Committee approves capital and fixed-cost reallocations for school projects

Charleston 01 committee members voted to approve two separate budget reallocations covering capital maintenance and fixed costs, freeing savings to fund several school facilities projects.

The committee approved reallocating Phase 5 sales-tax capital maintenance funds to four projects: new cabinetry in the front office at Santa Feud Elementary School; elevator repairs at the School of the Arts; lighting upgrades at North Charleston High School; and pond and stormwater repairs at Charles Pickney Elementary School. ‘‘Wehave identified some savings and some projects that we deem no longer necessary, and we recommend reallocating those savings to accomplish these four projects,’’ said Steve Hamer, who presented the request.

The committee also approved a reallocation of FY26 fixed cost-of-ownership (FCO) funds after staff reported that several projects would be delayed or phased into future years. Hamer said the A.C. Cochran vestibule project will be delayed to FY27 and that a CTE-related project will be executed in phases, requiring use of available FY26 savings elsewhere. He told the committee that under existing business rules any reallocations must be explicitly identified and tied to projects not in the original approved list.

Both motions were moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote. The Phase 5 sales-tax reallocation was put to a vote later in the meeting and carried; the FY26 FCO reallocations also passed.

The approvals authorize staff to apply identified savings to the listed school projects; the motions did not include line-by-line dollar amounts in the discussion, but the agenda materials attached to the motions list the specific allocations.

Next steps: staff will implement the reallocations per the adopted resolutions and, where required by policy, will present the amended project lists as part of subsequent budget reporting.