Caswell County Board approves budget amendments to repay forfeitures and buy laptops

The Caswell County Board of Education approved two budget amendments during a special call meeting: one to repay fines and forfeitures, and another to transfer funds to purchase laptops for the Board of Education.

Why it matters: The repayments and transfers affect the district’s fund balance and reflect prior accounting or timing issues in how fine and forfeiture receipts were recorded.

Board members were presented with two separate amendments. For the laptops, the transcript lists a purchase price of $8,593 and later gives the cents as $8,593.38. The board moved on the amendment for laptops and the record shows the motion carried, recorded in the transcript as "7-0." The motion language in the meeting referred to a budget transfer moving funds into the Board of Education’s equipment or supply lines to cover the laptop purchase.

On the fines and forfeiture repayment, board members asked why the funds had not been returned earlier. Finance staff explained that the payment had been recorded in a previous fiscal year and the district wanted to verify the receipt in the ledger before returning the funds; that accounting treatment required using fund balance to reimburse the appropriation. A staff member told the board if the second amendment was approved the check would be cut the following day.

During the discussion staff characterized the monthly fines/forfeitures receipts as typically about $3,000 to $4,000; the transcript also references a larger original fines/forfeiture amount of about $75,000 with roughly $63,000 subsequently taken back in earlier transaction(s). The transcript gives one approximate figure for the repayment (reported in discussion as "6 to 7,500").

Both amendments were approved in the meeting; the transcript records that the laptop amendment carried "7-0" and the fines/forfeiture repayment was also approved by voice vote. A board member asked when payment would occur and was told the check would be cut the next day if approved.

What happens next: The board directed staff to proceed with the approved payments and transfers; the transcript records the immediate instruction that the repayment check would be issued the day after the meeting.

Note on precision: Several figures in the discussion are approximate in the record; where the transcript gives a precise laptop price ($8,593.38) this article reports that exact amount and marks other figures as approximate where the transcript indicates uncertainty.