061900June 19, 2000
The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met in special budget session at 2:00 p.m. in
the Commissioners Meeting Room, County Office Building, 725 McDowell Road, Asheboro, NC.
Commissioners Kemp, Davis, Holmes, Frye, and Mason were present.
Randolph County Schools
Worth Hatley, Superintendent, gave an update on the three new schools under construction.
When these projects are completed, all their schools will have been built or renovated within the last
twelve years. He stated that as they add more campuses and renovate existing ones, they will need to
increase their current expense budget because they will have additional expense for bus gasoline,
electricity, and other energy costs; additional teachers, maintenance workers, and other support staff,
and furniture, equipment, etc. Mr. Hatley also discussed capital outlay needs, including flooring
replacement, technology, athletic field houses, and buses. He also mentioned problems with
recruiting teachers to the system.
Asheboro City Schools
Dr. Bob Gordon, Superintendent, gave an update on construction and renovation projects and
said that when all projects are completed, all their schools will have been built or renovated within the
last twelve years. He said their current expense budget will be impacted by loss of some CBA
funding, addition of a school resource officer, salary increases, and increasing technology and
maintenance costs. They also need a new activity bus and a new heating/air conditioning system for
the gym at North Asheboro Middle School. Dr. Gordon said the Board of Education recommends
that the supplemental school tax remain at 14.5¢.
Randolph Community College
Dr. Larry Linker, President, stated that he had requested $500,000 for capital outlay but had
been funded at $100,000. He noted that the college has received $250,000 in renovation and repair
funding from the state for the first time, and these funds have helped a lot. He said if the state bond
referendum passes this fall, RCC will receive $1,344,379 from that for new construction. They are
also scheduled to receive $1,685,530 for renovation and repair. Dr. Linker gave an update on the
emergency services training center under construction, parking lots being added at their Asheboro
campus, an 8,000 -square -foot facility being leased for their Archdale campus, and properties adjacent
to the Asheboro campus that could be available for purchase in the future. He mentioned that the
RCC Foundation has a capital campaign underway for a conference center.
Mental Health
Mazie Fleetwood, Area Mental Health Director, said they have frozen 9.4 positions in order
to balance their budget this year, which has resulted in increased workloads for existing staff. She
discussed the problems the agency has with recruiting and retention and noted that their turnover rate
has exceeded 25% the last two years. She said their budget is $186,428 short of having enough
money to give the 5% salary increase recommended for County employees. However, by using
lapsed salary, merit money, and additional funding expected from the state, the additional amount
needed from the County would be around $25,000. Mrs. Fleetwood asked the Board to consider
adding $25,000 to the Mental Health budget.
Dr. Ann Suggs, Chairman of the Mental Health Board, complimented the agency on their
recent accreditation by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services. She said the
entire Mental Health Board supports the requests of the Mental Health Agency.
Budget Discussion
The Board discussed items requested by various County departments and other agencies that
were not included in the County Manager's proposed budget, as follows:
$ 33,647 - Programmer/Analyst III position (for 9 months)
26,839 - MIS Specialist III position (for 9 months)
25,000 - for Mental Health
150,000 - Asheboro City Schools Capital Outlay (for Lindley Park School)
$235,486
The Board also discussed giving the City and County Schools more current expense funding
than was included in the Manager's proposed budget.
The Board recessed at 4:45 p.m. and reconvened at 7:00 p.m.
Public Hearing on Proposed 2000-2001 Budget
At 7:00 p.m. the Board adjourned to a duly advertised public hearing on the proposed budget.
Rashidi Zalika, Asheboro, stated that he is a candidate for the Randolph County Board of
Education. He said that education should piggyback on everything the Commissioners consider, and
he asked them to honor all budget requests made by both school systems.
No one else asked to speak, and Chairman Kemp closed the public hearing. He announced
that final decisions concerning the budget will be made at the Commissioners' June 26 meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
Phil Kemp, Chairman
J. Harold Holmes
Robert O. Mason
Darrell L. Frye
Robert B. Davis
Alice D. Dawson