UPDATED WITH VIDEO: School board refuses request from Commissioners to idenify what might could be cut to prevent or lower a tax increase | Eastern North Carolina Now

    This article was originally published in the Beaufort Observer.

    The issue before the Beaufort County School Board in a special called workshop meeting Monday (6-6-11) was whether to reduce its budget request for next year in order to try to help the County avoid a 10% tax increase. With Mike Isbell absent, they then voted 7-1 to refuse to reduce their budget request beyond what the County Manager has recommended.

    The meeting was called in response to a request from Jerry Langley, chair of the County Commission, for the school board to identify what the consequences would be for a half million cut in both current expense and capital outlay. At last Thursday's meeting the Superintendent indicated that he could not immediately identify how the board would respond to such cuts so the board met Monday to decide. Their decision to not identify any potential cuts means that the matter shifts back to the County Commission to decide how much to cut or raise taxes without the school board's input into the specifics.

    We are editing the video from the meeting and will post that as soon as we get the results so check back and you can watch the action for yourself.

    School board member Terry Williams pushed for the board to identify what it felt could be cut, saying that he just had a feeling that the Commissioners were not going to raise taxes enough to fund the original (County Manager's) proposed budget.

    In the video you will hear a projection of what the state budget will do to the school system and you will hear the superintendent explain how much reserve funds the board has available to it. But the board disregarded that in deciding to stick to its "no cut" position.

    The County Commission will conduct another workshop session Tuesday at 5:30 at 122 W. 3rd St. and will hold a public hearing on June 20 at a place and time yet to be announced.

    Here's the video of the meeting. Clip #1 contains the information setup of the situation facing the School Board and the beginning of the discussion of how to respond:




    The second clip continues the discussion and contains the motion and vote.



    Below is the most recent update: A video from the Beaufort County Commissioners budget workshop on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.