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Caswell County reviews school roof, HVAC and actuator needs; commissioners discuss tax options to fund teacher supplement
Summary
School leaders described widespread roof and HVAC issues and classroom actuator obsolescence; commissioners agreed to treat major capital projects via a project ordinance and discussed, but did not adopt, a proposal to raise property taxes to fund a flat teacher supplement and to place an Article 46 sales-tax referendum before voters.
School maintenance staff and county officials spent the budget work session reviewing capital needs at county schools and options to fund a teacher pay supplement.
A facilities official described clogged downspouts, failing roof flashings, leaks into building chases and a number of air-handler and chiller problems across the district. The official said several classroom actuator units that control temperature are more than 20 years old and estimated a replacement cost of roughly $300 per actuator in the school discussed, which the presenter translated to about $90,000 for that campus if all units were replaced at the same time. The facilities staff identified priority items including downspout and gutter repairs, replacement or rebuilds of pumps and some air-handler repairs, and periodic coil cleaning and filter changes to improve HVAC performance and prevent moisture buildup.
Commissioners and the superintendent also discussed capital spending amounts requested by the school board. County staff said the board had requested about $1.1 million for HVAC-related priorities; that request was presented as the highest-priority capital ask. Commissioners and staff agreed that large, high-ticket items should be funded through separate project ordinances rather than being allocated as operating capital outlay in the budget ordinance. A county official summarized the approach as holding project dollars in a project ordinance and releasing funds as work is completed.
On employee compensation, commissioners reviewed two approaches presented by staff: a flat supplement (the superintendent’s materials referenced a $2,000-per-certified-teacher example) and percentage-based raises (1.0% and 1.5% scenarios were modeled). Commissioners discussed trade-offs between a flat amount and a percent-of-salary approach, with several members saying a flat supplemental payment for teachers would be simpler to manage and more directly targeted to recruitment and retention concerns.
A tax option to fund a supplement was introduced during the session. A commissioner proposed temporarily increasing the property tax rate by 2¢ to generate revenue immediately and simultaneously placing a countywide Article 46 sales-tax referendum on the 2026 primary ballot; under the idea, the sales tax revenue would replace the temporary 2¢ property tax if voters approved the referendum. County staff provided a quick estimate that the Article 46 referendum, if approved, would generate in the order of $600,000–$629,000 annually based on current assumptions; staff cautioned the figure requires formal calculation and refund adjustments. Commissioners did not adopt the tax proposal during the session and directed staff to continue analysis and return with more precise revenue and distribution figures.
Next steps: staff will prepare project ordinance language for major capital items, refine cost estimates for identified roof and HVAC priorities, and provide a detailed fiscal analysis of compensation scenarios and the proposed tax pathway before formal budget decisions.
