RFP Staff
♦Tuesday evening we met with County Commission Chairman Jim Sides and asked him about State Senate Bill 236 which would give county governments the “option” to take responsibility of school buildings, but not classroom curriculum. Jim told us: “Senate Bill 236 is a thoughtfully drawn bill. What I like about it is that it provides the county commissioners the option to take over school buildings should the need arise. Let me repeat: it’s an option. Example if a school system was negligent in maintaining their buildings, we would have the option to take over those buildings. In a lot of scenarios, involving the county’s option to take responsibility for school property, cost savings would be involved. The taxpayer wins–less money wasted. Schools would always retain maintenance staffs.”
Senate Bill 236 would give Rowan County and eleven other counties the authority to take ownership of school buildings. Further SB-236 would permit commissioners to pass a resolution to take responsibility for any construction, improvement, and ownership or acquisition of school property. Commissioners would be given the option to allow the school board to remain in charge of equipment maintenance and repair. A local version of the bill will apply to Rowan and eleven other counties.
On his Facebook page, State Senator Andrew Brock discussed Senate Bill 236: “First, the county commissioners have the OPTION to take responsibility of the buildings, not the classroom curriculum. To better their bond ratings, the counties need to own their assets if they have the bond debt on their books. The better the rating a County has, the cheaper they can borrow money. This allows school board members to focus on educating students instead of real estate and construction. They should absolutely advise the Boards of Commissioners on the best locations for the schools and they would retain building maintenance responsibilities. Also, counties typically already have construction departments. There is no reason for taxpayers to pay two construction staffs. And finally, counties pay no sales tax and school boards do, which relates to cost savings.
In summary this allows the best financial deal for the taxpayers in the county. At the end of the day that foots the bill for any government spending. This bill will make sure we are getting the most for the taxpayer dollar by spending money effectively and not on higher fees and interest!”
Senate Bill 236:
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2013/Bills/Senate/PDF/S236v1.pdf
