Board of Education has Budget Review - Not Taxing - Authority
Budget procedures for school districts and methods for raising revenue vary state by state. Of the approximately 15,000 school districts nationwide, more than 90 percent of the school boards have the authority to raise their own revenue. These are known as fiscally independent school districts, because they have the authority to develop budgets and raise revenue to support public education. Fiscally dependent school districts rely on another governmental entity to approve the budget and raise revenue.
School districts in North Carolina are fiscally dependent. A portion of their budgets consists of local funds which they receive from their county board of commissioners. The commissioners sign off on the local portion of the budget and raise the money to support it. North Carolina school boards have budget review authority but are not a taxing body. That means WCPSS’ Board of Education must submit its annual budget request to the Wake County Board of Commissioners, which controls allocation of funds to the school system.
This division of local powers in North Carolina goes back to the inception of the modern public school system more than a century ago, when state lawmakers set up the public school system without giving school boards control over their own budgets. As the school system became more complex in the 20th century, school boards grew in importance but were never given the power to tax.
Some say the school board, which sets education policy, should also have budget and tax authority. Making school boards fiscally independent would align the responsibility for setting education priorities with that of raising the money necessary to get the job done. Others say the current division of powers is an effective check and balance that helps keep tax bills lower.
WCPSS has included the issue on its 2008 Legislative Agenda, seeking to change legislation to allow local boards of education taxing authority to fund their public schools.