Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20090416 APPROVED 5/5/2009 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION April 16, 2009 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie Foushee and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Mike Nelson, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Staff Attorney Annette Moore COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey and Willie Best, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. Change in BOCC Regular Meeting Schedule for 2009 The Board considered one change in the County Commissioners' regular meeting calendar for year 2009. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Nelson to change the meeting location for the April 30, 2009 Closed Session from Southern Human Services Center to Link Government Services Center— meeting to start at 7:00 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS FY 2009-10 Budget Update Laura Blackmon listed the additional items at the County Commissioners' places. She said that tonight's presentation is the meat of what is going to be in the recommended budget. She said that she would like some feedback from the Board of County Commissioners in the next few weeks on some of these issues presented. She made a PowerPoint presentation. She said that each department was asked to look at a 10% reduction in the budget for specified items, but not including permanent personnel. FY 2009-10 Preliminary County Funding Recommendations April 16, 2009 Tonight's Presentation - Proposed County Service Delivery Changes - Employee Pay and Benefits - Board Priorities - Costs of Opening New Facilities - Outside Agency Funding Recommendations - FY 2009-10 County Capital Budget Proposed County Service Delivery Changes Overall Budget Reductions for FY 2009-10 - Departments proposed budget reductions of$2 million for next FY - Combination of line item reductions in some departments and changes/reductions in service delivery in other departments Highlights of Major Changes in Service Delivery - Aging o Reduce evening hours at Seymour Center from 4 to 2 nights per week o Discontinue paying for home modifications for elderly (grab bars, wheelchair ramp, etc.) • Some similar services offered by DSS and Housing o Eliminate Friend-to-Friend and Wheels to Work programs • Current Wheels to Work employee offered another position in OPT • Limited Wheels to Work services will be offered by DSS - Animal Services o Cost efficiencies by co-locating 3 divisions currently located in separate locations under one roof o Discontinue microchip service - Board of County Commissioners o Suspend volunteer recognition program and task force support - Health o Discontinue the following programs • Chronic Disease Care Coordination • HIV Community Testing • Mouth Guard Project • Refugee Health Assessment o Consolidate Dental Health services to one location in Hillsborough and close Carr Mill Mall Dental Clinic • Will require County to "buy out" remainder of lease - Housing o Reduce funding for Urgent Repair Program resulting in one less home receiving repairs - Information Technologies o Create citizen access via the Internet to web casts of Commissioners' meetings o Suspend some software maintenance contracts - Library Services o Close Cedar Grove and McDougle branch libraries and reassign staff to main library in Hillsborough - Parks and Recreation o Discontinue some recreation and athletic activities • Examples include hip hop classes, cooking, pottery, and other mid-day programs o Eliminate Community Theater, Jazz and Gospel Festivals o Reduce printing of program guide from three to two issues per year - Public Works o Suspend funding for facility care projects • Examples include non-CIP improvements such as painting and flooring - Social Services o Reduce in-home care services for elderly and disabled adults o Discontinue optional County share of day care funding o Reduce transportation assistance, clothing allowances, and incentives for Work First clients - Solid Waste and Sanitation o Defer some recycling programs • Dry-cell batteries • Organic (Food) Waste • Household and small business hazardous waste o Discontinue offering free landfill permits to citizens o Stop accepting mattresses at Solid Waste Convenience Centers o Solid Waste Convenience Centers • Close Bradshaw Quarry Center • Reduce hours of operation at remaining Centers • Sites would close at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. • Close remaining Centers on Sundays Examples of Organizational Efficiencies oReduce use of non-permanent personnel including student interns oMake more publications available electronically instead of print oReduce miles driven and fuel consumption oBetter manage and conserve fuel, water and energy usage in facilities oReduce custodial services provided to most County offices Employee Pay and Benefits Survey Results OParticipation: 0630 or 75% of employees responded to the Survey •447 or 71% of respondents are non supervisory •407 or 65% have 10 years service or less OUpdated Results Staff Cost Reduction Measures oFurloughs (Mandatory Time Off Without Pay) •Other Organizations currently implementing •Every employee would be required to participate •Analyzing options to minimize effect on low salaried employees •Preferred option to combine furlough with holidays •Many employees already use accrued leave on these days .Increase savings by extending closure of County facilities. •Saving in both salaries and facilities •Anticipate some employees may volunteer for more than 40-hour furloughs oRetirement Incentive •Voluntary .104 employees eligible for full (26) or reduced retirement (78) as of July 1, 2009 .Anticipate 10-20% of eligible employees would volunteer •Savings would be realized by •Not filling vacated position for period of time •Hiring new employees at lower salary than current employee .Staff currently analyzing models to determine specific incentives and cost savings OFreeze Vacant Positions •Freeze non-critical vacant positions for 12 months •Freeze critical vacant positions for 3 months OOvertime •Reduce overtime funding for non-critical programs Reassignment of Staff - From certain non-critical/non-core functions to critical/core functions to offset increased workloads and/or maximize revenue o For example, reassign employees to DSS to expedite economic services intake (food stamps, etc). • Would offset increased work load • County will receive 50% reimbursement for time worked in DSS o Other examples include • Library Services • Custodial Services • Parks • Building Inspections Board Priorities (See table listing priorities) Preliminary Estimate - Costs of Opening New Facilities (see table) Commissioner Nelson asked why interns were being paid. Laura Blackmon said that some internships are non-paid, but traditionally they have been treated like temporary employees and paid a living wage. This does not mean that the County could not offer UNC interns this proposal of a non-paid position. Commissioner Nelson made reference to Parks and Recreation and the cut of all but one festival and asked which one would be kept. Parks and Recreation Director Lori Taft said that there has been no decision on this yet. The department has to come up with a process to select one festival. Commissioner Yuhasz made reference to retirement and asked if there are any on-going expenses to the County once someone retires and Laura Blackmon said that the County pays the health insurance and a portion of the dependent coverage. Commissioner Yuhasz said that before encouraging early retirement, he would like to see the net savings of doing this. He suggested looking at readjusting what is offered to retirees. Laura Blackmon said that this year the County is paying about one cent of the tax rate for retiree benefits. Commissioner Pelissier asked what would be done with the employee survey and Laura Blackmon said that the results of the survey will come back in the recommended balanced budget from the Manager. She said that the employees are really involved in feedback and she is encouraged by this. Commissioner Gordon said that these cuts represent about$2 million of savings, but more is needed. She said that on the handouts staff needs to give the Board totals of what these savings represent and the totals of what needs to be reduced. She would like this information very soon regarding the other proposed cuts. Donna Coffey said that the $2 million is just reductions in services. There will have to be another$2-2.5 million in cuts on the employee pay/benefits side. This presentation will come May 12th with the Manager's Recommended Budget. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to go through the departments alphabetically. He suggested looking at employees that are closer to age 65 for voluntary retirement. He asked staff to put in writing the costs of buyouts in age tiers, so that the Board can look at the benefits of going forward. Laura Blackmon said that retirement is only voluntary and she cannot guarantee who will volunteer for this program. A lot of times people will volunteer to retire and then will get another job elsewhere. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a definition of critical vs. non-critical vacant positions. Laura Blackmon said that staff is working on this definition. Commissioner Hemminger asked about longevity benefits and Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis answered that it was between 2.2-4.2% of the salary and it starts after 10 years of service and is paid on the anniversary. Commissioner Pelissier made reference to furloughs or reduction of work hours and expressed concern about the safety net services. She wants to do this equitably for all employees, but not have an effect on service delivery. Laura Blackmon said that this is one of the issues with the Sheriff's Department and EMS, because it would have to be filled in with overtime. Commissioner Yuhasz said that all of the proposals for reductions seem to be temporary. He wants to get to the discussion on how to do business in a different way and on a smaller scale. He said that this is not a one-year budget problem but an ongoing problem. Chair Foushee said that what would be crucial is to live through a year of a reduced budget then assess the impacts of that year and decide what will need to be done for the long term. She said that the conversation needs to be ongoing, but it will be difficult to make decisions about doing business differently until the impacts are seen from the reduced budget. Laura Blackmon said that the County needs to look at revenue sources other than property taxes. Commissioner Nelson made reference to the recommendation to reduce the number of event brochures. He asked for a list of all event brochures that the County produces because these need to be done electronically. Commissioner Nelson said that most of the cost-saving initiatives are limited and he asked if staff looked at stopping certain services. He said that some citizens have asked him why the County is in the waste disposal business. Laura Blackmon said that most of the ones they came up with are the smaller programs within the County and it will take a lot of these to add up to anything substantial. She said that the County should look at doing away with convenience centers. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a list of all contracts that are coming up at the end of the fiscal year. He said that now is a good opportunity to make changes, but the County Commissioners are so caught up in dealing with the current budget. He is more interested in trying to have some kind of organized thought process so that the changes are monitored. After the budget process, the Board can talk about the fundamental changes when there is not as much pressure to adopt a budget. Commissioner Pelissier agreed and said that the Board also needs to look at how all departments relate to one another and how the County does business. Commissioner Gordon said that there is no incentive in departments to eliminate functions and transfer them to other departments. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the Board needs to make a differentiation of"have to do" and "nice to do" and this should be part of all budget discussions. Aging: Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the physical fitness center regarding the Seymour Center and said that this service is widely offered in the private sector. He would like to know the exact amount of the reductions. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to increasing electronic communication and said that the elderly are not likely to have internet and this should be a focused approach. He wants to think carefully while going forward. Animal Services: Commissioner Jacobs said that he understands eliminating the microchip upon adoption. He asked if this would still be provided for a fee. Animal Services Director Bob Marotto said that he would like this to be an elective service. Commissioner Yuhasz said that leashes should still be available for sale since it is not at a loss. Elections: Commissioner Gordon said that there is an increase here. Laura Blackmon said that there are more elections next year. She said that there are some departments that may not be able to make reductions. Emergency Services: Commissioner Jacobs asked about reduction in contract services related to the Fire/Rescue Study. He asked if this was consistent with what was presented to the Board previously, and it was answered yes. Information Technology: Commissioner Jacobs made reference to reduced staff training and development and said that this one is different from all of the others. He said that he would like to know the staff impact. Chief Information Officer Todd Jones said that the impacts are additional impacts for the full budget year. The commitment to upgrade the Carr Mill Dental office was made some time ago and it was only implemented in February of this year before the closure of the office was an option. He will look at ways in which to terminate this contract. Laura Blackmon asked about looking at an aggregate for broadband. Todd Jones said that the County has a series of individual contracts and they are in the process of trying to renegotiate an agreement with the fiber provider to reallocate bandwidth. Commissioner Jacobs said that this is an area where the County should find partners and make this less expensive (i.e., towns or school systems). Commissioner Gordon said that the costs have gone up in Information Technology. She said that the Board never decided to do the video streaming. Library Services: Commissioner Jacobs said that the County should poll the users of the branches that might be closed to see if they would use another facility. He would like some feedback from users before this is done. He thinks that Carrboro may find more space in the Century Center for books if the McDougal branch is closed. Commissioner Gordon said that there should be a menu of options in the survey if it is done. Commissioner Jacobs stated his recommendation: "That staff would develop a survey of users of the library branches that determine what would be the priority responses to closing or altering the functions of those branches." Chair Foushee suggested that this be done and that the draft come to the Board. Library Services Director Lucinda Munger said that staff could also provide the Board with statistics of use. Commissioner Yuhasz asked that the number of staff be included in the statistics. Commissioner Pelissier said that she is not against the survey, but she thinks that this sort of thing should be done for all services and not just one service in order to be equitable. Discussion ensued about the merits of doing a survey for the library and other services, and whether there was time for surveys.. Commissioner Nelson said that the Cybrary was set up in a different way and the circulation numbers will be low, but people go there to use the library in other ways. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Chair Foushee to do a survey of users of branch libraries to ascertain what would be their priority preferences, as was done with the staff, for various service levels, including closure of those branches. VOTE: Ayes, 3 (Commissioner Nelson, Commissioner Jacobs, Chair Foushee); Nays, 4 (Commissioner Gordon, Commissioner Hemminger, Commissioner Pelissier, Commissioner Yuhasz) MOTION FAILED Commissioner Jacobs suggested that alternatives be brought forward to closing the branches, such as having them open only on certain days, along with the cost implications. He wants to know what the minimal level of access would cost as opposed to no access. Parks and Recreation: Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Jazz Festival and asked if any thought had been given for private sponsorship and Lori Taft said yes. She said that they would like to explore this further with the festivals. Commissioner Jacobs said that Hillsborough is considering charging for all events held in Hillsborough. He said that in Chapel Hill there is no charge for these events because the Town co-sponsors these events. An entry fee would then help to subsidize the event. He would like to encourage creative thinking. Commissioner Yuhasz went back to libraries and user fees and said that there was a request from the Town of Chapel Hill to get more money for the library. He asked if the Board wanted to do that or let Chapel Hill charge user fees for people outside the Town using the library. Commissioner Nelson agreed with this suggestion and said, with the possible closing of two of the County's libraries, the Board needs to look at this. Commissioner Jacobs said that this was discussed at the AOG and it was agreed that elected officials should work this out in an expeditious manner. He agreed with Commissioner Nelson and Commissioner Yuhasz that this should be on the table, whether or not the County can continue to contribute $250,000 a year to the Town of Chapel Hill for library services, or whether this should go to a Southern Orange branch of the Orange County Library System that serves Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Commissioner Gordon said that 40% of the users of the Chapel Hill Library are outside of the Chapel Hill town limits. She thinks that it is a good deal to be able to use this library. At the Assembly of Governments town officials said that each user might have to pay $100-150 to use the library if the town were to charge fees. She said to keep in mind that the citizens of Chapel Hill and the surrounding areas also pay County taxes. She is not in favor of discontinuing the funding. Commissioner Nelson said that this is such a touchy topic that everyone should keep an open mind to every option and not make premature decisions. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the place the County is now is not satisfactory and some decision should be made. Solid Waste: Commissioner Jacobs made reference to "reduce miscellaneous contract services, including required seeding," and asked how to reduce something that is required. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that there can be a delay on those areas that are just thinning. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like Gayle Wilson to put these reductions in priority order. Donna Coffey said that staff is in the process of providing all of these service reductions in priority order for all departments. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if the convenience centers could be closed on another day besides Sundays, because Sunday hours are important for citizens and there is such heavy usage on the weekends. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to reinforce checking on the priority order of recycling reductions. Visitor's Bureau: Commissioner Jacobs asked why this was not a private entity. He said that the arrangement is odd. Commissioner Yuhasz said that all of the reductions are $2 million, and $1 million is Solid Waste. He said that this really does not impact the budget. Donna Coffey said that$760,000 is from the Enterprise Fund, and the County indirectly pays landfill fees for the Solid Waste Convenience Centers. Commissioner Gordon asked about eliminating dental services at Carr Mill Mall and said that this is part of the safety net. Laura Blackmon said that it is a required service that the dental clinic provides but the county is not required to provide it in a particular location. Commissioner Yuhasz said that it is his understanding that the service provider would move to the Hillsborough clinic and provide the same number of hours. Commissioner Jacobs said that a lot of the County's safety net services are not mandated but they are "should" services. Commissioner Gordon said that she is concerned about eliminating dental services in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area where the majority of the population resides. Chair Foushee said that the services are not being deleted but relocated. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is money in the CIP for a dental clinic and he suggested planning for a dental clinic in the future and stop renting when the lease is over. Laura Blackmon said that the Health Department is not mandated to provide the service, but mandated to make sure that it is available. There are other agencies in Chapel Hill and Carrboro that can provide the service, but the agencies have said that they would not be able to handle increased service with the number of employees and the current space. The Health Department is also experiencing decreased revenue. Commissioner Pelissier made reference to page 9 of 9— Expansion of Clinical Services. She said that this is not what the Board has received before. She asked if this proposal is to decrease some services and to expand other services with a net decrease of only a couple of thousand dollars. Tom Konsler said that staff may have inappropriately provided Priority#4 in the reductions list. Without Priority 4, there would be a decrease of$308,000, with a decrease in revenues of$107,000. The overall reduction amount is $200,000. Commissioner Pelissier said that the Board needs to see this information. Commissioner Jacobs said that he does not want to cut one social safety net program to provide another one at a higher amount. End of department listing. Commissioner Gordon suggested that the Board could benefit from a summary sheet of all reductions. She would like an overall sheet of what is actually being cut to get to the goal of $4 million in cuts. Commissioner Jacobs asked for staff to provide departments and number of employees, along with the amount of cuts. The Board then went over Attachment 4 concerning Board Priorities — FY 2010 Funding Proposed by Departments. Donna Coffey said that this same information is on page 17 of the PowerPoint. Commissioner Gordon said that a master plan, with a timeline and the steps to be accomplished, is needed for the Comprehensive Plan. Planning Director Craig Benedict said that the Comprehensive Plan will be unfolded in an organized way within the next two years. Commissioner Gordon asked about the %2 position for Planning. Craig Benedict said that out of the 14 Board priorities there are 10 that relate to Planning. He said that the %2 position that they want to go to full time was important in getting the comprehensive plan choreographed, working with the consultant and advisory boards. Laura Blackmon made reference to the list of outside agencies, Attachment 5. Gwen Harvey pointed out that there were some differences in how the Human Services Advisory Commission defined the human services of the social safety net agencies. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see the minutes of the relevant meeting. He thought the Board decided that it would not be adding any agencies this year and were leaving the funding the way it was. He does not want to add agencies, while cutting services. Commissioner Nelson agreed with seeing the minutes. His recollection is that the Board did not exclude considering new agencies with a social safety net component. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about the general outside agencies and the percentage of the overall budget the County contribution represents. Commissioner Gordon said that the Board needs background information on each of these agencies, especially the new ones. Commissioner Gordon asked about HYAA and Piedmont Wildlife and what happened with these two agencies. Gwen Harvey said that the performance agreements included how the agencies could be viewed more favorably by the HSAC and this year's evaluation. There was consultation and the agency directors and board members came to a special meeting of the HSAC where a report of the progress was given. A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to adjourn the meeting at 10:10 p.m. Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board