budget

School districts often complain that counties don’t give them enough money.  But Union County School officials are doing more than griping.  They’re taking the Union County commission to court.  

Union County commissioners approved a budget for this year about $8 million short of what the school board says the district needs.  The school board pushed back and the negotiations ended up in mediation.  After a five hour session today, school board chairman Richard Yercheck says the two sides are at an impasse.

A bus bound for Raleigh today picked up teachers in Charlotte and Cabarrus County to join the last Moral Monday protest.  They’re upset North Carolina’s education budget doesn’t include pay raises, eliminates tenure, and sets aside money for vouchers to private school. 

Relations between school districts and counties can get tense during budget season.  But it’s way beyond that in Union County.  The school board has brought in a mediator and the county has sued the school district for financial information. 

North Carolina House Republicans presented Monday afternoon their proposed budget for the next two years. In total, the budget spends $20.6 billion.

“In the first year we spend around $12 million less than the Senate and around $188 million less than the governor,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Both Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are in the process of approving a budget for the next fiscal year. City Manager Ron Carlee will join us in the first part of the show to talk about his first recommended budget for the city and what it will mean for citizens inside the city limits. Then we'll be joined by Interim County Manager Bobbie Shields and Budget director Hyong Yi to discuss how the recommended county budget would impact tax payers throughout Mecklenburg County. How will the services the city/ county provide be affected this fiscal year? How will your pocketbook be affected? Find out, when Charlotte Talks.

Former Democratic Congressman and state schools superintendent Bob Etheridge is traveling the state with the group Progress North Carolina to speak out against several education bills before state lawmakers.

In Charlotte Thursday, he criticized a bill that would end the policy of limiting kindergarten through third grade classes to 24 students.  He also said cutting the income eligibility for the state’s pre-kindergarten program would hurt many kid’s chances of graduating. 

Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee wants council to approve a property tax increase to help fund a Capital Improvement Plan.

Otherwise, the budget he proposed Monday night looks  pretty much like last year's budget. It totals just just under $2 billion, or 1.5 percent above this past year. That increase accounts for an estimated rise in costs and a slight pay raise for city employees, but otherwise keeps spending the same as last year. Here’s the full breakdown:

CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison has put a price tag on his vision for the district.  He wants Mecklenburg County and the state to pitch in an extra $27 million next year to help fund new programs and expand others.  Those include bringing more technology to classrooms and creating career and technical specialties at schools.  The plan also calls for 10 new positions to help schools coordinate with companies and groups wanting to help. 

WFAE’s Lisa Miller was at last night’s meeting and joins Morning Edition host Duncan McFadyen in the studio. 

We look at the debate over the looming fiscal cliff. Charlotte has long been seen as a financial hub in America so we'll turn to some of our own local experts to find out exactly what the fiscal cliff is, what the debate is all about, the likely outcome and what impact any deal may have on us all. We examine the fiscal cliff in detail, when Charlotte Talks.

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx is convening a special meeting of the city council Thursday to re-start debate over raising taxes to pay for streets, sidewalks and a streetcar.

Three months ago, Mayor Foxx's plan to boost the property tax rate by 3 and a half cents and use the money for nearly a $1 billion worth of projects, collapsed in a series of surprise city council votes.

Foxx hasn't let it drop since - even taking the opportunity to nudge council members during the groundbreaking of an uptown stadium a few weeks back.