|
|
| |
| Year |
Population of Wake County |
Percent Increase |
Wake County Public School Population |
Percent Increase |
| 1990 |
423,380 ** |
- |
64,243 ** |
- |
| 2000 |
627,846 ** |
48% |
97,691 ** |
52% |
| 2005 |
749,989 |
20% |
120,504 ** |
23% |
| 2010 |
873,725 |
17% |
160,763 |
33% |
| 2015 |
999,504 |
14% |
192,748 |
21% |
| 2020 |
1,120,309 |
12% |
221,887 |
15% |
|
| |
** Actual Figures; other figures are population projections |
| |
| Single Family Home |
Water |
Sewer |
Land Use |
Combined |
| < 1700 sq. ft. |
$1,241 |
$2,143 |
$1,243 |
$4,627 |
| 1701 - 2400 sq. ft. |
$1,372 |
$2,172 |
$1,243 |
$4,787 |
| 2401 - 3100 sq. ft. |
$1,684 |
$2,639 |
$1,243 |
$5,566 |
| 3101 - 3800 sq. ft. |
$1,904 |
$2,866 |
$1,243 |
$6,013 |
| > 3800 sq. ft. |
$2,402 |
$3,265 |
$1,243 |
$6,910 |
|
| |
** Raleigh's impact fee is currently only $1,100. Yet it costs us around $7,000 per new how to put in new infrastructure (not including schools).
** Builders and realtors keep telling me that increasing Raleigh's current $1,100 impact fee will hurt development and the sale of new homes. However, when looking at Cary you can see that neither development has stopped, nor have housing prices suffered. In other words, asking developers to pay their fair share really does work, and it works for everybody. |
| |
Every single day we lose 27 acres of land to new development.
Next year, the student population is expected to increase by 7,000 students; this is more than every man, woman and child currently residing within the Town of Knightdale.
In 2004-2005, WCPSS ranked 74th out of 115 North Carolina districts in total per pupil expenditures (PPE). Wake County is 106th in state funding, 108th in federal funding, and 13th in local dollars, when compared to the other 114 state school districts. It's part of the reason Wake County only receives $9 Million from the lottery.
One of every four elementary school students is in a temporary mobile or modular classroom.
Since 2000, more than 57,000 single-family housing permits have been issued in Wake County.
In 2005 alone, Wake County, Raleigh or the school system were included in 27 "Best of" lists across the United States.
WCPSS outperforms all of the other major school systems on virtually every indicator in North Carolina, at a local cost per student far below most of them.
At $0.604, Wake County has the lowest property tax rate of the largest school districts in the state; it takes property taxes from two new homeowners to cover the cost of one new student.
It takes only six to nine months to build the average house in Wake County; however, it takes 14 months to build an elementary school, 19 months for a middle school and 26 months for a high school.
WCPSS has approximately 60 multi-story schools; building multi-story schools require less land, but they tend to cost more than single-story schools.
The Wake County Public School System's annual operating budget--which is independent of the capital budget--is nearly One Billion dollars. While this is a large amount of money, when the figures are calculated on a per capita basis, Wake County public schools' expenditures place it in the bottom half of all North Carolina districts.
This is a volatile time in the construction business; due to an increased demand for labor and supplies, it now costs $18.6 million to build an elementary school, $30.7 million for a middle school and $55.9 million for a high school (costs do not include land).
The 1999-2000 PPE for WCPSS was $6,224.67 When adjusted for inflation, this equals $6,912.73 in 2004 dollars. The 2004-2005 PPE was $7,239.87. This means in five years there was an increase in per pupil spending of only $327 in real dollars.
Although maintaining constant per pupil funding may sustain existing levels of student achievement, it is unlikely to result in the continually improving achievement that our community expects.
This is especially true as our student population becomes more diverse, with higher percentages of students identified as needing additional resources to grow academically. This includes special education students, low income students, and students whose first language is not English.
|
|
 |
|
