Horry County Schools facilities department asking for $581,000 to cover expenses

The Horry County Board of Education is considering granting the district’s facilities department an extra $581,004 to cover several unexpected costs from equipment breakage and purchases. Some board of education members, however, are worried any contingency money will soon run out.

Facilities staff are over budget this year by more than $288,000 because of previously approved changes to a 2013 short term facilities plan. The plan originally covered seven years of expenses at $5.6 million, but was amended twice and now totals $5 million over an 11-year period.

That leaves the facilities staff with $454,545 per year compared to the original $800,000 granted in 2013. Mark Wolfe, director of facilities, first mentioned the overages in November to the facilities committee, which made a motion to approve the extra funds Monday.

“The budget has not been sufficient enough to purchase what we need over the year,” Wolfe said.

The short term plan includes the equipment budget, which included furniture, fleet vehicles, maintenance equipment, playgrounds and food service equipment, Wolfe said. If approved, the extra funds will come from a $1.89 million contingency fund with money left over from previous projects.

John Poston, committee and board member, is worried that when contingency money runs out the district won’t have another way to fund extra needs. He said the facilities staff’s requests are necessary items, but eventually those costs may come out of the district’s general funds.

“We're using leftover funds to buy essential services, and that's where I'm stuck – it's not bonuses,” he said. “It’s when we're reaching into general funds for capital, I've got some concern.”

The district ended a cleaning contract that affected seven schools, so staff had to purchase $300,000 worth of replacement equipment. Two cutaway vans, one delivery van and one HVAC van were also purchased to replace four high-mileage utility vehicles. The district is asking for two more cutaway vans – at $35,000 each – to replace another two high-mileage trucks and two residential trailers, Wolfe said.

“They're asking for more funds to get them out of the hole, and some other for current needs,” said John Gardner, chief financial officer, during a finance committee meeting Thursday.

The district can’t refill money into a contingency fund unless current projects come in under budget, Gardner said. That money then rolls into a fund and can be used for whatever the district needs but hasn’t allocated funds for yet. When that $1.89 million is gone, the district would have to find money elsewhere.

“If we had to go out and get additional funds we'd have to raise millage,” Gardner said.

Facilities’ annual maintenance budget is about $28,000, but staff went more than $141,000 over budget this year. The spending stems from a need to purchase several new expensive pieces of equipment – including a backhoe at $40,000 – which was partially funded by grants. Some of the new purchases were necessary because old equipment could no longer be repaired, Wolfe said.

“So you can see it doesn’t take very long to eat that $28,000,” Wolfe said.

The board of education discussed awarding facilities staff the money at its regular meeting Monday, but did not vote on anything. The board is expected to vote at one of its board meetings next month, said Jeffrey Garland, board member.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Horry County Schools facilities department asking for $581,000 to cover expenses."