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543
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<br /> The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met in recessed
<br />session at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina
<br />on Tuesday, May 19, 1992, at 6:00 P.M. for dinner and a Legislative Goals
<br />briefing.
<br /> Present - Chairman: Carolyn B. Carpenter
<br /> Commissioners: Jeffrey L. Barnhart
<br /> Kenneth F. Payne
<br /> Absent Commissioners: William G. Hamby, Jr.
<br /> Billy J. Simmons, Jr.
<br /> Also present were Mr. John V. Witherspoon, County Manager, and Mrs. Frankie
<br />F. Bonds, Clerk to the Board.
<br /> Local legislators present for the meeting were Senator Fletcher L.
<br />Hartsell, Jr., and Representative Coy Privette. Also present were council
<br />members and staff of the governing boards of Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg
<br />and Mt. Pleasant as well as members and staff of the Cabarrus County Board of
<br />Education and the Kannapolis Board of Education.
<br /> A reception was held at 6:00 P.M. in the Lobby of the Governmental Center.
<br />Dinner was served at 6:30 P.M. in the Multi-Purpose Room on the second floor of
<br />the facility.
<br /> At 7:30 P.M., a Legislative Goals briefing was held in the Commissioners~
<br />Meeting Room. A representative from each local government and school board
<br />presented proposed legislative goals to Senator Hartsell and Representative
<br />Privette.
<br /> Mr. Witherspoon outlined the County's legislative goals as adopted by the
<br />Board of Commissioners on May 4, 1992. These goals included items concerning
<br />funding for schools and Mental Health, State reimbursements, jails medical costs,
<br />additional State support of child abuse services, increase in the level of foster
<br />care payments, State take ove~ of the Register of Deeds Office, and authorization
<br />for advance purchase of road rights of way.
<br /> Chairman Carpenter reviewed legislation endorsed by the North Carolina
<br />Drug Cabinet during the 1991 session of the General Assembly. She called special
<br />attention to House Bill 526, Drug Sales to Youth, and House Bill 540, Child
<br />Neglect Drug Exposure.
<br /> Mr. Leonard Sossamon, Concord City Manager, spoke in support of House Bill
<br />(HB) 916 which will protect the State reimbursements and State-collected local
<br />revenues as well as restore the growth in some of the reimbursements which the
<br />General Assembly froze at the 1990-91 levels. Loss of these funding sources would
<br />create a shortfall of approximately $1.7 million to the City of Concord during
<br />the next year.
<br /> The Honorable Bachman S. Brown, Jr., Mayor of the City of Kannapolis, spoke
<br />in support of the continuation of State reimbursements to local governments and
<br />State-collected local revenues. Loss of these reimbursements would account for
<br />approximately $175,000.00 to the City of Kannapolis during the next year. Also,
<br />he addressed the ~continuation of matching funds for the Clean Water Loan and
<br />Revolving Grant program and the collection of intangibles tax.
<br /> Ms. Donnie Dotson, Harrisburg Town Council Member, supported HB 916 and
<br />the restoration of reimbursements and the State-collected taxes which are a
<br />source of revenue for municipalities.
<br /> Ms. Kay Scott, Commissioner for the Town of Mt. Pleasant, also asked that
<br />local reimbursements and State-collected funding be ~restored. She further
<br />reported that it was the Town Board's desire to see district representation for
<br />membership on both the Board of County Commissioners and the Cabarrus County
<br />Board of Education.
<br /> Dr. Daniel Freeman, Superintendent-elect for the Cabarrus County Schools,
<br />reviewed the goals as agreed upon by the School Board. These items included
<br />funding for schools facilities, Basic Education Program, employee salaries,
<br />expansion of technology in instruction, early childhood education, school
<br />transportation, energy costs, adequate supplies and textbooks, and employee
<br />benefits.
<br /> Dr. Ralph Johnston, Superintendent of the Kannapolis City Schools, reported
<br />that the Kannapolis Board of Education supports the agenda of the North Carolina
<br />School Board Association. This agenda includes items concerning exceptional
<br />children, textbooks, kindergarten, staff development, energy costs, salary
<br />increases, capital construction funding, and the purchase/contracting/bidding
<br />process.
<br /> Representative Privette questioned Dr. Freeman and Dr. Johnston regarding
<br />the proposal to take funds from the Basic Education Program (BEP) to fund teacher
<br />salary increases. Both superintendents responded that funding was needed at this
<br />time for both the BEP and the salary increases.
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