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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 02-11-2010 APPROVED 3/16/2010 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION February 11, 2010 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a budget work session on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Valerie P. Foushee, and Commissioners Alice Gordon, Pam Hemminger, Barry Jacobs, Mike Nelson, Bernadette Pelissier, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to add the agenda item — Change in BOCC Regular Meeting Schedule for 2010. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Change in BOCC Regular Meeting Schedule for 2010 The Board considered one change in the County Commissioners' regular meeting calendar for year 2010. A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger, seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to amend the BOCC regular meeting calendar for 2010 by: - Changing the location of the Orange County Legislative breakfast, which is scheduled for Monday, February 22, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. FROM the N. C. botanical Gardens, TO the New Solid Waste Administration Office Building, 1207 Eubanks Road, in Chapel Hill, N. C. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 1. Manager's Introduction to 2010-11 Budget Season Frank Clifton said that the intent is to build the priorities and general consensus where the Board is going to head in the process. He said that the staff hears the Board when it says it wants to hold the line on tax increases. He said that the reality is that the County does not have a revenue problem as of now. The departments have done a good job of maintaining the line of expenses and there are 146 vacant positions as of 12/31/2009. He said that there will not be a lot of big savings individually, but when you pull them together it is a big savings of about $2 million. He said that he does not think it would be in the best interest of the County to go through a severe process of making cuts only in the end to reverse the stance. The County has a $4.5 million issue in the next fiscal year regarding new expenses, without any employee raises or new programs. This is about 3.5% of the total budget, but is more like 6% of the County-only budget. He said that at the end of this item, he would like to discuss the issue of sales tax distribution. He is not proposing a change, but he wants to show the differential. Commissioner Gordon said that she was told at the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro TAC meeting that there may be a second round of stimulus funding. The message was to get projects ready. She does not know any more than that. Financial Services Director Clarence Grier introduced the Finance staff: Michael Talbert, Deputy Finance Director; Allison Chambers, Budget Technician; Paul Laughton, Management Analyst; and Tonya Walton, Management Analyst. 2. Budget Presentation, Guiding Principles, Board Consideration He made the PowerPoint presentation. Board of County Commissioners Budget Work Session February 11, 2010 General Fund Revenue by Category Revenues •Property Taxes - Little Growth in Tax Base •Sales Taxes — Flat 2010 & Little growth expected in 2010/2011 •State Budget & Shared Revenues - Uncertain Property Tax • 74% of the General Fund •99% Historical High Collection Rate •2009/2010 Real Property Collection = $123 million Vehicles ($8.2 million 2009) est $ 7 million Sales Tax • Everything Has Changed Counties Held Harmless for Medicaid Hold Harmless for Cities Article 44 eliminated Distribution of Article 42 - Point of Delivery •lmpact Retail Sales Down State Wide Budgeted Revenues $2.5 Million less than 2008/2009 Hold Harmless from State +$2.6 Million General Fund Appropriation by Function (chart) FUND BALANCE POLICY Undesignated Fund Balance The County will strive to maintain undesignated balance in the general fund at a level sufficient to meet its budgeted goals, to be determined annually. The amount of undesignated fund balance maintained during each fiscal year should not be less than eight percent of budgeted general fund operating expenditures that fiscal year. To the extent that undesignated fund balance exceeds the budgeted goals, the County could consider drawing upon fund balance to fund major equipment purchases or one time on a pay- as-you-go basis. Fund Balance Undesignated Fund Balance —Available County Pop Group 6/30/07 $21,384,544 13.48% 19.24% 6/30/08 $23,803,324 15.09% 18.26% 6/30/09 $18,977,470 11.40% 2004 & 2005 Below 10.00% New Funding Issues •Net New Debt Service $2.5 million •Salaries Budgeted at 100% $1.1 million •Retirement Increase 1.55% $.7 million •Rebuilding Fund Balance $.4 million - General Fund Cash Flow - $79,135,187 at this time Existing Funding Issues •Capital Investment Plan Schools $4.3 million County $2.6 million •Rebuilding Fund Balance $ 400,000 • Operating Budget Growth $ 0 Spending Strategies •Defer CIP funding - County •Eliminate Vacant Positions • Reduce funding to Outside Agencies Revenue Strategies •Increase Fees & Charges for Services •Article 46 Sales Tax 1/4 cent—Voter Approval $2.5 Million •Increase Property Tax - 1 cent = $1.5 Million Goals & Priorities 2010-11 Board of County Commissioners Goals Commissioner Gordon asked how many property tax bills went down and Frank Clifton said theoretically 50% of property taxes went up and 50% went down on real property. Everybody's taxes went down on motor vehicles. Commissioner Hemminger asked if Durham Tech was included in the education expenditure and Clarence Grier said yes. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would like to not have that number included because the public does not respond to that very well. Chair Foushee said that she disagrees because this is a truer picture of what the County is spending on education and a footnote can be added to indicate Durham Tech funding. Commissioner Hemminger said to footnote this and to list how much. Frank Clifton said that some of this money is in other departments, though lumped under education, such as school nurses, social workers, and resource officers. All agreed to have a footnote designating the funding for Durham Tech. Commissioner Nelson asked how Orange County compares with other governments in terms of fund balance. Clarence Grier said that Orange County is better off than a lot of comparable governments. Frank Clifton said that he would encourage the County Commissioners to keep a larger fund balance, but it will take some time. With a larger fund balance, the County would not have to make such reactive budget cuts. Commissioner Hemminger said that she wants to budget salaries 100%, but she is having a hard time with this because of the budget season. Frank Clifton said that the Board would have to make that decision. Commissioner Yuhasz verified that this was 100% of currently authorized positions and there is a possibility that the number might get smaller if positions are eliminated. Clarence Grier said that the County is close to the top of its debt policy and has no room to issue any debt in the coming years. Chair Foushee asked for clarification on deferring CIP funding for the County and Clarence Grier said that just for one year there may not be CIP expenditures. Chair Foushee said that she wants to be clear that recurring capital is an operational expense and not a capital expense. Frank Clifton said that another key element for next year is that he will probably be recommending elimination of a lot of positions, most of them currently vacant. He has asked the County Attorney to draft a Reduction in Force Policy so that he will have something in case the County gets in a critical situation. He said that he will also look closely at funding for the outside agencies. He will pay special attention to try and maintain funding to local agencies that serve local populations that are funded primarily from local funds. He would not agree with any across the board cuts because it is not fair to reduce effective agencies along with all the others. Regarding Revenue Strategies, Frank Clifton said that the sales tax option gets distributed across the board to the entire population. He would suggest obligating the funds to some category instead of putting it in the general fund. Commissioner Nelson said that if the Board was interested in this, the deadline for putting it on the May ballot would be too soon. If it would be put on the November ballot, the impact on next year's budget would be minimal. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the Board should at least consider the sales tax option. He said that this tax has the potential to grow, unlike an annual property tax increase. Commissioner Jacobs asked about health insurance increases and if there are any projections. Frank Clifton said that they have not had those discussions yet with the NCACC. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like a list of the major decisions so that the Board can put them in priority order, along with the effects. He wants everything on the table. Frank Clifton said that he will bring a balanced budget and he will show how he balanced it. There will also be a list of reductions and the value in County dollars of those reductions. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see a list of basic assumptions because each one has a consequence. He wants to see this before the Manager brings the budget forward. Frank Clifton said that he is not there yet, but he has given the budget drivers tonight. Commissioner Gordon asked about the policy for items the County Commissioners have already decided on during the year that they want to support. Frank Clifton said that in each case they will look at it in a broad sense. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the '/4-cent sales tax option and said that the state's one-cent sales tax expires in 2011. She said that the reality of asking voters for additional sales tax is problematic in this economic climate this year. Frank Clifton said that to balance the budget, the County will need at least $3-4 million. Commissioner Pelissier said that property tax can be regressive, but sales tax can also be regressive. She said that the County cannot defer capital outlays forever. She would like to discuss the sales tax and the options. Chair Foushee supported Commissioner Pelissier's comments. She said that you cannot do more with less. Commissioner Yuhasz said that last year the Board did not eliminate much in the area of "nice to do." He wants to look more closely at the core services that the County should provide. Clarence Grier went over Attachment 3. The additional expenditures, without adding any changes to departmental budgets, total almost $7 million. The budget at this time is short $5.7 million. This equates to 3.77 cents of property tax increase. Frank Clifton pointed out that this is the worst case scenario. Frank Clifton made reference to the sales tax distribution and the handout. He said that this has not been reconsidered in 25 years. The population method is being used now. The Board needs to act by the end of April to change the method that is used. He pointed out that he is not asking the Board to change anything. Michael Talbert explained the handout. These numbers are from 2008-09 and do not include the revaluation. Frank Clifton said that the reality is that the County is giving up $1 million for distribution to the towns. 3. FY 2010 — 11 Board Priorities Frank Clifton said that all of these priorities cannot be addressed at one time. He asked for Board input. Commissioner Hemminger asked how something completed comes off of the list such as the County Attorney's Staffing/Offices. Frank Clifton said that there is no process for this yet, but that can be part of the discussion. Frank Clifton made reference to P-14 on page three and said that staff met with the Town of Chapel Hill today and there will be a joint proposal about how to move forward with this priority— Fulfill remainder of bond issuance approved by voters in 2001 for soccer. He apologized for P-13 and said that he did not realize that the Board wanted information within 60 days. He will try and get something out in 60 days regarding equitable library services. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to P-7 — Improve intra- and intergovernmental coordination, cooperation, and collaboration — and said that it does not mention Mebane at all, but Mebane is central to some of the discussions. Also, P-9c and P-17b relate to Mebane. Frank Clifton said to include Durham as well. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the memo he sent around today regarding Google and asked the staff to look into this. Commissioner Jacobs said that when the County finished spending the Affordable Housing Bond money, he did not realize that there was none left. He said that this has not been tracked. If there is money left in a fund, he would like to see it. Frank Clifton said that the Finance staff is looking at this and trying to put together a summation. This will all be brought to the Board at some point. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the Ag Summit and said that once again plastic cups and utensils were used and it is the County's policy not to do this. He asked that the policy be followed. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the bond money approved by the voters for land acquisition for parks and natural resources and discussion ensued on this issue. Frank Clifton said that the County has been paying arbitrage on these leftover funds. The County is not allowed to have capital gain on the sale of debt. Commissioner Gordon said that the Board needs to get clarification on the arbitrage issue. She said she thought that perhaps this debt had not yet been issued. If it has not, then there would be no arbitrage payments and thus no money could be saved. Commissioner Jacobs said that he largely agreed with Commissioner Gordon because he has been very committed to protecting these areas that are listed as the high priority. He said that if they are going to be honest, nothing in this budget should be sacrosanct. Some of this money should go toward realizing the vision for those parks that were promised based on the Master Park Plan. Commissioner Yuhasz said that if there is money available in a fund that was for acquisition of land for parks, then the County should build the parks instead of acquiring more land with these funds. Frank Clifton said that his issue has more to do with credibility and doing something within a reasonable amount of time. The Board thanked the staff for a good presentation. With no further items to discuss, a motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 PM. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board