Lunenburg supervisors schedule public hearing after auditors say $2.04M in ESSER HVAC work should be rebooked

Lunenburg County supervisors voted Oct. 13 to hold a public hearing after auditors recommended rebooking $2,044,160 in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to fiscal year 2021-2022.

Assistant Superintendent and Finance Director James Abernathy told the Board that the county’s auditors, Robinson, Farmer, Cox, recommended the ESSER payout to Trane be accrued back to FY2021-2022 because the HVAC work was completed in June 2022. Abernathy said the change will affect both the school budget and the county budget for FY2021-2022 and FY2022-2023.

County Administrator Tracy M. Gee said the reclassification would require formal budget amendments and a public hearing. "This will result in a change to both the school budget and the county budget for both FY2021-2022 and FY2022-2023," Gee said.

Supervisor Frank Bacon moved to schedule the required public hearing; the motion was seconded and unanimously approved. The Board did not set a hearing date on the record during the meeting minutes; officials said follow-up will include the public-notice process and formal budget documents.

Why it matters: Accruing ESSER expenditures to an earlier fiscal year can change available fund balances and available appropriations for both the school division and county operations. The Board’s approval to hold a hearing begins the formal process to amend the affected budgets and notify the public.

Next steps: The county will publish notice of the public hearing and return to the Board with proposed budget amendments following audit guidance and school board input.