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• LEE ®UITY <br />Committed Today for a Better Tomorrow <br />RESOLUTION OPPOSING ANY ATTEMPT TO REDUCE COUNTY REVENUES <br />FOR SCHOOL CAPITAL NEEDS OR TO SHIFT ADDITIONAL COSTS TO COUNTIES TO <br />BALANCE THE STATE BUDGET <br />WHEREAS, counties in North Carolina are statutorily responsible for providing public school facilities in <br />North Carolina and contribute significant county funds for classroom expenses; and <br />WHEREAS, counties spend more than $1.5 billion annually for public school capital needs and $2.5 billion <br />for public school operating expenses; and <br />WHEREAS, counties rely on local sales taxes, property taxes, the county share of lottery funds and the <br />county share of the corporate income tax to help fund public school capital needs and have issued public <br />debt based on these revenue streams; and <br />WHEREAS, counties have lost more than a quarter billion dollars in lottery and corporate income tax <br />school construction funds over the current biennium; and <br />WHEREAS, the governor's budget proposal permanently eliminates the county share of the corporatize <br />income tax and reduces the county lottery share by 75 percent, costing counties more than $200 million <br />per year in revenues dedicated to public school construction needs; and <br />• WHEREAS, the budget proposal shifts responsibility to pay for replacement school buses to counties; and <br />WHEREAS, the budget proposal also takes the unprecedented step of forcing counties to assume the <br />workers' compensation costs for state -paid public school employees ($34.6 million per year) and <br />community college employees ($1.7 million per year) and to fund school tort claims ($4.6 million per year; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, the budget proposal reflects an overall cost shift to counties of $345 million in 2011 -12 along, <br />requiring counties to raise property taxes to manage a loss of magnitude; <br />NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Lee County Board of Commissioners, adamantly <br />opposes the unfunded mandates and the loss of county revenues included in the governor's budget <br />proposal; and <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to members of the North <br />Carolina General Assembly to let them know of our opposition to these unprecedented changes in county <br />responsibility and the use of county revenues to balance the state budget. <br />Adopted this 18` day of April 2011. t J� A 4 () 0 <br />a A. Shook, Chairman <br />County Board of Commissioners <br />Z . Lee, Clerk <br />