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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 199406071 APPROVED 8/8/94 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING JUNE 7, 1994 The Orange County Board of Commissioners held a Public Hearing on the proposed 1994-1995 Budget on Monday, June 7, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. in the Orange Water and Sewer Authority Community Meeting Room, Carrboro, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Don Willhoit, Alice Gordon, Verla Insko and Stephen Halkiotis. STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John Link, Deputy Clerk to the Board Kathy Baker, Finance Director Ken Chavious, Budget Analyst Donna Dean, and Budget Director Sally Kost. Chair Carey convened the meeting at 7:35 p.m. John Link outlined the 1994-1995 proposed budget. In summary, he stated that the total budget cost is $66,188 which is a 8.77$ increase. Additional debt services on the $30 million in bonds to be sold on June 14 will total $937,500. The current expense appropriation for the schools will increase from $17.3 million to $18.8 or 8.68. The per pupil allocation will increase from $1,363 to $1,425. He is recommending a 2.25$ COLA for County employees and a Career Growth Recognition Award of approximately 1.25$ salary increase for employees whose work performance is rated effective or higher. The budget includes 9 new permanent full-time positions. The recommended budget establishes the general fund property tax rate at .88 cents. THERE WERE NO QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. THE MEETING WAS OPENED FOR QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS VICKI BOYER, President of the McDougle Middle School PTA, made a statement urging full funding for this school. She indicated that although volunteers were willing and able to devote time to the start-up of this school, it is also important that start-up is funded at the necessary level. LEIGH PEEK, President of the New Hope Elementary PTSA, requested that the County fund the teacher supplement and allocate money for a technology specialist. She presented a petition with 100 signatures. Each citizen on the petition has listed their particular area of concern with the funding of this budget. This petition is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. 2 THERESA SMITH, an Orange County resident, requested that the increase in funding for the schools be denied. Her daughter is enrolled in the multiage program in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System. She feels that this has been a completely ineffective program. She commented that the sex education program was rushed and poorly executed. Also, in her opinion the school within a school program was not able to properly educate the students enrolled due to the lack of teacher participation in the math division. DELORES PAYLOR, Principal of the UNC Hospital Schools, thanked the Board of Commissioners on their support of the school system. She commended their effort to put education first in Orange County and requested that the Family Specialist and Mentoring Program be funded. The volunteers who work in this program need to be properly trained so that their time will be used to the best advantage. KAREN ALDRIDGE requested that additional Family Specialists positions be funded. Family specialists help families identify why their children are not learning as expected. This is an expense that has a very high rate of return in terms of identifying the needs of students. JEAN COLE, a founding member of Putting Children First, requested additional teachers and higher pay for all teachers. This could be accomplished without raising taxes if less money was spent on the administrative end of education. INES MORCOMBE, an Orange County resident, spoke in support of good schools without raising taxes further. She indicated that the School Board has been involved in a legal battle with her family because of damage done to her property which is adjacent to the McDougle Middle School. She stated that money is being wasted in unnecessary legal battles. PETER MORCOMBE, a member of Putting Children First, commented that he believes that the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System is participating in questionable programs. He believes that curriculum restructuring is being done in order to create Outcome Based Education (OBE). He asked that this experimentation be discontinued. WALT MARTIN spoke in favor of funding the Technology Specialist. ALAN BELCH, a member of Citizens for Open Communication and Putting Children First, asked that the County not increase school funding. The request for additional funding for the McDougle Middle School is a result of poor planning by the administration and should not be approved. 3 MARIA COCKER spoke against implementing new programs without first putting an evaluation plan in place. She spoke in support of quality education and feels that preparation must be made to evaluate new programs as soon as they are implemented. She stated that the SAT and PSAT program scores are plummeting. SANDY FRYE-KRYDER stated that she believes that the school system is willing to incur exorbitant legal fees rather than treat people fairly. She requested that education, not litigation, be funded . JOHN REINHARD asked that the County not fund the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System at a level higher than last year. He also requested that an independent study be conducted on the level of staffing at Lincoln Center . ELLEN REINHARD, requested that the funding for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System not be increased in this year's budget. She stated that the high school's request for a public relations staff person is in direct response to problems which were created by the school board. She also spoke against Site Based Management. CAROL TORRES requested that the Accommodation Coordinator for learning disabled students be funded for the high school. MARGARET CRANDALL thanked the Board of County Commissioners for their service to Orange County. She spoke in support of the funding of the Planned Parenthood services. Orange County has a high rate of reported sexually communicable diseases. Over 46$ of those served by Planned Parenthood cannot afford to pay for those services. The funding by the County is important for the health of the community. BETTY IBRAHIM spoke in favor of quality education. She commented that money does not buy quality education. The Outcome Based Education is not a proven program and she hopes the school would abandon this approach. PHILIPA HARRISION spoke in support of funding for a branch library in Carrboro. This would be a great help to students who need easy and accessible services. Riding a bus for library services is a real deterrent to many of the students who most need the services. GARY GILES, President of the Friends of Carrboro Library, requested that this project be funded. He indicated that this would be a perfect opportunity to have a joint public school/public library facility. It could be housed in the new McDougle Middle School which would be an efficient use of resources and would expose adults and children to a more innovative approach to the use of school facilities. 4 PHIL COOK, a member of both the Human Services Advisory Commission and the Public Private Partnership Board, spoke in support of funding for Human Services coordination and collaboration. He requested that careful study on this issue be completed prior to decisions on how coordination could best be accomplished. SANDY ALEXANDER, spoke in support of funding extracurricular activities within the school system. He is the Band Director and the Director of the Debate Team at Chapel Hill High School. He indicated that money is always an issue for these teams. These are wonderful learning experiences for the students who greatly benefit from them both academically and socially. MICHAEL NICHOLSON, a Junior at CHHS, spoke about not being able to afford to participate in many of the debate team activities because of his financial situation. He requested a higher level of funding so that more deserving students could attend. DAVID HUNT spoke in support of the Technology Specialist position. EARL DAVIS, a member of UNI Tax, indicated that although he supports education, he believes that "educrates" are running the school system. He requested that taxes not be increased. CATHERINE FELTON requested that taxes not be raised and that funding for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System be held at last year's level. She requested that the teachers be given an increase in salary; however, all other expenses need to be at or below last year's level. DR. ELSTRAM said that there is no public education. It is the book industry and the tenured teachers who are in control. The real needs of the youth need to be addressed. He feels that the needs could be addressed and the budget could be cut at the same time. JOHN FELTON indicated that education will face many wrenching changes in the next several years. He asked that funding be held to last year's level. BILL EPSTEIN feels that the school system is moving away from an emphasis on education and toward a greater emphasis on the social needs of the youth. He asked that the school system be required to focus on the basics of education. IRMA EPSTEIN suggested that the local school boards be eliminated. She discussed educational alternatives such as privatization and private philanthropy. LOUISE COLE presented a petition with 26 names requesting that 5 taxes not be increased. She asked that experimentation be halted in the school system and that funding be held to the 1993-1994 level. This petition is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. JOE ERON requested information on how the additional $2 million dollars in unanticipated tax revenue would be spent. He was advised that this would go to education and public safety. KATHERINE BROWNE spoke against the increase in taxes being requested by the County Manager. CHARLIE STEWART, Principal for the new McDougle Middle School, indicated that he believes there are areas. of the budget for this school that could be cut. However, he feels that the reading teachers are extremely important. Also, the additional start up costs are necessary for the smooth operation of the school this fall. Lastly, he spoke of the need for the Technology Specialist. DIANNE JACKSON, an educator in the school system as well as a member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force, asked that the budget request for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School system be funded in full. Many of these requests are a result of the work that was accomplished by the Blue Ribbon Task Force. JOANN SHIRER requested funding for a Family Specialist as well as for the Mentoring Program. She indicated that the participation of volunteers within the school system is greatly needed and would be enhanced by the Mentoring Program. STEVE BINGHAM, an educator and tax payer, spoke in support of funding the expansion budget. JAMES GOLDSTEIN, requested that the travel budget be audited and that taxes not be raised to fund this year's budget. ED BEDFORD, a member of the technology committee for the Ephesus Elementary School, requested that the expansion budget be funded. He spoke in support of the funding of the Family Specialist. ALLAN MC MILLIAN spoke in opposition to an increase in taxes. He is on a fixed income and willing to pay his share, however, this increase will hurt both him and others like him. TOM LAZZERI requested that the extracurricular activities, in particular the band, be funded. REBECCA IKENBERRY requested funding for the Technology Specialist. She requested that the County fund the entire school budget. 6 STEVE CHALL indicated that the school system is not properly equipped to teach his son who has a form of autism. He requested that more reading teachers be funded. ANITA DANIELS, Director of United Way,- endorsed the youth and family coordinator position. There being no further comments, the Public Hearing was closed. The next meeting on the calendar of the Board of Commissioners will be held on June 13, 1994 at 7:30 p.m. at the Homestead Community Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Beverly Blythe, Clerk