Associated Press
RALEIGH -- Gov. Beverly Perdue said Friday that county governments would receive nearly $38 million in lottery funds earmarked for school construction that she held back six months ago to manage the state's budget woes.
The money, generated from profits by the North Carolina Education Lottery, had been intercepted by Perdue along with several hundred million dollars from other dedicated pots of public funds to ensure she could pay state expenses. Perdue ended up having to close a $3.2 billion shortfall for the year ending June 30.
"I had to turn over every stone to pay North Carolina's bills -- to pay teachers, to keep schools and other core services running," Perdue said in a statement.
Now that the books are closed on last fiscal year, Perdue said there was money left over so she could release the $37.6 million in construction funds next week to support school districts in all 100 counties, from $3.9 million for Wake County to $14,052 to Hyde County.
Locally, Durham Public Schools will get $911,529, Chatham County Schools $217,754, Granville County Schools $247,979, Orange County Schools $194,934, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools $323,485 and Person County Schools $154,560
Perdue made the announcement at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners in Hickory, where members gave her a rousing applause.
The decision is another among others that shows Perdue "is committed to working with counties and really trying to form a partnership with counties," association spokesman Todd McGee said.
The delay had forced many counties to look elsewhere for construction funds.
In Beaufort County, which is expected to receive $158,092, the holdback forced the county leaders to delay purchases on computer servers and other equipment so it could find money to pay down $33 million in school construction bonds.
"We had to make some crucial cut to services in the county," assistant county manager Jim Chrisman said. "The county's really happy [now] because the state and the governor realized the initial intention of these [lottery] funds to begin with."
Perdue took criticism for seizing lottery funds and an additional $50 million from a lottery reserve fund because the General Assembly approved the lottery in 2005 with the understanding the money would go only to education programs.
The Herald-Sun's Mark Donovan contributed to this report.
