond Coltrain, Vice Chairman Jon Barber and Ford in supporting the central office.
Mitchell offered three alternatives for coming up with the county’s $350,000: Cutting plans to build a hangar at the airport already in the budget for this year; taking part of the $375,000 given annually to teachers for classroom supplies; or asking the school system to make the first one or two payments, delaying the county’s participation.
The majority of the board agreed to use money earmarked for the hangar to make the payments. The project had been put on hold and Page had planned to cut the $144,000 budgeted this year in an attempt to cover an anticipated $1 million revenue shortfall.
Mitchell and Barber are both teachers in the Rowan-Salisbury School System.
Ford initially said he didn’t think the time was right for the central office due to the economic recession and lack of money. But Mitchell’s funding alternatives won him over.
Commissioners directed Page to use money previously budgeted for the new hangar to make the central office payments the first couple of years. After that, they expect the Duke Energy expansion at the Buck Steam Station to generate enough money to cover the payments.
Mitchell also suggested the county manager talk with school system officials about delaying the county’s participation by a year or so.
Commissioners debated the central office extensively Thursday morning.
Commissioner Tina Hall argued county dollars should go into classrooms to help teachers and students falling behind on state and federal achievement standards.
She also suggested school staff at the Long Street facility could be moved to the Social Services building on West Innes Street when the department relocates to planned new offices and it becomes vacant. She said that could be a short-term fix for safety concerns and allow more time for the economy and the county’s revenue picture to improve.
At one point, Hall also suggested packaging the $7.5 million for a central office on a school bond along with other top school system priorities.
That proposal quickly gained steam, with suggestions of including the school system’s entire $120 million list of capital projects.
Elections Director Nancy Evans answered queries about putting a school bond vote on the November ballot along with the quarter-cent sales tax the board discussed earlier during its retreat.
As commissioners jumped on the bond bandwagon, Page and Finance Director Leslie Heidrick brought them back to fiscal reality.
Heidrick advised commissioners that if they don’t have $350,000 to pay annually for the central office, coming up with $7 million to pay on the bonds would require a 5 cent property tax hike.
Page told them putting a school bond referendum on the November ballot would also hurt the chances of getting the quarter-cent sales tax approved.
At that point, commissioners dropped the bond idea.
Assistant Superintendent Gene Miller and school board member Karen Carpenter, who were in the audience, were all smiles after the board agreed to the central office project.
Commissioners briefly touched on school funding for operations ó current expense ó for the coming year.
Barber expressed regret that school officials didn’t talk about their upcoming budget requests Wednesday.
Whatever the request, commissioners made it clear the school system won’t be getting any increases.
Ford pointed out some other counties, including Cabarrus, are asking their school systems to return money from the current budget. Cabarrus has asked for $2.9 million of its school funding back.
Ford said while Rowan isn’t asking for any money back this year, there will be no increase to the schools in the 2010 fiscal year.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.