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School officials ask for supplemental appropriations as HVAC project, enrollment shortfall reshape budget
Summary
Assistant school superintendent James Abernathy told the Board the county’s two elementary schools need about $4.5 million in HVAC work across two fiscal years and that supplemental appropriations — including $179,800 in Emergency Connectivity Funds — raise the FY2022 school budget to $24,123,727 and trigger a required public hearing.
James Abernathy, assistant school superintendent and finance director, told the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors on April 14 that HVAC replacements at both elementary schools will cost about $4.5 million and are expected to be funded over two fiscal years. Abernathy said preparations for installation were to begin the following week and presented two supplemental appropriation requests, including previously awarded CARES funds and newly awarded ESSER III Set-Aside Unfinished Learning Grant funding plus Emergency Connectivity Funds of $179,800. He said the increases raise the FY2022 school budget to $24,123,727 and exceed the county’s 1% change threshold, requiring a public hearing before final action.
Abernathy also reported that the state finalized the average daily membership (ADM) at 1,509.5 students for FY2022, below the 1,550 figure used in the budget, and estimated the local funding match requirement would decrease by about $133,000 because of the lower ADM. T. Wayne Hoover, chair of the Finance Committee, said the committee recommends appropriating the full fourth-quarter payment to the school system and using funds above the required local match toward updating HVAC systems at the secondary schools; Supervisor Hoover moved that appropriation and Supervisor Frank Bacon seconded it. The Board voted unanimously to appropriate the full fourth quarter appropriation, with any funds above the match earmarked for HVAC updates.
County Administrator Tracy M. Gee told the Board that because the supplemental appropriations change the total county budget by more than 1% staff will schedule the required public hearing, likely in May. The Board did not finalize the supplemental appropriations at the April meeting pending that public hearing.
The school presentation included the following key fiscal figures: estimated HVAC cost about $4.5 million; updated FY2022 school budget $24,123,727; Emergency Connectivity Funds request $179,800; estimated reduction in local match about $133,000 due to lower ADM. The Finance Committee recommendation and the Board’s appropriation of the fourth-quarter payment set funds aside to begin addressing HVAC needs while the public hearing process proceeds.
