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Two years ago, the New Hanover County Schools district drove off a $20-million fiscal cliff. The high-profile, high-stakes budget crisis that ensued included plenty of finger-pointing and put hundreds of employees in the firing line for layoffs. So, understandably, there was ample discussion about the issue among current and aspiring school board members and county commissioners, and in the news.
At the same time, New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon had a budget shortfall of over $18 million, driven largely by overtime (a symptom of the struggle to recruit and retain). There was much less conversation about this, about ten minutes’ worth of discussion during one county commissioners meeting. There was no hand-wringing or recrimination; the county just boosted public safety spending and moved on.
At the time, a few people did note this stark comparison, including me, although not everyone drew the same conclusions. Some claimed it was (another) example of education being the red-headed stepchild compared to law enforcement. Though the loudest ‘defund the police’ voices from 2020 had already faded, I heard a few abolitionist cries.
From my point of view, I saw two public services – both essential – that employ people who are frequently underpaid and underappreciated, and who are asked to wear an ever-increasing number of hats. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison (or ‘apples-to-badges,’ as one reader put it), but there were, and are, some symmetries.
One clear difference, however, is that the state is supposed to fund public education operations, leaving capital investments (like new school buildings) to the county. By contrast, the county is essentially fully on the financial hook for the Sheriff’s Office (there are state and federal grants, but it’s mostly local funding).
This year, as education funding was again debated, county commissioners worked through how to make up for lagging state support (the source of bipartisan frustration, at least locally). Ultimately, the county found a way to meet Superintendent Dr. Chris Barnes’ request — although he has admitted he did not ask for millions more in funding needed by the district because he and his staff wanted to be “good financial stewards” of public money.
And, again, the Sheriff’s Office also got what it needed, but with much less public discussion. In fact, as I noted when the recommended budget came out, the Sheriff’s Office got a 6% increase, compared to a 3% increase for NHCS.
The comparisons are hard to ignore, but are they fair? I wanted to dig a little deeper into both how the two organizations are funded — and how the public conversations are shaped.
By the numbers
I looked at the last five budget years, drilling down on funding for public education and public safety — specifically, money going to NHCS for operations, pre-K, capital projects, and debt repayment, compared to the annual Sheriff’s Office budget (which accounts for most of the county’s public safety spending).
Just at a surface level, the difference is notable – over the past five years, the Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO) funding has increased 65% compared to a 16% increase for NHCS’ operating budget. (Note, accounting for inflation nearly wipes out increases to NHCS operating funding, but still shows an increase for NHCSO.)
I wanted to provide a few different ways to look at education spending, because county commissioners often voice frustration that the ‘operating budget’ fails to encapsulate their full financial commitment to public schools — which is fair. However, when you factor those extra budget items in, funding for NHCS appears almost flat (and if you adjust for inflation, support has actually decreased).
As Josh Smith, the county’s chief communications officer, noted, the decrease in debt payments over the past five years is not a matter of decreased ‘support’ for schools; it’s just the natural paydown schedule. And, starting next year, there will be additional debt payments if the $320-million school bond, slated for the November ballot, is passed. (Another note, the county is in the very early stages of exploring a 500-bed jail expansion, having put out an RFQ for a conceptual plan in February; that could eventually mean debt service for NHCSO facilities.)
Smith also noted there is some crossover between the two budgets, namely $6 million that goes to the Sheriff’s Office to support school resource officers at NHCS, up from $4 million five years ago. There’s also the Elements program, run by the Sheriff’s Office, which aims to reduce youth violence. I’m not sure everyone would agree that SROs count as education funding, but certainly both county commissioners and school board members have framed it that way.
There are also some demographic factors at work here. As Smith told me, over this time period, school enrollment decreased by over 900 students (with another precipitous drop possible this coming year). During the same five years, the county’s population has increased by an estimated 15,000 or more.
While the county does tie funding to student enrollment, the actual cost of running the schools has other factors (for example, the cost of staffing, HVAC, and janitorial for a classroom could basically be the same with five more or five fewer students). There’s also not a one-to-one ratio of public safety costs based on residents. But I think it’s fair to say these headcounts represent trends which, over time, will shape funding.
That said, a main driver of costs for the Sheriff’s Office appears to be existing personnel more than new positions. Out of the roughly $8 million increase in this year’s budget, about $500,000 came from three new positions (which also includes one-time costs like vehicles and equipment). Most of the increase, according to Smith, came from medical insurance — which saw massive increases — as well as overtime and differential pay (for positions working difficult shifts or requiring specialized skills, etc.). Over the last five years, increases have largely come from market-based adjustments for first responders, and ‘targeted adjustments’ for recruiting and retaining — a constant battle for law enforcement.
Budget context
While Smith was happy to help me work through some of the budgetary comparisons and add context, he did note that “comparing funding for New Hanover County Schools and the Sheriff's Office is difficult because the County's responsibilities for each are different under state law.”
Smith reiterated what county commissioners frequently say, that the state is primarily responsible for operations, while the county is responsible for facilities (i.e., capital). Smith didn’t state the obvious follow-up, though commissioners have been clear about it: because the state has failed to live up to its end of the bargain, the county has been left holding the bag.
On the one hand, the county has stepped up, going above and beyond not only its statutory requirements but also what most other counties provide. On the other hand, that’s definitely colored the conversation. More than one commissioner has bristled at criticism of their school funding decisions — because they’re already doing more than the statute requires. And it’s also made education advocates somewhat cynical, as they feel they’re being asked to ‘be grateful’ for whatever they get from the county.
It’s also obviously had an influence on the school board and superintendent, who have to play a strange tri-lateral game. Recently, that’s put the Republican majority on the school board in the difficult position of addressing budget shortfalls from their fellow Republicans at the state and federal level without bucking their own party. And, when it comes to the county commissioners — who have picked up some of the slack — they still seem to feel the need to ask for less than they need. Case in point, Barnes’ underselling NHCS’ needs to the county this year.
None of that happens with the Sheriff’s Office budget, which goes through a very different process. That difference, I think, has also shaped the public perception of the funding for public safety versus public education.
Two different sausage factories
A key point in the budget process that caught my attention, and stood out to education advocates, was a preliminary presentation in early April that included a 2.3% increase for NHCS, leaving out $836,000. Commissioners later agreed to make up the difference in the final budget, but this moment did not go unremarked.
A number of readers asked me, ‘why did the county propose funding less than the district was going to ask for?’ And, not surprisingly, some noted they hadn’t heard of any comparable situation where the Sheriff’s Office was preemptively rebuffed.
According to Smith, this was a timing issue. He noted that the county starts its budget process in November, long before NHCS submits its formal request.
“I wouldn’t characterize the $836,000 as a staff position the Board corrected or a recommendation that didn’t meet NHCS’s ask. It was a preliminary working number that changed as the formal request was finalized,” he wrote in an email.
That’s true, and probably fair from the county’s point of view, but what the public saw was that, by April, it had been openly discussed that Barnes intended to ask for a 3% increase – but there was still a $836,000 difference noted in the budget. It looked like the county was lowballing NHCS, while the Sheriff’s Office budget was on track to simply be approved. From a layperson’s point of view, I can see how someone would get that impression.
It seems like the core issue here is the budget structure of NHCS compared to the Sheriff’s Office.
“NHCS is a separate local education agency with its own elected board. The County funds a portion of its budget through operating, capital, and pre-K appropriations, but the County does not operate the school system. That makes the school funding discussion a government-to-government funding decision,” Smith wrote in an email.
Because the sausage is made collaboratively, so to speak, there’s a lot more public discussion, both on the board of commissioners and the school board. That means more visibility and, also, more news coverage. For example, it’s not uncommon that, sometimes in the same week, my colleague Rachel Keith will be covering the same budget conversation on the school board that I’m covering at the county.
“The Sheriff’s Office is different,” Smith said. “The Sheriff is independently elected, but the office's budget is part of the County's General Fund budget. Its personnel, operating costs, equipment, vehicles, and enhancements are reviewed through the County's internal departmental budget process and then included in the recommended budget for the Board's consideration.”
The public doesn’t get to see the internal departmental budget conversations the same way it sees the school funding discussions. For example, there was a brief moment during that early April budget meeting where it was briefly noted that there were some asks from the Sheriff’s Office that weren’t met — but it was not nearly as in-depth as the conversation about public school funding. Additionally, while the school board publicly discussed its budget request on several occasions, there’s no analogous public venue for the Sheriff. That sausage is made internally, to paraphrase Smith.
Apples to badges
So, here are my key takeaways:
One, no matter how you slice it, county funding for the Sheriff’s Office has increased more rapidly than funding for public schools.
Two, when it comes to school funding, the county is damned if they do, damned if they don’t. By picking up the state’s slack, they effectively let Raleigh off the hook — and, in fact, we’ve heard Raleigh would like to see counties pick up even more of the tab for schools. But, if the county doesn’t go above and beyond its requirements, commissioners will face the understandable ire of parents who expect high-quality education from the public school system.
Three, the school board’s reliance on multiple other government bodies for its funding means a lot of public discussion about its budget. By comparison, the Sheriff’s Office budget is an internal process that, while not exactly confidential, is nowhere near as public as the conversation about school funding.
The bottom line seems to be that, for structural and political reasons, funding for education is more publicly debated — and just more up for debate.
Structurally, that’s because the county is essentially negotiating what it thinks its fair share of education funding is, as opposed to dealing with funding in terms of total need. Meanwhile, it’s wholly responsible for the Sheriff’s Office.
But there is discretion: on any given item, the county could say yes to the schools and no to the Sheriff, or vice versa. That’s where politics come in, and in a way that favors public safety over public education, at the local and state levels.
For example: Republicans in Raleigh have let North Carolina fall behind pretty much every other state in education funding — a situation that’s so indefensibly bad that they’re finally taking some action. But how much funding is enough will still be hotly debated. Republicans will have a number, and Democrats will have another, higher, number. Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Josh Stein, who has supported raises for teachers, has also been out on tour, promoting increased funding for employees in the criminal justice system, including state troopers and correctional officers whose pay is, like the state’s teachers, nearly the lowest in the country. (And some would argue that Stein’s ‘law and order’ background as the former Attorney General helped him pick up votes from moderates, and even conservatives, when he ran for governor.)
To oversimplify the politics just a bit: education funding is important; law enforcement is sacrosanct.
For another example, closer to home: Last year, when Republican commissioners sought to curb spending, county staff made the numbers work by reducing services, including support for school nurses and pre-K. They also implemented 5% workforce cuts across all departments – except the Sheriff’s Office, senior resource center, veterans services, and the 911 center. That move was controversial, but whatever you think about the policy, it’s evidence that, if the county is forced to choose where to cut, education is likely to be on the chopping block before law enforcement.
“Wants versus needs,” was the motto of the budget process, and the outcome demonstrated that the county wanted to support schools but needed to support the Sheriff’s Office — and that is, after all, what state statute prescribes.
In a perfect world, there would be enough funding (including from the state), so the county could easily do both
