Local News - June 2003

Budget vote praised by school officials

Published June 18, 2003

Ordinance adopted unanimously

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

Lincoln County commissioners’ unanimous vote adopting the 2003-04 budget ordinance Monday night was met with a round of applause from the audience, filled mostly by school officials, teachers and parents.

It was standing room only, with many people spilling outside the doors of the Commissioners Room into the lobby.

After hearing heartfelt comments from seven people, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners adopted the budget, which totals $81.5 million and includes a general fund of $64.5 million, a $4.59 increase from 2002-03.

Lincoln County Schools will see $11.6 million for their current expenses, plus $940,000 for capital outlay. Compared to 2002-03, those numbers increased by $956,000 and $292,000, respectively. School debt service for 2003-04 is $6.26 million.

School funding received intense scrutiny, especially by commissioners Tom Anderson and Carrol Mitchem, who worked with school officials to examine their budget requests line-by-line.

“We met long, and we met hard, but in the end, we found the answer we needed to find,” Anderson said.

Anderson and Mitchem both expressed their admiration for Superintendent of Schools Jim Watson, school officials and staff.

“We asked tough questions,” Mitchem said.
“Part of the time if I had been Dr. Watson, I would not have listened to me.”

During the public hearing, Watson commended commissioners on working through a tough budgeting process.

“Any taxpayer should feel proud of the process they went through,” Watson said.

Watson lauded the accomplishments of Lincoln students this year. One example is that Lincoln County has seen the largest increase in math and reading scores in grades 3-8 in the history of the school system. He also noted an increase in high school proficiency.

Students have “buckled down and done a tremendous amount of work,” he said.

Watson thanked the board for the priority they placed on education.

“You made education a priority, and I think with us continuing to work together, we can make improvements and make Lincoln County all it can be,” he said.

Fred Jarrett, speaking as a school board member, parent and taxpayer, said he supports the price tag of a quality education.

He spoke of the time and effort that commissioners and school officials put into this year’s budgeting process.

“I truly believe we collectively demonstrated fiscal responsibility for the citizenship of Lincoln County,” Jarrett said.

“I believe Commissioner Anderson and Commissioner Mitchem truly understand the funding needs of Lincoln County Schools better than any other commissioner does, including previous commissioners that sat on the board.”

Jarrett said there were two budget-related items that needed to be addressed — the challenge to commissioners to take $300,000 out of the fund balance and the funding of the Naval JROTC program at West Lincoln High School.

Commissioners had agreed that if the JROTC program was approved, they would grant a budget adjustment for the $61,000 it costs to implement it. They did not specifically address the fund balance challenge during Monday’s meeting.

Cristina Arlow, a parent, thanked the board for its support of education. She noted that seven students had been chosen to attend the state’s Governor’s School.

“This shows that they’re definitely doing something right,” Arlow said.

Lincoln resident David Baxter told commissioners that he realized the right decision is not the easiest decision and thanked them for this year’s school funding.

“Education — the way we treat our children — reflects the integrity and passion of the community,” Baxter said.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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