County to amend school capital fund ordinance; $3.66 million in lottery proceeds slated for refunding debt retirement

County finance staff said June 2 they will amend the State Public School Building Capital Fund grant project ordinance to close the 2013 and 2015 school bond refunding projects and submit required reports to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Adam Fernbach of the county finance department told commissioners the county will report the lottery‑proceeds allocations and that this year’s allotment is, he said, $3,657,177 (he prefaced the figure by saying he was “working off memory”). Fernbach said $650,000 of that total would be directed to retiring 2013 refunding debt and the balance would be applied to 2015 refunding debt, both tied to earlier education facility indebtedness stemming from 2006 debt‑leveling and later refunding actions.

Fernbach described the standard process: the statewide lottery proceeds flow to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which publishes local estimates; local school officials complete findings that the proceeds should be used for debt retirement or prior construction; then joint applications signed by the school board chair and the superintendent (Fernbach referenced "Dr. Martin") are submitted to the state.

County Manager Robinson told commissioners the school board had taken required action in May but that a clerical issue delayed one document; the schools were correcting the paperwork so the joint application could be finalized.

Fernbach and commissioners discussed that lottery proceeds traditionally feed the county’s 2006 education debt leveling plan and are budgeted to retire debt each year; changing how the funds are used would be a policy decision for the school board and county commission, he said.

No vote on the amendment was recorded during the briefing; staff said new grant applications for the current year would appear on an upcoming agenda.