by Susan Gibbs Record Reporter
Published: May 8, 2008

The local real estate levy will hold steady at $0.72 per $100 of assessed value through the coming fiscal year.
So said Greene’s Board of Supervisors following its public hearing on the County’s Fiscal Year 2008-2009 budget, held at the William Monroe High School Performing Arts Center Tuesday, April 29.
“We decided early on that we would not raise taxes this year,” said Chairman Steve Catalano.
But with state aid to Greene cut by $102,543 and the County facing a new responsibility - of $153,141 this year - to the Regional Jail, the Supervisors have been taking a hard-line approach to requests for funding from all agencies.
Supervisors decided most allocations during the workshop process but the amount of local funds to be contributed to the School District was still up in the air on April 29.
The School Board had requested nearly $700,000. The Supervisors had said they would contribute $138,140 and move funding for school buses into the County budget.
On the 29th, that figure was raised by another $84,000 to fund three items - a teacher for technology, some transportation software and some security equipment.
It had taken three meetings between the two boards to get to that point.
Reached after the hearing, School Board Chairman Darcy Higgins described a “disconnect” in communication between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board.
Higgins explained: “The School Board develops its initial budget in January, and then develops its final budget by mid-May.  Through the process, (it) is required to make cuts and adjust priorities based on final state and County funding, which is not determined until the end of the process.  The (two boards) are now making a concerted effort to foster proactive and ongoing communication to make sure the Board of Supervisors understands our final budget.”
Much ado has been made since the election campaigns last fall about mending that “disconnect.”
At the public hearing on April 29, members of both boards assured the public that steps had been taken - and would continue to be taken - to open lines of communication.
Catalano said that in addition to the unprecedented three meetings between the two boards prior to the public hearing: “I have invited the School Board to (the Supervisors’) retreat this summer … we’ve got a lot of work to do … but I think we’re taking some positive steps.”
Board of Supervisors Vice-chairman Buggs Peyton pointed out that the Health Cottage program - initiated more than a decade ago to ensure students access to health care - had been eliminated.
“I appreciate that,” Peyton said, referring to the School Board’s efforts to cut unnecessary expenditures. “I think we’ll need to do more of that in the future as times get tougher, and I believe they will.”
Supervisor Carl Schmitt said: “We have had a very successful first step … toward a much more open and frank exchange of ideas.”
Supervisor Mike Skeens said: “It’s very important that we … not wait.”
Supervisor Jeri Allen made it clear that the decisions made by the Supervisors were all about business:  “I would be so distressed to learn … that our inability to fund the school’s request was interpreted as a lack of appreciation … we are truly, truly, doing the best we can.”
Allen’s remarks were made in response to comments made during the public hearing that preceded the Supervisors’ remarks.
During the public hearing, Higgins said: “We worked with you knowing you have limited funds and came up with a revised request. We hope that you will find a way to support as much of that as you can.”
School Board Vice-chair Michelle Flynn did not speak, nor did School Board Members Troy Harlow or Graydon Lamb. But School Board Member Jason Collier voiced his dissatisfaction with the numerous meetings between the two boards.
Collier opened his remarks with a reference to the location the Board had chosen for its public hearing: “Welcome to our school. I was thinking of a good rent for charging you all … my version of our School Board and the Board of Supervisors collaboration is probably not as rosy as (that expressed by others).”
“The trust thing is a big issue with me,” Collier continued. “(The School Board) worked very hard with this budget during the year … we had five meetings this month … I feel like I’ve got a cot in the School Board office.”
Greene’s Superintendent of Schools Ray Dingledine, who will be retiring July 1, said that the two boards had “as good, if not better dialogue” than they had ever had.
David Jeck, who will be replacing Dingledine, did not speak.
But Deborah Brown, the School District’s assistant superintendent in charge of human resources, criticized the Supervisors for their decision to replace some of the school’s aged vehicles with some from the Sheriff’s Office.
“I would have preferred that we be able to purchase vehicles through the state contract,” Brown said.
And Kim Powell, business and facilities director for the School District, said: “There’s been a lot of talk about trust around this current budget process. One thing you can trust is that there will always be legitimate reasons for not fully funding education.” She added that she is concerned about “what messages we send to our community about support or lack of support for education moving forward.”
Others who spoke in favor of allocating more money to the schools included: Greene County Primary School Principal Andrea Whitmarsh; Nathanael Greene Elementary School Teachers Linda Haselton and Scott Wills and Teacher’s Assistant Cathy Brinkley; Greene County Educational Association Representative Erica Saunders; and, Linda Seidels.
In addition, about 150 people signed a petition that called for the Supervisors to support the School Board “as the officials we have elected to make decisions regarding the allocation of funds and prioritization of expenditures … We are deeply concerned that the Board of Supervisors will … under-fund our schools in favor of funding the County’s reserve.”
Catalano explained that the reserve fund “is not a slush fund. It’s what we pay our bills with.”
The budget will be adopted at the Board of Supervisors next regularly scheduled meeting, Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30 pm