Education

Guilford County Budget Approved, No Increases In Property Taxes

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By Keri Brown

Published June 21, 2019 at 3:26 PM EDT

Guilford County Schools will get a funding bump this year from the county, but district officials say more money is needed to replace and repair old buildings. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Guilford County Commissioners have approved a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year. About half of the over $627 million dollar spending plan is earmarked for education.

The Guilford County School system will get more money in this budget than they did last year. Commissioners approved over $206 million for public schools. Officials with the district were asking for an additional $6 million to help pay for capital improvements and other needs.

But the board decided not to raise property taxes to support the proposal. Instead, they're discussing the possibility of having a future bond or sales tax referendum that would let voters decide on boosting school funding.

The budget also includes a large chunk of money for Guilford Technical Community College and health care plan costs for county employees.

Several new positions will also be added in various areas. Those include veteran's services, law enforcement, and EMS workers.

Commissioners decided to hold off on approving more funding for a new animal shelter at Thursday's meeting. They want more time to review the replacement design plans and expect to revisit the issue next month.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

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Keri Brown

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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Guilford County Budget Approved, No Increases In Property Taxes

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