Sampson County commissioners approve school funding formula, contract policies, leases and other routine actions

The Sampson County Board of Commissioners on May 20 approved a package of routine and policy actions, including adoption of a jointly agreed public school funding formula, multiple fire service contract amendments, updated county procurement rules and several property and lease transactions.

The meeting produced several immediate outcomes that affect county operations: the board adopted a public school current-expense funding agreement with Sampson County Schools and Clinton City Schools; it approved contract amendments extending fire-service contracts for multiple volunteer departments; it adopted a county contracts policy and a revised purchasing manual (with a piggybacking clause to be confirmed as an appendix); it approved a 10-year lease renewal for the Tar Heel Challenge Academy property; and it authorized purchase of a parcel from the Town of Roseboro for an EMS station for $20,000.

Why it matters: the adopted school funding formula changes the county's method for budgeting ongoing operating support for the two local school systems and aims to provide earlier budget certainty; the procurement updates and contracts policy standardize contracting and purchasing behavior; and the EMS property purchase and lease renewal hold near-term operational impact for emergency services and a state-run charter program.

Key votes and motions (summary) - Consent agenda: approved (motion carried). - Fire contract amendments: approved jointly for Autryville, Clement, Clinton, Faison, Garland, Halls, Harrells, Herring, Jordan Chapel, Newton Grove, Plainview, Roseboro, Salemburg, Spivey's Corner and others; the board did not set a fire tax rate at the meeting; a separate fire commission process will address rate petitions for Piney Grove, Turkey and Smith's Chapel with a public hearing May 20 and subsequent recommendation to the board. - Public school funding formula: motion to adopt the 'Sampson County Board of Commissioners and Sampson County Board of Education and Clinton City Board of Education annual current-expense funding agreement' and authorize the chairman to sign; motion carried. (Both school boards had unanimously approved the formula earlier.) - Office-space reallocation and development center: motion to assign office space currently used by Veteran Services and IT to the Board of Elections, authorize the interim county manager to request relocation, and repurpose the vacated Board of Elections space for planning, inspections and environmental health as a development center; motion carried. The board also authorized continued use of the Expo Center for large elections. - Lease renewal: approved renewal of the lease for the Tar Heel Challenge property (state Department of Public Safety) for a 10-year term with annual rent of $1; motion carried. - Property purchase for EMS: approved purchase of a parcel from the Town of Roseboro for $20,000 to construct a new EMS station; motion carried. - Contracts policy and purchasing manual: board approved a new county contracts policy and a revised purchasing manual; the purchasing manual will include a piggybacking clause (a cited exception already appears on page 19, the board asked staff to ensure it's explicit or appended). - Board appointment policy: adopted a formal policy governing board appointments and removals; separate agenda item appointing fire commission members was removed and deferred to the June meeting. - Older Americans Month proclamation: board approved a proclamation recognizing May as Older Americans Month. - Closed session and personnel action: the board recessed to closed session under North Carolina General Statute 143-318.11 for personnel matters. Upon return the board approved a motion amending the county attorney employment provision to require residency within Sampson County within 36 months from the date of the motion.

Details and clarifications noted in the meeting - Fire contracts: the contract amendments extend fire service for five years (with options to renew) and reflect a proposed multi-year rate agreed to by the listed departments; the board will set the actual fire tax rate for FY 2025-26 during the budget process. - School formula: the formula sets county funding at 25% of the sum of property and sales tax revenues (excluding amounts statutorily earmarked for education) for the immediately preceding calendar year, to be allocated pro rata between the two districts by student population (best of first two months' enrollment); the formula includes an initial term and automatic renewals with notice provisions. - Purchasing/piggybacking: commissioners asked that piggybacking (using another local government's procurement award) be explicit; staff noted state and federal law allow piggybacking and pointed to a reference under 'Exceptions' in the purchasing manual.

Speakers quoted in this report are identified in the meeting record and are not paraphrased beyond the transcript. The board indicated unanimous or near-unanimous support on the listed motions where a roll call or hand-raise tally was recorded at the meeting.