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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD-2009-041 - Indoor Air Quality - Chapel Hill Carrboro School System Capital Project Ordinance.~=i9 0~ f< 6/e ~ ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 19, 2009 Action Agenda Item No. ~_ SUBJECT: Capital Project Ordinance Amendments DEPARTMENT: Financial Services PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): School Capital Projects Fund Detail Project Ordinances INFORMATION CONTACT: Name, Phone Number Gary Humphreys (919) 245-2453 Donna Coffey (919) 245-2151 PURPOSE: To approve amended capital project ordinances appropriating additional funds for School Capital Projects which are over budget and making various corrections to County Capital Project ordinances. BACKGROUND: At their February 3, 2009 meeting the Board of County Commissioners approved the County Manager's two year plan to address additional funding needs of the School and County Capital Project Funds. Approval of these amended capital project ordinances will make the necessary corrections for this FY 2008-09. A similar action will be presented for Board action in FY 2009-10. 1) Projects Over budget -The following project ordinances address the capital projects in the School Capital Project Fund where expenditures have exceeded the approved budget. See Attachment 1 for detailed information about the four projects listed below. With the exception of the transfer from School Capital Reserve Fund in Project 1, the revenue for each of the projects listed below was allocated to cover expenditures in prior fiscal years but the funds were not appropriated. Capital Project Ordinance Revenue Amount Expenditures Amount Orans~e County Schools 1 Pathwa s Elements 1997 Bonds ; 115,573 Construction S 33,661 " State Bonds (; 37,409) " Approp.Fund Bal (; 254,530) " Tr From School Ca ital Reserve Fd S 210,087 2 Playground Protective Surfaces Transfer from Gen Fd s 13,974 Surfacing ; 13,974 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools 3 Smith Middle Sch Cam us School Impact Fees ; 395,474 Construction S 385,474 4 Indoor Air Quali 2001 Bond Funds 51,215,111 51,215,111 Fund Total ;1,658,220 51,658,220 2 2) Correction of Funding Source -The County Capital Project Fund project ordinances listed below correct the method used to move funds from one project to another. In past years funds have been moved from one project to another by intrafund transfers. This is not "best practice" in the accounting industry and should not be done for the following reasons: 1) Transfers are only to be used for budgeted movements between funds, not for budgeted movements within the same fund. The use of transfers within the same fund will result in an inflated figure for both the budgeted amount of money and the actual amount of money in the fund. 2) The use of transfers between projects can obscure the actual source of funds being used to pay for any one project, thus making it difficult to track and properly account for the use of restricted fund sources such as debt financing and grants. The best practice is to reduce the funding source of the project from which funds are being moved. Conversely the project receiving additional funding will show an increase in its fund source. In the chart below, projects with the same number followed by a letter indicate those projects in which funds were first reduced (project "A") and then increased (project "B"), thus correcting the inappropriate "transfer" between projects. The current Project Ordinance budgets for Homestead Aquatics and Southern Park are also out of balance by offsetting amounts. Project ordinances 8A and 8D correct those balances. The Twin Creeks (Moniese Nomp) Park Project Ordinance 6C, Lands Legacy Project Ordinance 86 and Northem Human Service Center (now Cedar Grove) Park Ordinance 8C are being amended to align revenues with expenditures by including the remaining funding from the April 2009 Alternative Financing and future financing. In addition, Central Recreation Repairs Ordinance 5A is being reduced by $51,060 to provide funding needed to cover over expended budgets in the Greenways Development project and Homestead Community Center project. Capital Project Ordinance Account (r) revenue (e) expense Amount debit Account (r) revenue (e) expense Amount credit 5A Central Recreation Re airs (r) 2/3rds Bonds 5711,060 (e) Transfer to other proj ;60,000 " (e) Construction ;51,060 5B Homestead Communi Ctr (r) Transfer from other proj ;60,000 (r) 2/3rds Bonds 577,634 " ". (e) Sewer Connection 517,634 6A Soccer Su erfund (r) 2001 Bonds 52,000,000 (e) Transfer to other proj 52,000,000 66 West Ten Soccer Com lex (r) Trensfer from other proj ;1,350,000 (r) 2001 Bonds ;1,350,000 6C Twin Creeks Park (r) Transfer from other proj ;650,000 (r) Alternative Financing 57,000,000 " (r) 2001 Bonds ;350,000 7 Greenwa s Develo ment (r) 2001 Bonds ;575,000 (e) Transfer to other proj ;1,000,000 N it (r) Transfer from other proj ;425,000 (r) 2/3rds Bonds 633,426 " " (e) Construction 633 426 8A Homestead A uatjcs (e) Contribution to Ch Hill 52,809,508 (e) Transfer to other proj 53,175,000 " (r) 2001 Bonds 5500,000 (r) Alternative Financing 5500,000 86 Lands L ac (r Transfer from other proj ;1,750,000 (r) 2001 Bonds ;1,635,364 ~< (e) Land S Associated Fees 52,825,300 (e) Millhouse Rd Property 5300 " (e) Blackwood Property ;1,268,116 (e) Other ;1,408,897 " (e) Lewis Heartleaf Presve 51,145 (r) Alternative Financing ;2,800,000 8C Northem Human Svc Ctr Park r Transfer from other ;500,000 (r) Alternative Financing 5500,000 8D Southern Park (r) Transfer from other proj 5925,000 ((r) 2001 Bonds ;925,000 " (e) Contribution to Ch Hill 5365,492 9 Bolin Creek Greenwa (r) Transfer from other proj ;75,000 ((r) 2001 Bonds ;75,000 Fund Total ;16,591,681 516,591,681 3 3) Project Budgets Out of Balance -The County Capital Project Fund project ordinances listed below are out of balance, meaning the budgeted revenue for the project does not equal the budgeted expenditure. In addition, the Capital Project Fund budget as a whole is $1,000 out of balance. Project Ordinance 11A will balance both the projects and the fund. Project Ordinance 10A: Equipment and Vehicles closes old activity prior to the current fiscal year. Acquisition of vehicles is now being financed on a pay as you go basis in the General Fund. Project Ordinance10B: Conservation Easements also realigns fine item budgets within the Ordinance to cover expenditures in those line items. Project Ordinance 11A: Debt Issuance Costs and Transfers appropriates revenue from interest earning funds to cover past expenditures. It also provides additional funding for future expenditures related to debt issuance costs and transfers to the General Fund for debt service. There have been no appropriations in this project prior to now. Capital Project Ordinance Account (r) revenue (e) expense Amount debit Account (r) revenue (e) expense Amount credit 10A E ui ment and Vehicles (r) NC DOT Funds $634,800.27 (e)Animal Control Veh 676,862.00 " " (r) USDOJ Funds 538,574.00 (e)Inform Tech Vehicles 622,600.00 " (0 Equipment Financing $3,415,031.00 a Bld 8a Gmds Veh $163,425.00 " " (r) From General Fund $615,927.48 a Motor Pool Vehicles 6302,458.00 " (r) From other Project $559,000.00 (e)Sanitation Equipment $168,524.00 " " (e}Sanitation Vehicles $391,775.00 " (e)Trans to General Fnd 6100,000.00 " " (e) Unallocated 673,114.00 " " (e) Social Services Veh $16,275.00 (e) Health Admin Veh $77,135.00 " " (e) Dental Health Equip 682,506.00 " " (e)Env Health Equip $18,000.00 " (e) Personal Hlth E ui q P $9,037.00 " ~ " (e) OrangePubTransVeh $276 874.31 " " (e)Recreation&Pks E4P 687,389.00 " " (e) Recreation>I<Pks Veh $137,564.00 « ~~ (e)Little River Park Eqp $32,794.00 « ~ (e) Little River Park Veh $32 000.00 " ~` (s) ERCD Vehicles 646 828.00 ~~ ~ (e)Planning Vehicles $56,000.00 `~ ~~ (e)Sheriff Equipment $164162.00 ~` (e) Sheriff Vehicles $1,319,934.50 « N (e)Emerg Mgt Equip $291,468.87 « ~~ (e) Emerg Mgt Vehicles $1,393,626.07 10B Conservation Easements (r) From other project $77,019 a Unallocated $86,813 " e Tate Easement 61,050 " e Sh Easement $1,000 " e Peeie Easement $84,763 11A Debt Issuance Costsltransfers (e) Trans to Gen Fun $2,200,000 (r) Interest on invest $2,499,000 " e Debt Related Costs $300 000 « « Fund Total $7,927164.75 $7,928,164.75 FINANCIAL IMPACT: The financial impact of the recommended action is discussed in the background. RECOMMENDATION(S): The County Manager recommends the Board of County Commissioners approve these capital project ordinances for FY 2008-09. Attachment 1 School Capital Projects Fund Detail Orange County Schools Pathways Elementary -Over budget $33,661. Relates to FY ~ 2003 Munis conversion or activities prior to conversion. Construction line item over budget Plavs~round Protective Services -Over budget $13,974. Relates to FY 2003 Munis conversion or activities prior to conversion. Surfacing line item over budget. Sufficient funds were allocated to cover the expenditures however the appropriation was revised downward to an amount below the expenditure amount. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Smith Middle School Campus -Over budget $395,474. Relates to FY 2003 Munis conversion or activities prior to conversion along with a small amount of expenditures in the first part of FY2004. Construction line item over budget. Sufficient funds were allocated to cover the expenditures but the appropriation was not adjusted. 4 Indoor Air Quality -Over budget $1,288,647. Relates to activities from the FY 2003 Munis conversion or activities prior to conversion through FY2006. Sufficient funds were a8ocated to cover the expenditures but the appropriation was not adjusted to the full extent of the expenditures. 8 Indoor Air Quality Chapel Hill Carrboro School System Capital Project Ordinance Be it ordained by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners that pursuant to Section 13.2 of Chapter 159 of the General Statues of North Carolina, the following capital project ordinance is hereby adopted. Section 1. The project authorized provides funds for air quality enhancement at various schools throughout the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System. Section 2. The officers of the County are hereby directed to proceed with the budget contained herein. Section 3. The following revenue is anticipated to complete this project: Through FY 2007-08 FY 2008-09 Through FY 2008-09 2001 Bonds 5750 000 51,215,111 61,965,111 Alternative Financin 194 218 194 218 From General Fund 324 280 324 280 Total Fundin 61,268,498 51,215,111 62,483,609 Section 4. The following amount is appropriated for this project: Through FY 2007-08 FY 2008-09 Through FY 2008-09 Construction 61,218,498 (51,218,498) 0 Professional Services 50,000 650,000 CHHVAC 2,433,609 2,433,609 Total Fundin 61,268,498 51,215,111 62,483,609 Section 5 This ordinance supersedes previous.Project Ordinances for this project. Section 6 This ordinance shall remain in effect until closed by action of the Board of County Commissioners. Adopted this 19th day of May 2009. ~~-a9 ~c Laura Blackmon made reference to the list of tiers for monthly bills. This is a four-year program. She said that the proposal for the Board is to monitor the first and second year to see the impact on the neighborhoods and then reevaluate where they are. Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is capacity in these funds for additional people. Kevin Lindley said that the Town of Hillsborough has also agreed to let Efland customers use part of the water assistance fund. Commissioner Yuhasz asked that notice of these programs go out with the shut-off notice. A motion was made by Commissioner Yuhasz, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to implement an information and referral process to alert all Efland Sewer customers on how to access Emergency Assistance programs administered by both Social Services and OCIM, including that funding by the Town, to help eligible households pay their utility bills and monitor and assess the demand for Emergency Assistance caused by increased sewer rates during the first year (FY 2009-10) and use those findings to formulate recommendations to the Board about future levels of assistance that may be necessary. VOTE: UNANIMOUS c. Capital Project Ordinances Amendments The Board considered approving amended capital project ordinances appropriating additional funds for School Capital Projects which are over budget and making various corrections to County Capital Project ordinances. Laura Blackmon said that last fall the staff brought forward some issues with the School Capital Projects and the County Capital Projects. Finance has been itemizing the differences that resulted in the staff asking for some fund balance in order to set this right. Financial Services Director Gary Humphreys said that these are not all of the amendments the Board of County Commissioners will see and the items have been organized in groups. The first group is for the schools. He said that with the exception of the one on Pathways Elementary, all of the funds were allocated to the projects but not reflected necessarily in the budget. He said that the budget amounts are not significantly out of line with what the schools show as their budgets. Commissioner Hemminger verified that this had no negative impact on the schools and is a matter of cleaning up the books. Discussion ensued about why this is being done. Gary Humphreys said that this involves eliminating the existing revenue source and replacing it with the appropriate revenue source. Commissioner Gordon said that you really cannot tell what has happened by reading this document. She said that she would like to see the overall picture and complete project ordinances. She is concerned about this because project ordinances are what implement projects. She also wants to make sure that all stakeholders, such as the schools, department directors, etc., are involved in reviewing these changes. Laura Blackmon said that the project ordinances should list all of the revenues, etc., and the Board should have all of the information it needs. Laura Blackmon said that bond money should be spent right away and not nine years later and Commissioner Gordon agreed. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would like to see the original project ordinances because it would make a lot more sense to him. He asked that the staff bring a random sample of these. Chair Foushee said that it would be important for the public to know what measures have been put in place to make sure this does not happen again. Gary Humphreys said that it would be a matter of reviewing these on a constant basis. Laura Blackmon pointed out that there was a lot of confusion during the conversion to MUNIS. The project ordinances should be closed out when the projects are completed, and this has not been happening in a timely manner. Commissioner Jacobs asked what percentage of the 2001 bond money had not been spent. Gary Humphreys said that the only thing left is what was authorized for the alternative financing which was substituted for the bond money. More than 90% of it has been spent. The majority of what is left is in Lands Legacy and Parks and Recreation. Commissioner Jacobs said that he is not in favor of spending bond money just for the sake of saying that it was spent. Most of it has been committed. He is tired of this conversation. Also, regarding the $600,000 for the Soccer Superfund, the Board has asked the Manager to meet with Chapel Hill and Carrboro and figure out a plan for spending that money. Laura Blackmon said that she could report back on this in June. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the School Capital Reserve Fund and said that the reason it was spent was because Governor Easley took more than $2 million from the County during the budget process and there was money that could be reassigned. He said that if this was replenished, he does not think that the Board of County Commissioners was aware of it, and if it is something else, he would like to know what it is. Also, the Board appropriated money from the Commissioners' Contingency toward paying for a position earlier, and he asked for the minutes from last year's budget, and then $25,000 was put in the Commissioners' Contingency for the Attorney search. This money should not have been in the Commissioners' Contingency, yet there was still $40,000 in the Commissioners' Contingency, which was only $40,000 to begin with. He said that something is not tracking. Chair Foushee said that it would seem that an appropriate motion would be to approve the capital project ordinance amendments that are included in the packet: - Pathways Elementary -Orange County Schools Capital Project Ordinance' - Playground Protective Services - OCS Capital Project Ordinance - Smith Middle School Campus -CHCCS Capital Project Ordinance - Indoor Air Quality -CHCCS Capital Project Ordinance - Central Recreation Repairs -Capital Project Ordinance - Homestead Community Center Capital Project Ordinance - Soccer Superfund Capital Project Ordinance - West Ten Soccer Complex Capital Project Ordinance - Twin Creeks Park Capital Project Ordinance - Greenways Development Capital Project Ordinance - Homestead Aquatic Center Capital Project Ordinance - Lands Legacy Capital Project Ordinance - Northern Human Services Center Park Capital Project Ordinance - Southern Community Park Capital Project Ordinance - Bolin Creek Greenway Capital Project Ordinance - Equipment and Vehicles Capital Project Ordinance - Conservation Easements Capital Project Ordinance - Debt Issuance Costs/Transfers Capital Project Ordinance A motion as made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Chair Foushee to accept the ordinance amendments as stated above as long as there is no direct cost back to the General Fund or Fund Balance. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he will vote for this, but he would still like to see some samples of what these look like after adopted. The Board agreed. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to urge the Board to vote against this since it is not just a clean up of the accounts and the Board should get a complete explanation. VOTE: Ayes, 3; Nays, 3(Commissioner Gordon, Commissioner Pelissier, and Commissioner Jacobs) MOTION FAILED Laura Blackmon said that the staff would bring it back and include samples in the next agenda. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the bonds and said that he has asked for several years for information. The voters were promised in 2001 that the bonds would result in no more than aseven-cent property tax increase. He has asked for this repeatedly and the Board has never gotten it. d. Process for Evaluating Town Site Suggested For Transfer Station The Board considered a possible solid waste transfer station location on Millhouse Road as suggested by the Town of Chapel Hill at the Board of County Commissioners work session on May 14, 2009 and reviewed the process in relation to on-going investigation of Site 056. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that at the May 14, 2009 meeting, Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy brought up a site on Millhouse Road as a possible site for a transfer station. It was not a formal offer, but on the table for discussion. He said that the purpose of this item was for the Board to give direction to the staff about this site. It is his understanding that if the Board chooses to proceed to evaluate this site; it would be done on a parallel track with the Howell property. Information could be brought back by June 16th. However, it is likely that the wetlands recommendation on the Howell site would not be ready for the June 16th meeting. Staff would like to bring this back at the August 18th meeting. The Manager's recommendation is that the Board: -Direct staff to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the Town site and report findings at the June 16th BOCC meeting; -Confirm staff will continue the COE wetlands determination of Site 056 and to return at the August 18th BOCC meeting with the results, including the Planning Department decision on the enhanced environmental assessment of the site; and -Consider a final decision on the location of the transfer station at the August 18th BOCC meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT: Charles Viles, Vice President of the Board of Directors of Emerson Waldorf School, read a letter. "Dear Board of County Commissioners, As Vice President of the Emerson Waldorf School, I am writing to you today to express our deep concern regarding recent developments in the site selection process for the proposed Waste Transfer Station. Through media reports and communications with our neighbors, we have learned that a 32-acre site immediately adjacent to our school is under some level of discussion. Now in our 25th year, Emerson is the academic home for 265 students from pre-k through High School, ages 3 to 18. The vast majority of these children reside in Orange County, Carrboro, or Chapel Hill. Our core and overriding mission is the education of children using a curriculum and educational philosophy that is grounded equally in academics, art,