Mecklenburg County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to cut $5 million from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to help close a shortfall in this year’s county budget.
In a letter to County Manager Harry Jones, CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said the cuts “will certainly have an adverse impact on our schools,” according to the Charlotte Observer.
“Although these cuts are difficult, we completely understand the need for them,” the letter said. “We recognize the financial stress that the county is under, and we know that we are a large part of the county’s budget each year. We strive to be a responsible steward of taxpayers’ money and we are working very hard to meet the county requests.”
Before the Tuesday’s cut, the county had budgeted nearly $351.4 million for CMS, which gets the largest percentage of its $1.1 billion budget from the state.
As the economy foundered and tax revenues declined, the school board has said it must cut millions of dollars from next year’s budget. Gorman has said cuts likely will include large layoffs.
