Cabarrus County managers, residents spar over FY26 capital plan as schools ask for more funding

The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing June 2 on the proposed FY26 budget, during which County Manager Sean Newton clarified how the county funds capital projects and residents urged greater support for schools and county staff.

Newton told commissioners that the county has historically rolled prior-year unspent funds into a community investment fund and typically pursues debt on a roughly every-other-year cycle. "If you look through the budget book, there's a breakdown of about $540,000,000 of need," he said, and added that this year's capital budget drawn from prior-year funds totals about $35,000,000, with "82% of that went to school funding for deferred maintenance for Cabarrus County Schools, Kannapolis City Schools, and even Rowan Cabarrus Community College." He said new school construction "are very large expenditures" — "Anywhere from 30,000,000 upwards of a hundred and 30,000,000" — and that new builds generally require going out for debt.

Why it matters: The county's capital priorities and debt capacity determine whether and when new schools and major county facilities can be built. Several residents used the hearing to press the commission for additional support for teachers and school operations rather than one-time capital purchases.

During public comment, Martin Erickson, a Concord resident, praised staff presentations but said "what is less clear is what did not make it into this spending plan" and urged more support for county employees and schools. Courtney Steinberg, who said she has a 9-year-old in Cabarrus County Schools, warned that the district has already cut staff and said, "Our budget is a moral representation of our county. And if we say that we prioritize children, we need to show that in our budget." Keisha Sandage asked the commission to compare teacher supplements with neighboring districts, saying, "we are short changing them over $2,000,000." Wes Honeycutt criticized specific technology spending, saying, "I have a hard time when I look on the budget, and I see dollars $3,100,000 to replace TVs, and smart boards, and Chromebooks."

Commissioner-level discussion during the presentation focused on why specific construction projects (including a Northwest elementary school) were not included in this budget cycle. Newton said some projects were not "shovel ready" and that the county had recently pursued debt in the last cycle, which limited adding new debt in the current proposal. He told commissioners that if they choose to alter the cycle and go for debt now, "we certainly can entertain that idea," but they must be mindful of debt capacity because contributions to the community investment fund in subsequent years would service that debt.

The public hearing was opened and closed during the meeting; no final adoption of the FY26 budget took place at the June 2 work session. Commissioners indicated a follow-up conversation would occur later this year to determine any debt package and funding priorities if they pursue new debt.

The budget book and related capital project lists remain the county's reference for detailed project needs and dollar figures.