In the past three years, voters in Guilford County have approved a total of $2 billion for new school construction and old school repair, and Guilford County Schools is indeed starting to spend that money.
County taxpayers will be paying off that debt for a couple of decades to come. That won’t be fun. However, one good thing is that – thanks to a joint project of the county and the school system – everyone will be able to track how that money is being spent.
The soon-to-be-online service “School Bond Dashboard” contains a wealth of information regarding school spending on construction and other major projects and it breaks down that information by school. That way, students, parents, teachers and interested taxpayers can see how much money has been spent on a project, how much is budgeted for it, and what completion date is anticipated.
The dashboard provides a whole lot of other information as well.
While the dashboard isn’t up and running yet, county and school officials at a Monday, Oct. 23 joint meeting of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education got a preview of the internet tool and were told it will be in service very soon.
While it’s still being tweaked, county and school staff were instructed to put the dashboard online and then make changes to it periodically. They noted that suggestions from actual users could make the tool better.
At the meeting, several county commissioners offered suggestions as to how to improve the dashboard – such as making it easier to view the estimated completion date of a project and including an introductory paragraph on the landing page that offers a description of the tool and its purpose.
Do we have that option for the city of greensboro budget?
Sad to say but GIGO has been around long before the computer. Garbage in, Garbage out, holds true here. The information available will only be as accurate or obfuscated as the creators want it to be. I don’t trust the County Government with our money and I certainly don’t trust the school board. To find the real costs and the accurate completion dates will require a dedicated accountant to follow every dollar, which you can be assured won’t happen.
LMAO…accuracy and accountability in Guilford County? Good joke Scott! Thanks for the chuckle!
Spending money on maintenance that wasn’t property done is like not ever cleaning your basement, or letting the roof leak. S-O-R-R-Y. Common. Lazy. Indifferent. You name it. Hey, it’s not their building, just tear it down and build another. Throw some money at it, so it’s not your fault.
I have an 80-year old house. I costs a lot of money to keep it up, like….PAYING TO EFFING TAXES over 24 years.
What should be made available to the public are the names of the buyers of the bonds. Taxpayers want to know who is getting richer from Guilford County taxpayers with higher and higher tax-free interest rates. If no buyers, no money for Skippy and Deena Hayes.