A balanced budget and some unexpected cash kept the Blackville-Hilda school district in sound financial shape.

The district's audit was given a clean opinion by Jim McGuire of C.C. McGregor & LLP Company during a Jan. 11 school board meeting.

"We had a balanced budget and we stayed within our budget," Donna Abbott, the finance officer for the district.

"The good news is our fund balance increased to $1.2 million - it had been $800,000," said Teresa Pope, the superintendent.

There were three reasons for the surplus cash in the general fund, said Abbott.

There was $219,364 that the district should have received in fiscal year 2007-08 from the Department Of Energy through payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILT), said Abbott.

PILT is money Barnwell County - as well as Aiken and Allendale counties - gets for land the Savannah River Site claimed during the Cold War on which to build the facilities.

The district got the $219,364 in fiscal year 2008-09 because of a recalculation in DOE PILT, said Abbott.

In 2007, the Barnwell County Council gathered information on sales of large tracks of land in the county and determined it was worth roughly $1,700 an acre.

As a result of the reassessment, Barnwell County went from being paid $1,000 per-an-acre to $1,641 per acre by DOE.

In addition, the district got a $560,025 in fiscal year 2008-09 from DOE PILT which brought the total sum to $779,389, said Abbott.

There was also money left over from the Education Improvement Act from fiscal year 2007-08, she said.

Because of funding flexibility allowed by state law, the district was able to carry over the funds, said Abbott.

In addition, about $250,000 in unexpected Chem-Nuclear funds added to the surplus, she said.

The county got $1.7 million which it divided with the three school districts from surcharges paid to the state by Chem-Nuclear in 2009. The rate is based on the volume of low level radioactive waste it processed from the three Atlantic Compact states of South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey.

The money helped the district survive recent state cuts to education, Abbott said.

"It enabled us to maintain the staff we had," she said.
The following items were voted on and discussed during the board meeting.

• Pope's performance as a superintendent was praised and recognized with an extension of her contract to 2012.

A $5,000 pay increase will start July 1 - the start of the district's new fiscal year.
The board is pleased with the implementations and changes Pope is bringing to the school district, said board chair Steve McCormack.
Pope scored 123.2 points out of 125 on her superintendent evaluation by the board.

• In a gesture of praise - as well as in recognition of January being school board appreciation month - Pope presented the board members with gifts on behalf of the district and schools.
"It a small way of saying thank you to the board," said Pope.

• Donna Abbott and Marla Jameson - financial officers for the district - were awarded and recognized for their work.

• Passed a resolution for a tax-anticipation note not to exceed $250,000;

The district is expecting money from the state and county tax receipts but wants to have a back up until the cash arrives, said Pope.

"It will only be used in case of an emergency," said Pope, on the tax-anticipation note.

Pope said the district expected the county money during the week of Jan. 11.

• Students from high school English teacher Dinah Gaines' class showcased some presentations of projects they worked on during the year.
Senior Brandon Walters read an essay on the importance of American education.
Seniors Shanay Felfer, Taylor White and Jockeelyn Felton - in the teacher-cadet class - presented some of their projects for Macedonia Elementary School. These included a children's book; a board game that raises drug abuse awareness; a puppet show with the theme of sharing.