2014-15 PRELIMINARY BUDGETMARCH 25, 2014

Where Do We Stand? TOTAL LOCAL BUDGET REQUESTS AFTER

INITIAL REVIEW PROCESS (Includes Local Current Expense Fund, Capital Outlay Fund, and Special Revenue Fund)

$124,530,375

Where Do We Stand? TOTAL REVENUE SOURCES AVAILABLE

OTHER THAN THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION

$8,215,345

Where Do We Stand? PRELIMINARY NEED FOR COUNTY

APPROPRIATION FUNDING

$116,315,030

Where Do We Stand? PRELIMINARY COUNTY APPROPRIATION

NEEDED FOR 2014-15$116,315,030

CURRENT YEAR COUNTY APPROPRIATION

$112,722,753 POTENTIAL INCREASE NEEDED

$3,592,277 3.19%

Preliminary Funding Info First correspondence from the County

indicated a potential REDUCTION in funding of $2.6 million

Part of the reduction is the “hold-harmless” amount added to the formula for 2013-14

Part of the reduction is a preliminary assessment that County sales tax revenues are declining

We are awaiting “better” information

Budget Highlights Request includes funds to match a

potential 3% across-the-board pay increase for local-paid base salaries and for all local supplements

$1,645,900 Request includes an already-adopted

increase in health insurance costs $123,000

Budget Highlights We are losing the ability to transfer 400

CTE months of employment for other state needs for 2014-15 and are scheduled to lose the ability to transfer another 400 months the following year. This ability “saved” us $520,000 this year.

These last two slides account for 64% of the needed county funding increase

Budget Highlights The Board originally budgeted $4.1 million

of fund balance for 2013-14, primarily to make up for state teacher assistant funding losses

Current estimates are that we will need to use $2.7 million of local fund balance

That will leave us with local fund balance=

$12,750,000

Budget Highlights We are proposing to eliminate 95-100

Teacher Assistant/Primary Reading Teacher positions due to the expected permanent loss of $4.5 million of state funding

That leaves our formula at: One for each K-1 classroom One for every two 2nd grade classrooms

Budget Highlights The teacher assistant position loss

would have been higher had the Board not already reduced their work days to 208 and were we not using almost 30% of these positions as half-time primary reading teachers (a half-time teacher costs approximately $7,000 less than a full-time assistant)

Budget Highlights Due to turnover since last year, almost

half of the positions proposed to be lost are filled with people already aware that they likely will not be employed next year.

Primary reading teachers are year-to-year employees by the nature of their half-time roles (many are “double-dipping” retirees)

There could be other opportunities available for some who lose their TA jobs

Budget Highlights A few new positions are proposed:

Two classified data manager positions Media coordinator position at Kennedy Assistant principal position at Atkins One day per week of AIG teaching support

for 11 elementary schools Intern position in Research/Evaluation 2 facility management positions, expected

to pay for themselves rather quickly

Budget Highlights Other initiatives:

Postpone 3rd grade “Imagine It” and use $200,000 toward K-3 reading materials

Centrally fund activity bus repairs so that school allotments can be focused on meeting the needs of students ($75,000)

Pay IB membership/exam fees ($78,300) New standards-based resources ($92,000)

Budget Highlights “Required” Increases

Utilities ($330,000*) Workers’ Compensation and Dental claims

experience ($153,700) Payments to Charter Schools ($100,000) SRO contract increases ($35,000)* A large percentage of this increase involves a switch to contracting with the City for solid waste pick-up in the County – initial cost, but saves the replacement of a truck and allows for repurposing the driver

Budget Highlights Other “no cost” (we hope!) initiatives:

Elementary classified testing/technology facilitators, freeing up curriculum coordinators from testing duties

Elementary specialists to restore five-day specials rotation (currently six-day)

Full-time (from current half-time) study skills positions at Equity+ middle schools

Budget Highlights Other “no cost” (we hope!) initiatives:

An extra release period for high school athletic directors

“Freeing up” $625,000 per year of federal Title II funds for staff development

A two-week Title 1 summer reading program in July/August (no cost to the local budget)

Refocus Title 1 bonuses into training stipends and pay for additional student remediation

Other Information Textbook replacements will continue to

be delayed due to expected lack of state funding (planning allotment is only $765,000) and due to uncertainty surrounding North Carolina standards

Increased supplies and materials school allotment is proposed from local fund balance to help teachers acquire additional resources

Other Information The 119-day contract employment of

new classified employee hires continues to hold down costs, save management time and effort, and ensure quality hires

We continue to outsource housekeeping services school-by-school as we incur turnover in staffing

ACA is not impacting the budget for 2014-15, but could for 2015-16

Contingencies The state 2013 Budget Bill proposed to

restore $1.3 million in funding for teachers and teacher assistants in 2014-15

We fear those funds will be “hijacked” for teacher and state employee pay raises

We need to keep the pressure on the General Assembly to provide more textbook funding

Contingencies Our County Appropriation is still less than it

was in 2009-10, and our student population is up by over 2,000 since then

We should suggest that the 2013-14 level of funding become the new base for the operation of the formula (locking in place the “hold-harmless”, since the Commissioners reduced the net property tax rate despite our continuing level of needs and increasing student enrollment)

Contingencies Even if we continue at a hold-harmless

level of County funding, our needs far outpace that funding level

It would be extremely difficult to reduce the budget another $3.6 million on top of eliminating 95-100 teacher assistant positions

The Governor’s teacher pay plan would severely impact our local budget needs

Contingencies Fund balance is available to pick up

some/all of the $3.6 million in needs for at least one year

We can spend that year evaluating long-term budget savings strategies

There is some chance of additional one-time funding opportunities that could reduce some of our current operating budget lines

Summary $3,592,277 needed increase in County

Appropriation 81% of that increase is due to factors

beyond the control of the Board (pay/benefits increases, rate increases by other agencies, charter enrollments)

After five years of constant budget cutting, “low impact” budget cutting strategies are no longer available