Money for new school buses gets the OK

The Warren County Commission voted unanimously Monday night to issue capital outlay notes not to exceed $390,000 to purchase new school buses for the Warren County School System.

This fulfills another of the promises made last year to facilitate a budget plan designed to avoid a property tax increase for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. However, by using loan money to buy the buses, it simply shifts the tax burden to future budgets.

One of the sticking points in the capital outlay note plan was how to fund an $800,000 teacher raise package, since the county couldn?t legally issue capital outlay notes to fund a recurring expense, which the salary increases would constitute because they would become part of the school budget from now on, due to maintenance of effort regulations.

Commissioner Terry Bell, who spearheaded the no-tax-increase budget plan, suggested the county could issue capital outlay notes to purchase new school buses, a non-recurring expense, thus freeing up the school system to move funds within its own budget to pay for the teacher raises. Bell said at the time that he supported the raise package, but wanted to find a method of funding it without an immediate tax increase.

Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale said he was glad to see the resolution pass easily with little discussion.

?I was pleased,? Hale said. ?I think everything went well. This was the way the budget was passed last year, as a part of our budget discussions, and the County Commission followed through with what they said they would do. We appreciate that very much.?

Education Committee chairman Bill Zechman, who was a staunch proponent of the raise package, said he was gratified his fellow commissioners were true to their word.

?This was the promise the County Commission made to the school system,? Zechman said, ?and to the citizens of Warren County. When we were going through our budget realignment last year in preparation for this fiscal year the promise was made at that time, and the promise was fulfilled tonight.

?This was just part of the package,? Zechman added, ?and this is almost half of the total cost of the teacher raise, the $390,000 you saw tonight.?

Bell, who weathered a fair amount of controversy as a result of his budget plan, said his intention was to avoid a tax increase during a depressed economy due, in part, to the Carrier closure, while still funding important projects.

?I feel like it was the best thing for the county,? Bell said, ?and it worked out. We got unanimous support tonight from the commission. There wasn?t anybody who voted against it. And that covered half their raise package, so I think it worked out for the best.?

After somewhat lengthy contract negotiations, mainly dealing with how the $800,000 would be distributed, the local teachers? union voted to accept the raise package last month, so the commission?s vote Monday was a vital part of that process.

If the resolution to issue the capital outlay notes had been voted down, the county would have had to find another method of funding, which could have presented a major problem and possibly jeopardized the raise.