[Durham INC] County Budget and Cuts to Durham Schools -- Conversations with Commissioners

[lorifarley at nc.rr.com]

Melissa:

I am glad to hear we had a good turn out last night and I don't care who or what the county commissioners blame it on, people need to speak their mind and let our elected officials know where they stand!  However, I have to disagree with you on one point in your email.  The proposed 8million dollars being requested over a 2 school year period is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 93 million in the rainy day fund.  Especially when you look at the accounting that was given to us by DPS that says that fund generated over 30 million dollars in INTEREST ALONE over the last 3 years!!  They can give us our needed 8 million over 2 years and make it up in interest at the same time.  Please do not ask people to find other areas to cut expenses.  We all know the bottom line is going to be where the biggest chunk of our budget is, salaries... which means bigger class sizes, less resources and our best and most talented teachers leaving for greener pastures, and at this point, I wouldn't blame them!

Lori Farley
Creekside Elem PTA President

---- Melissa Rooney <mmr121570 at yahoo.com> wrote: 
Over 400 citizens showed up for the conversations with council last night, and most of them were there to plead with the county not to cut the school budget AGAIN, and particularly not to eliminate one, single teacher's position.

It was a great turnout, and I hope that we here in South Durham can  have at least as good of a showing at the next public meeting with commissioners (Jordan High, March 30, 7 PM). This is especially important, since it is presumed that the big turnout last night was because of a letter sent out by the Durham PTA president, which the county claims mislead the public.

For more details concerning DPS budget cuts under consideration this year, please see the following website:
 
http://jordan.dpsnc.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=474&Itemid=1 
For information regarding the controversial 'rainy day fund,' which the county refuses to tap into to help our schools weather this storm, please see the news article and link below. After talking with several people more informed than I, I discovered that this rainy day fund is not only for schools, but for many Durham services and infrastructure (like a neighborhood's Reserve account), and I now feel that Durham should find ways to continue to invest in our citizens' education without having to tap this important savings account.

What we need most are pleas to spare cuts to our school system, particularly teachers positions and salaries and classroom supplies, which include suggestions for other areas where cuts can be made, or areas where revenue can be raised (see the comment below). You can email your commissioners and school board members at:

Commissioners:
MPage at co.durham.nc.us; ereckhow at co.durham.nc.us; jbowser at co.durham.nc.us; BHeron at co.durham.nc.us; bhowerton at co.durham.nc.us;  mruffin at co.durham.nc.us

School Board: 
minnie.forte-brown at dpsnc.net, heidi.carter at dpsnc.net, omega.curtis-parker at dpsnc.net, fredrick.davis at dpsnc.net, kirsten.kainz at dpsnc.net, stephen.martin at dpsnc.net, leigh.bordley at dpsnc.net, hank.hurd at dpsnc.net

please remove any spaces in the above email (they sometimes get slipped in there upon transmission).

Thanks!
Melissa (Rooney)


__________________________
 
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com%2Fview%2Ffull_story%2F6803702%2Farticle-County-denies-surplus-claim%3Finstance%3Dhomethirdleft&rct=j&q=herald+sun+rainy+day+&ei=41SqS-rcIsa0tgf0gpH8DA&usg=AFQjCNEb_8Td58VH_R1kOVAmXRDWjuvyjA



County denies surplus claim
1 day 15 hrs ago | 582 views | 0  | 9  |  |    
By Ray Gronberg

gronberg at heraldsun.com; 419-6648

DURHAM
-- Supporters of the Durham Public Schools are misguided if they think
the county government is sitting on a massive "rainy day fund" that
could save the system from deep budget cuts, two key county officials
say.

Because of the recession, "the city of Durham, Durham
County and Durham Public Schools all must reduce expenditures in a time
when state and local revenues have plummeted," County Commissioners
Chairman Michael Page said Monday night. "It is not an easy process,
but it is one we cannot avoid."

The chairman's comments, and
parallel arguments from County Manager Mike Ruffin, took aim at Durham
PTA President Trilby McClammy's call earlier this month for
commissioners to spend part of the county's savings to ease pressure
for cuts in school spending.

McClammy said the county is sitting on "over $93 million," much of which "exists to be used in emergency situations."

With
schools facing another round of state-dictated cuts that force DPS to
eliminate hundreds of jobs, "we feel that our current circumstances fit
that description," McClammy said in a March 12 letter that urged
parents to lobby commissioners.

She added that "for us, very little can be put ahead of our children's education."

Ruffin, however, said the claim the county has a massive surplus at its disposal is false.

It
did have $92.2 million in the bank as of last June 30. But $56 million
of that was untouchable, either because of state statute or from
previous decisions that "designated" it for other uses.

The
remaining $36.1 million was in theory available, but much of that
counted toward the reserve the county maintains to guard its AAA bond
rating. 

There is roughly $5 million not needed for the bond
rating, but Ruffin doesn't want to tap that because local governments
are under regulatory pressure to put more money in the bank to cover
retiree benefits.

Given all that, "the county does not have any
additional funds in its reserves that it could appropriate to assist
with the school system," Ruffin said.

Page said critics should explain what services they think the county should cut to boost its allocation to the schools.

And
"there are many that believe we are already funding our system at a
very generous level," the chairman said Monday. "They do not want other
services sacrificed or property taxes raised to fund our schools at a
higher level."

Ruffin said he'd written DPS Interim
Superintendent Hank Hurd to say he was "dismayed" by the claims from
school advocates that the county is sitting on extra money.

Like
City Manager Tom Bonfield, Ruffin also stressed that
recession-triggered revenue shortfalls are likely to endure for years,
making the problem less a rainy day and more one that demands lasting
cuts in spending.

When it comes to revenue, "there's this 'new
normal,' " Ruffin said. "We don't know where it is, but it's not where
it was. It's lower. We're all groping to where that point is going to
end up. It's going to be several years before we right-size the
organization to where we can live with the annual revenue we're going
to get."

He added that "the worst mistake" the county or the
school system could make would be to use one-shot funding to fund
ongoing expenses on the assumption that there will be a quick recovery.

"The
hard thing, the right thing to do is go ahead and make the [budget]
adjustments you need to make," he said, adding that he's figuring on
slashing county spending for the second year in a row.

County
and school officials are scheduled to attend a forum on the budget
tonight at 7 p.m. at the Holton Career and Resource Center, 401 N.
Driver St.

Ruffin is expecting PTA supporters to show up in
force. "Because of [the McClammy] letter and the confusion, it could
get a little incendiary," he said.

____

My comment:

While I empathize with the commissioners' and county manager's difficult situation in having to make ends meet with even less money than last year, I take issue with comparing Durham's public school system (and associated costs) with other nearby counties. It is a common fact that Durham has more challenges at a higher level than nearby Chapel Hill, Wake, etc., including a larger ESL student population, a larger free-or-reduced-lunch population, a larger population of low-income families (well below the country average), and higher drop out rates and crime rates (which are, no doubt, related). That's why we have to spend more money than others on our school system. 

Teachers and parents (and citizens, in general), would like to see a TRANSPARENT breakdown of DPS's budget, including salaries and benefits for ALL administration positions -- including every person who works in the Fuller Bldg. We deserve to know exactly how DPS is allocating our money.

As for where we can cover the costs ...

The county should be putting immense pressure on the state to allow us to impose impact fees SOLELY on new development, as other counties (but NOT Durham) are currently permitted to do. There are plenty of residential properties that are vacant, for sale, or just plain dilapidated throughout Durham, and developers profiting from new construction should help pay the resulting infrastructure costs.

2) PREPARED Food Tax, Hotel Tax, and Entertainment Tax: The county should have a referendum for these taxes in every election from here on out. Over 60 % of those who work in Durham DO NOT live here (as school board candidate Hughes pointed out during his City Council run), yet they benefit from our services (roads, police, etc.) while they are here (which is at least 40 hours per week). This is one obvious way to get them to share in the costs.

3) Legalize Trap and Release in Durham, enabling volunteer citizens to trap stray animals, neuter/spay them, and then release them back where they found them. Other counties have had great success with this -- it reduces the workload of the Animal Control Dept, as well as the costs associated with trapping and euthanizing these animals. And release of these 'fixed' animals inhibits other, unfixed strays from coming into the area, thereby reducing our problems with feral animals.