Members of the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors voted to approve its budget and allocate funds to Lunenburg County Public Schools (LCPS) during its Thursday meeting.

The total fiscal year 2019 budget is $32,835,469, with an increase of personal property tax of $3.80, rising from $3.60, that will take effect during the 2019 calendar year.

County Administrator Tracy Gee said LCPS administration reported that it is likely to receive $326,000 less from the state than it anticipated due to the number of students in the division.

Division Superintendent Charles Berkley and Assistant Superintendent James Abernathy were absent from the meeting due to illness and prior engagements.

Gee said the LCPS end-of-year projection is expected to be in the black at approximately $26,000.

“Of course they may incur unexpected expenses between now and then,” Gee said. “If that happens, they still have over $90,000 in textbook funding and can always reclassify some of the instructional expenditures to textbooks to keep the school in the black.”

Gee said the board received a letter May 2 requesting that the board of supervisors reimburse the school division $8,347.75 for two stand-alone classroom HVAC units and one heat pump with an accompanying air handler, and other installation materials.

“They were, however, installed by school forces, so there was no labor costs outside of the school system,” Gee said.

The division also included a bid for a 77-passenger school bus for the 2018 fiscal year budget, before July of this year. Following July 1, Gee said, LCPS will request a bid for a second bus during the 2019 fiscal year.

The bus for the 2018 fiscal year is estimated to cost $81,319.