Caswell County Schools board members on Jan. 22 reviewed their quarterly financial report and discussed a proposed budget amendment to cover plumbing and HVAC repairs across district schools.

Speaker 2 presented the quarter-ending report and said state and local revenue and expenditure percentages were similar to last year, noting the district’s current-expense balance was inflated this month because payroll that fell in December is paid in January. "Last year, our revenues were 46.31%. This year, it's 46.93% ... and our expenditures are 49.38% for this year," Speaker 2 said, explaining timing and allotment revisions from the state will require further budget amendments.

Staff recommended budget amendment #2 to transfer $60,000 from the Capital Outlay fund balance into the district’s 2020 HVAC line, raising that line to $616,800 to cover multiple plumbing and HVAC repairs. Speaker 2 named a pending $46,000 invoice for Dillard and a separate $7,500 bill that staff plan to submit once work is complete. "I do believe that with the HVAC systems upgrade at Dillard ... that work is about 89 percent complete," Speaker 3 said, adding staff prefer to request reimbursements once projects finish.

Board members debated whether to move funds now or bring specific purchase requests when costs are known. Some members urged returning with itemized requests and bids before transferring large sums; staff replied that many capital-outlay items are already budgeted and that some operational repairs cannot be charged to the county capital reserve referenced repeatedly in the discussion (the fund was described in the meeting as "8 88" and by staff as earmarked for specific projects).

Speaker 2 said the district had fully paid for a recently received acuity bus and had about $11,000 remaining in that line, which could be reallocated by amendment. Speaker 2 also described federal and state allotment revisions, Medicaid-reimbursement delays and how those timing issues affect cash flow and future amendments.

No final vote on budget amendment #2 is recorded in the provided transcript segments; staff said they would circulate a revised amendment that moves money between purpose codes without changing the overall fund balance and would present a formal amendment to the board for approval.

What’s next: Staff will circulate a revised budget amendment and return with more detailed cost estimates and the formal amendment for board action.