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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19970609APPROVED MARCH 4. 1998 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORKSESSION JUNE 9, 1997 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for the purpose of holding a work session on the budget on June 9, 1997 at 7:30 p.m. at Homestead Community Center, Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair William L. Crowther, and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Moses Carey, Jr., Stephen Halkiotis and Margaret Brown. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: None. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., and Assistant County Manager Rod Visser, and Budget Officer Sally Kost, Finance Director Ken Chavious, Deputy Clerk to the Board Kathy Baker. Other staff present will be identified as necessary. BUDGET PRESENTATION: County Manager John Link presented the highlights of the $85,574,588 proposed budget. He indicated that Sally Kost would present the Manager's Recommendation for each school system. Then each of the school systems would make a presentation. The schools have requested that the Board of Commissioners use the May 15th enrollment figures rather than their original membership numbers. The Manager pointed out that NC G.S. 115C-430 states in part that "...the total membership of the local school administrative unit is the unit's average daily membership for the budget year to be determined by and certified to the unit and the board of county commissions by the State Board of Education." He urged the Board of Commissioners not to set a precedent until the issue is resolved at the state level. His recommendation, should the Board of Commissioners choose to increase funding to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, would be to increase the district tax. He also recommended that the Board of Commissioners and the school boards have a joint meeting in the fall of 1997 to discuss the process and "rules of the game" as the Commissioners address how to fund 50%+ of the County's total budget for education. Finally, he stated that he had not taken charter schools into his recommendation on funding. He felt that it would set a negative precedent for the future. ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM: Budget Director Sally Kost reviewed the Orange County School System's current expense appropriation and the Manager's recommendation. The Superintendent and Budget Director for the school system presented their comments on this proposed budget. The following questions, comments and suggestions were made. • The "Level 1 - Growth" section of the blue form represents expense resulting from additional students in the system. • The Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System could establish a policy of spending only 96% of their budget in order to rebuild their fund balance. • The Orange County system's "teacher vouchers" are used for dues in professional organizations as well as other types of professional needs. • The "Level 1" items include $45,000 for 15 new classrooms with instructional supplies. Furniture for these classrooms was budgeted for in the Capital Budget. • The Orange County system needs anew school in the near future. They have exceeded the State's projections by 75 students for the last three years. New home construction is not slowing down and they will need to have a new school in which to educate these students. It is important to be able to reliably track the anticipated number of new students in order to document the need for new schools. Also, the two systems need to use the same system to track and report student growth. The Geographic Information System (GIS) could be used to track student growth and the need for new schools. The renovations at Hillsborough Elementary should make the school usable for the next 7 to 10 years. After that it could possibly be used as an alternative school. CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO CITY SCHOOL SYTEM: The Budget Director, Sally Kost, reviewed the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School budget appropriation and the Manager's recommendation. The Chair of the School Board presented their comments on this proposed budget. The following questions, comments and suggestions were made. • Pay-as-you-go funds are not available. If they were, the school board would be more than willing to use them. • The Chapel Hill-Carrboro fund balance was 2.6% as of June 30, 1996. Policy calls for a fund balance of at least 5.5%. • The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board requested that the Board of Commissioners use the later enrollment figures which have been submitted by the school system. • There was discussion regarding the items that would not be funded if the County adopts the Manager's recommended budget. • It was suggested that future surveys be handled by in-house staff. • The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system does not have an available fund balance to off-set the deficit in county funding. • Although they are losing students to the Charter Schools, that loss is not going to make a significantly lower impact on their need for funding. They will still have to fund the same number of classrooms, etc. • A joint alternative school is in the preliminary planning stages • When East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) was designed and built it was intended that some of the initial growth for a new Orange County High School would be absorbed by ECHHS. • East Chapel Hill High School was located on the Northern side of Chapel Hill so that it would be able to accommodate the needs of the Orange County system. MEADOWMONT: Superintendent Pedersen reported on the plans for this development. He mentioned that they are continuing to work with the developer to have one or more of the athletic fields located outside of the 100 year flood plain. He referred to the letter to Chet Preyar from Bill Mullin, dated June 3, 1997. A copy of that letter and other backup material is in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. The following comments were made. • The pond that is located on this property could be moved and a ball field could be placed there. There could be problems about relocating the field but it is feasible. • The school attorney is working on the issue of the legality of having part of the school be located in Durham County. Precedents do exist for a portion of the school building to be located outside of the district. • If the fields were moved the Town of Chapel Hill could still use them. • The school system has 6 years from October, 1995 to decide if they would like to build a school on the Meadowmont site and 8 years for the school to be completed. • The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school Board is pleased with the recent plan changes. The newest scenario provides the ability to use the field and to provide outdoor facilities, such as restrooms, for the fields. • The main site development responsibilities for the school system would include preparation of the school, track and parking lots. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners will take place on June 11, 1997 at 7:30 p.m. at the Homestead Community Center, Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Baker