RSS
|
|
There is $610,125 in North Carolina Education Lottery funds earmarked for the Roanoke Rapids schools.
According to Halifax County’s Assistant County Manager Linda Taylor, for fiscal year 2008-09 the county received $817,339 in lottery revenues. This budget year, 2009-10, the county has received $428,776 so far. Taylor said there’s no way to predict exactly how much money will end up in the schools coffers. It depends on how many people bought lottery tickets. “They have a formula they use,” she said.
Each school has its own account with the state and funds are deposited regularly, about once a month, Taylor explained. She said revenues for 2008-09 and 2009-10 in the Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools District are $431,080. She said the district has a total of $610,125 in funds in its account. “That’s the amount that’s accumulated over the years,” she said. Weldon has $147,992 and Halifax County Schools has $667,933.
Northampton County received a grand total of $1,009,263 in 2008-09. The money was divided between reducing class sizes and at risk pre-K, construction and scholarships. Only a certain percentage, based on enrollment can be used for construction.
Northampton County Finance Officer Dot Vick said the schools have not drawn down any of their funds for 2009-10 and they only used $199,206 from 2008-09. “They haven’t spent it all so they have a balance in the actual bank account,” she said.
Procedures for getting the money, according to Taylor, are pretty simple. Taylor said funds are put into individual accounts for each school system each month based on ticket sales and the state’s formula. When a school system has an allowable project, they submit forms to the school board for approval. If the school board approves, the request is submitted to county commissioners for approval. If they approve, the request is submitted to the state.
State approval obligates money for the project. As the project gets underway, invoices are submitted to the county. The county cuts the checks from the school’s account based on those invoices.
The lottery
Five years ago, Governor Mike Easley signed the North Carolina Educational Lottery into law with the purpose of providing educational funds to school systems for scholarships, construction, at-risk Pre-K programs and class -size reduction.
According to the education lottery Web site, the breakdown of the cash flow is something like this:
• Retailers receive 7 percent commission for selling tickets.
• Up to 8 percent may be spent on administration.
• At least 50 percent of the proceeds will be paid out in prizes.
• About 35 percent is transferred to the Education Lottery fund. According to the site the “net” proceeds, or what’s left over after expenses, goes to education programs.
There’s a reserve fund of up to $50 million, just in case the lottery proceeds fall short of target.
The money for North Carolina schools is allocated along these guidelines:
• About 50 percent of the net goes to reducing class sizes and At Risk Pre-K Programs.
• Forty percent of the net can be used for school construction. That amount is distributed to the counties based on total enrollment in the schools.
• Ten percent of the net is used for college scholarships for students who qualify for Pell Grants.
Of course, there are other variables, like whether or not funds are needed to balance the state budget, which determines the availability of education lottery funds. But even with those variables any additional funds benefiting education is a positive force for the children and North Carolina’s future. For more information about the North Carolina Education Lottery visit the Web site at nc-educationlottery.org.
Comments