County gets feedback on budget

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Jun. 2—GUILFORD COUNTY — Employees and advocates for Guilford County Schools put on a full-court political press Thursday to encourage the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to increase local funding for the school system.

The school district supporters packed the commissioners' chambers in downtown Greensboro as county staff had to open the balcony seating rarely needed during board meetings. Guilford County Schools employees and advocates took up most of the 200 seats in the chambers.

Prior to the meeting, members of the Guilford County Association of Educators held a rally at the nearby Governmental Plaza about the funding increase request.

The school district advocates also spoke at the public hearing on the county budget during the Thursday night meeting, with each speaker allotted up to two minutes. Many of the speakers asked the commissioners to support pay raises for non-instructional classified workers such as custodians, maintenance workers and other support staff.

Maintenance specialist Todd Smith said workers like himself have the "expertise to determine" whether school buildings have lights, water, air conditioning and other basic necessities to hold classes. Other speakers echoed Smith's perspective.

Whether the school system advocates get their pleas fulfilled remains uncertain.

Last month Guilford County Manager Michael Halford presented his proposed new fiscal year budget totaling $832 million, greater than the $784 million current fiscal year budget adopted a year ago.

Halford's proposal would keep the county property tax rate at 73.05 cents per $100 valuation, and board leaders have said they don't want to raise the rate after the vast majority of taxpayers ended up paying noticeably higher bills because of the impact of property revaluation last year.

Halford's budget would maintain the same level of funding for Guilford County Schools and Guilford Technical Community College. In a statement last month county officials said that the increase in education sought by the school district and GTCC "far exceeds" resources currently available to the county and noted that education funding has increased by $47 million since the 2021-22 fiscal year.

At a meeting last month in High Point, the Guilford County Board of Education sought a local spending increase of $101 million from the commissioners.

The commissioners should adopt a new fiscal year budget at their next regularly scheduled meeting at 5:30 p.m. June 15 at the Old Guilford County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. in downtown Greensboro. The commissioners face a deadline of having the balanced budget in place by July 1, the first day of the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The commissioners will have the chance to digest what they heard from constituents about the budget during a work session Tuesday afternoon at a county office in downtown Greensboro.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — @HPEPaul — 336-888-3528