HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 199608193
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APPROVED 1114196
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AND
THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
AUGUST 19, 1996
The Orange County Board of Education hosted a meeting with their Board and the Orange County Board
of Commissioners. The meeting was held at 6:00 p.m. at the New Hope Elementary School Cafeteria in
Hillsborough.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners William L.
Crowther, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit
COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Commissioner Alice M. Gordon
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser,
Budget Director Sally Kost and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Robert H. Bateman and members
Susan Dovenbarger, Larry Haverland, Richard Kennedy and Delores Simpson.
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS ABSENT: Keith Cook and David Kolbinsky
ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS STAFF PRESENT: Superintendent William Harrison and Finance
Director Sandra Tinsley
Introductory remarks were made by Chair Carey and Chair Bateman. Dr. Harrison led the
discussion on capital funding.
The position of their board is that they want to talk with the Board of County Commissioners to be
sure that their position is known and that there is time to talk about it.
Orange County Schools are going to need a new elementary school and an addition to the high
school. If the numbers are correct they will have 5900 students this year. Even though the new
Hillsborough Elementary has removed some students from the elementary schools, they are being
replaced with new enrollments.
At Efland Cheeks they will have 95 new students from Alamance County which is more that what
they had projected. The growth is picking up more than anticipated. The year-round school has bought
them a little time but has not solved their overcrowding.
They will need a new elementary school in 2001 and an addition to the high school in 2003. Dr.
Harrison stressed that they will need all the money that is in the CIP. They did not intend for the year-
round school to hurt them because they will need a new elementary school in two years.
From the five options as listed in the agenda for the Board of County Commissioners' August 20,
1996 meeting, they would favor option 1 or option 2. Option 1 is to remain the course as laid out by the
present CIP because that will meet their needs. Option 2 simply addresses the potential of Chapel Hill
using their district tax for school construction. Dr. Harrison stressed that his Board believes that any
change in the CIP will hurt the Orange County system.
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Chair Carey asked Dr. Harrison to comment on option 5 which would provide a bond issue with
no increase in property taxes. Dr. Harrison said that they would lose $6 million if they went with option 5.
The new elementary school as well as other things they use the CIP monies for would be affected.
John Link explained that what they did was to pursue five options with the first four options
working within the present policy structure the Board of County Commissioners now have. Option 5 is
radical in that it assumes that the present policies can be changed. The pressure now is on the property
tax to address all the needs that are presented to the Board. Option 5 would take all revenue sources
and put them in one pot and then use it for whatever needs to be done first. It is true that when looking
at the bottom line over the ten year period, Chapel Hill funds would decrease by $3 or $4 million and
Orange County funds would decrease by $6 million. This is just another perspective.
The school system can decide that instead of building schools according to the school standards
they can pursue a lower tier and save money for other projects.
School Board member Susan Doverbarger asked with regard to the bond referendum if there is a
possibility of Chapel Hill being able to vote for a bond issue for their district only.
John Link said they could not do that under the present law. However, Chapel Hill can change
their district tax use to include pay-as-you-go capital. Also, they can use the district tax for bond
payment with a referendum.
School Board member Susan Dovenbarger asked if they can use the present tax from that district
to pay for a bond and Geoffrey Gledhill said no.
John Link said that options one through four make the assumption that Orange County could
address the addition to the high school and elementary school #8 would be funded through private
placement.
School Board member Delores Simpson said that everyone agrees there is a need for more
industry to increase the County's tax base and she asked what happened to the Blue Cross/Blue Shield
property. John Link said that they decided to merge their existing services in Durham and Orange into
one facility in Durham County. It is hoped that their expansion will be in Orange County because they
own a lot of land in Orange County.
BC-BS.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that he feels Orange County should do everything they can to keep
School Board member Susan Dovenbarger asked Dr. Harrison what percentage of growth has
been exceeded and he said that they will exceed what was expected and would know more next week.
Susan said that they know they need a new elementary school. She is concerned about what these
numbers mean for the high school addition.
Commissioner Crowther asked if anything is being done to reduce the land cost for the expected
new school.
School Board member Bob Bateman said that their Board will discuss this tomorrow night at their
meeting.
1 Chair Carey said that the options are presented as a report and he doubts if they will vote on it at
2 the same time. They will have a good discussion to decide where to go next. They may ask a group of
3 citizens to help them make that decision.
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5 Commissioner Crowther said that they expect a response in the near future from Chapel Hill-
6 Carrboro City School District on whether or not they are going to ask for a referendum in November to
7 expand the use of their district tax.
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9 Commissioner Willhoit said he feels it would be a bad policy to let Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
10 School District get these additional funds for capital projects. He feels the emphasis should be that this
11 is one County and it is the County Commissioners' responsibility to meet the needs of both systems.
12 However, if the buildings are different, then the extra cost should be funded out of the district tax.
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14 School Board member Susan Dovenbarger said that right now they can meet their needs but in a
15 few years that may not be the case.
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17 Chair Carey said that Orange County Schools can count on their needs to increase because
18 Chapel Hill will build out and then the population will increase in the northern part of the County.
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20 School Board member Rick Kennedy said that they cannot count on state numbers to determine
21 what they need down the road -- in the future. The numbers in DPI are wrong. Growth is moving on out
22 and the growth will increase.
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24 John Link said he would urge the County Commissioners not to take action until the statewide
25 bond issue is decided in November. Also, he has urged Dr. Petersen to pursue a referendum to amend
26 the uses of their district tax. The language will probably be broad. If the statewide bond issue passes,
27 Orange County will receive a total of $17 million for the two school systems.
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29 School Board member Bob Bateman emphasized that he just wants the County Commissioners
30 to know their position. He feels that option #5 penalizes them.
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32 Chair Carey said that option #5 would require a reallocation of funds.
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34 Chair Carey said that the school system can't lose money they never had. There is no
35 guarantee that the money will stay the same -- there is a guarantee that the County Commissioners will
36 meet the needs of the kids with what they have to allocate. This is their responsibility.
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38 School Board member Haverland feels there is something wrong with Chapel Hill when they ask
39 for $14 million for one middle school. Johnson County is going to build two schools and renovate
40 another for $19 million.
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42 Chair Carey said that the curriculum drives the type of building and what goes into it. He does
43 not make comparison without the knowledge of what goes into the schools. Standards have been
44 adopted and it is the Board's responsibility to provide the resources to meet those standards. They have
45 a 10-paint plan and they are committed to education.
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47 School Board member Susan Dovenbarger asked what would happen if option #5 is adopted and
48 they get a few years down the road and the growth continues and they need a new high school, how
49 would that be funded.
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John Link said that the County would have to develop a new plan at that point in time. These
proposals are not meant to be permanent but only to take care of the next few years.
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Commissioner Halkiotis emphasized that none of these options would address a drastic growth.
Chair Carey said that what is constant is the responsibility of the Board of County Commissioners
to address the needs.
Commissioner Halkiotis said that if this projection holds true the growth will continue. There is a
supposition that a bond issue will pass and it may not.
School Board member Richard Kennedy said that the state bond issue will not increase taxes
and if this is not said loud and clear it may not pass because people will not understand.
School Board member Delores Simpson said that they know the children are coming and they
need to plan now for future growth.
School Board member Haverland asked about the alternative school which is being planned
jointly by the two school systems and said he feels this is something that needs to be funded.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further items to be considered, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The next regular
meeting of the County Commissioners will be held on August 20, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the OWASA
Community meeting room in Carrboro, North Carolina.
Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk
Moses Carey, Jr., Chair