Commissioners say the decision will help ease a multi-million dollar county budget shortfall this year.

But some county commissioners felt CMS, which accounts for about half of the county's total yearly budget, should have sacrificed more. Some commissioners motioned to reduce the CMS allotment by $5 million – with another $2.5 million held in a reserve.

But that motion failed, keeping the reduction at the original amount, as requested by County Manager Harry Jones.

He recently requested CMS cut back $5 million as part of broader county cuts two weeks ago and because of lower sales tax revenues announced last week.

"I've got three kids that go to CMS schools," Republican Commissioner Neil Cooksey said. "I don't want to see their classroom, the excellence in their classroom, be affected, but at the same time, this entire county is in a really difficult situation."

CMS may not be out of the woods yet. The county will find out their January sales tax figures next week. Jones said if those figures drop again, the district may receive even less from Mecklenburg County.