Onslow County and the Board of Education worked for nearly three months to come up with a new funding formula.
Onslow County and the Board of Education worked for nearly three months to come up with a new funding formula.
Onslow County Board of Education chairwoman Pam Thomas is proud of the teamwork that paved the way for the board and the county to approve a new funding plan, saying in a press release that the board was “excited” about the outcome.
Onslow County and the school board recently gave the green light for annual current expenses and capital outlay expenses. The county and school board worked on the funding plan for nearly three months.
The agreements lay out how county funding is decided each year.
The base funding amount for the current local expense is 36.1 percent of the sum property tax and sales tax received by Onslow County for the calendar year, according to the press release. County commissioners and school board members needed to agree on a new funding formula in order to draw up a budget for the fiscal year.
Onslow County commissioners, citing that higher school expenses had surpassed county revenue, deemed that funding was disproportionately costing the county. Commissioners decided to dissolve the past agreement in July 2018.
The new formula takes into account changes in student enrollment and will adjust accordingly. The capital outlay fund sets available maintenance funds at $5.5 million by the end of fiscal year 2024-2025. It’s a $2.5 million increase from the current maintenance fund.