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Putnam County approves $1.5 million transfer to school fund after public comment urging fuller support
Summary
Putnam County commissioners unanimously approved amendments to the county and school budgets and a resolution transferring $1.5 million from the Federal Projects Fund to the General Purpose School Fund. A public commenter urged the commission to fund a larger $5 million shortfall and press the state for long-term school funding protections.
Putnam County commissioners voted unanimously to approve budget amendments and a resolution transferring $1,500,000 from the Federal Projects Fund into the General Purpose School Fund.
The action came after public comment from Trent Strode, who said the county faces a projected $5,100,000 shortfall for its school system and urged the commission to consider fully funding a reported $5,000,000 gap. “This is not just a county problem. This is a state leadership problem,” Strode said, calling on the commission to draft a resolution urging the state legislature to strengthen long-term public school funding protections.
Commissioners approved two sets of budget amendments — to the County General Fund and to the General Purpose School Fund — and then voted to move $1,500,000 from the federal projects account into the school fund. The chair and committee members explained that the Federal Projects Fund holds items paid from federal grants and that several years ago about $2,000,000 had been moved from the general fund into that federal fund; the current transfer moves $1,500,000 back, leaving about $500,000 outstanding to the general fund.
All roll-call handset votes reported 24 yes and 0 no on the three recorded budget motions. The clerk conducted the handset votes and declared each motion passed.
The meeting record does not specify which exact school programs the transferred $1,500,000 will cover, nor does it provide a detailed breakdown of the county’s proposed contribution toward the larger $5,000,000 shortfall Strode discussed. Commissioners did not take further action on Strode’s request for a county-funded $5,000,000 allocation during the meeting; the transfer approved was the $1,500,000 resolution.
The commission also accepted quarterly financial reports for the road fund, school funds and county general fund during the same session.
Next steps noted in the meeting: the approved transfer and budget amendments were adopted during the meeting; no additional follow-up schedule or committee assignment relating to funding the larger school shortfall was recorded.
