Cabarrus County updates FY27 budget to cover state teacher raises, uses $1.17M from fund balance

Cabarrus County budget staff presented technical changes to the proposed FY27 budget at the June 1 Board of Commissioners meeting, including a $2.3 million local impact from state-proposed teacher salary increases and bonuses and the reallocation of $1,167,000 from the CIP hold to the general fund to balance FY27.

Budget presenter Rash told commissioners revenues in the proposed adopted budget are $413,572,821 — a 3.52% increase — and said the county has realized roughly $8.7 million in revenue adjustments since the start of the process. On the expenditure side, he said adjustments and one-time items leave the county balanced for FY27.

Why it matters: the state legislature’s proposed raises and nonrecurring bonuses for educators created a new local obligation for school funding. Rash said the $2.3 million county impact will be distributed by per-ADM shares: Cabarrus County Schools’ allocation rises from about $106 million to roughly $108 million (including about $871,000 in one-time funds), charter schools and municipal systems receive smaller shares, and some money is nonrecurring because the state’s bonuses are one-time.

Rash said: “The required amounts to fund the local impact of the proposed state raises has now been moved to the general fund,” and that the county will use $1,167,000 of fund balance — previously held in CIP — to accommodate the known amounts.

Commissioner questions focused on contingency planning if the state action changes; Rash replied the funds would remain available in fund balance if the state package fails to materialize. The board's calendar includes an optional budget workshop June 4 and a formal budget adoption vote scheduled for June 15.

Public comment: Cheyenne Caldwell of Common Cause North Carolina urged the commissioners to sustain what the budget manager proposed for election administration. “Funding drives access. It means more poll workers, more early voting sites, and all weekend hours that working families, seniors, first-time voters depend on,” Caldwell said, urging continued full funding for the Board of Elections.

Other business on the budget: staff presented multiple year-end and multi-year budget amendments (debt refunding entries, capital project cleanups, and adjustments across general, landfill, fire district, social services and health insurance funds), and recommended a penny-shortage policy to round small cash transactions to the nearest five cents given limited penny production by the U.S. Mint.

What’s next: the board voted to direct staff to prepare the FY27 budget ordinance and will consider final adoption at the June 15 meeting. Procedural items and consent agenda placements for several budget-related items were set at the meeting.