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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 04-30-2001APPROVED 12!1112001 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION APRIL 30, 2001 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Monday, April 30, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiotis and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser, and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff members will be identified appropriately below} NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. 1. FY 2001-2002 Budget Issues Discussion a. Urgent Repair Housing Program County Manager John Link said that recently Robert Dowling with the Orange Community Housing Corporation indicated they were facing a difficult time in continuing as administrator of the Urgent Repair Housing Program. This is an outstanding budget issue for next year. There is not an administrator program for next year and once that is resolved there is na guarantee that there will be funding to carry out the repairs or the program. He asked for the Board's direction on this program. Housing and Community Development (H & CD} Director Tara Fikes said that there are two financial aspects. One aspect is financial support and she made reference to the letter in the agenda. In order for OCHC to continue the program, they would need approximately $47,000. The second item is money to finance the program itself. There will be no new money to apply for until October ar November. The amount that the County could apply far would be determined by the funding level of the general assembly. There is a need to find a source of funding to da the repairs. The present program placed a limit of $5,000 that could be spent per house. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Tara Fikes said that it would take a fulltime person for the County to be able to administer the program. John Link said that one thing that Tara Fikes may not mention is her experience in working with and running the program with the right support. Commissioner Carey asked who does rehabilitation management for the County and Tara Fikes said that she has a Rehabilitation Manager. Commissioner Jacobs questioned if the County added another person to H&CD if that would strengthen the comprehensive program and Tara Fikes said that it would certainly strengthen their program. Chair Halkiotis asked if Tara Fikes had any problem with assuming responsibility for this program and Tara Fikes said that this would be a new experience far them and funds would need to be identified. Tara Fikes said that this program is one that they would need to develop policies and procedures before implementing. Commissioner Carey asked how much has been spent on urgent repairs through state grants and Tara Fikes said that they received money for 1997, 1998 and 1999 and completed 68 projects for a total of $206,000. The administrative casts were covered by $350 ar $400 per unit so this did not cover the entire administrative costs. Commissioner Jacobs spoke about the $250,000 set aside far housing purposes and asked if the urgent repair money could came from this money. He questioned if a position would come from the same allocation. Jahn Link said that he could incorporate this position in the new position requests that will be discussed on May 14, 2001 at a budget work session. Commissioner Carey feels that this is an important program and should be continued. Chair Halkiotis asked if this is state money or federal money and Tara Fikes said that this is state money and may not be available. Commissioner Brown asked what other programs the Orange Community Housing Corporation does for the County. Tara Fikes said that Orange Community Housing Corporation handles a majority of the tenant housing. b. Student Population Protections John Link said that direction is needed from the County Commissioners on what to send forward to the Capital Needs Advisory Task force regarding student population projections. Budget Director Donna Dean used several different models for projecting future student growth in both the Orange County School system and the Chapel Hill-Carrbora City School system. She presented charts for projected growth in the elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. These charts compared information from different sources and included projections from the Tischler report and from the Orange County Planning Department, projections submitted by each of the two school systems, and projections that utilized the cohort survival method for three year, five year and ten year growth. The charts also showed the point where capacity would be reached. Steve Scroggs, Assistant Superintendent for the Chapel Hill-Carrbara City School system, explained how the Cohort survival method is used as a statistical model. Commissioner Gordon asked how much over capacity there is right now in each school district. Donna Dean will provide this information. Craig Benedict said that he based his figures on the fact that build out conditions are occurring in the next ten years in Chapel Hill but not in Carrboro. Donna Dean said that in the Chapel Hill City Schools at the elementary school level, 4302 is the student capacity and the current membership is 4444. That means that 142 more elementary school seats are currently needed. Commissioner Gordan asked if a high school would be on the bond referendum planned far November 2001. Donna Dean pointed out that these projections would be changing annually. Commissioner Jacobs asked how the growth was determined for each of the ten years on the chart. Donna Dean said that it depends on the model used. The Tischler model used a growth number the same for each year. The Planning Department model changes the number each year. On the other models, it depended on other variables that were used. Commissioner Jacobs asked for a model of haw magnet schools could be used. Commissioner Brown would like to have one chart that compares the elementary, middle, and high schools using each of the models. Commissioner Gordon questioned what the County should be doing in the interim between when capacity is reached and when the new facilities are available. John Link said that one question that came up last week at the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force meeting was what other sources of money there is to build schools. The answer is that the main source is the same as the funding of the band and that is the property tax. Commissioner Brown questioned what is gained from postponing the building of schools. John Link said that it does give additional time to pay dawn the debt. Donna Dean said that the good news far Orange County district is that the student projection numbers show that the elementary school capacity will not be reached within the next ten years. The capacity is 3,820 and the level of service at 105°~ is 4,411. Orange County presently has 3,078 students which means there are 742 elementary school seats currently available. Commissioner Gordon noted that, since a new elementary school has 600 seats, the Orange County system has built an extra elementary school. Chair Halkiotis mentioned that one of Orange County's oldest schools, Hillsborough Elementary School, might at some time in the future have to be closed because of its age. Susan Halkiotis said that when they renovated Hillsborough Elementary School, the plan was to make a determination as to whether ar not they will keep this school or replace it. The School Board has decided to keep using it. Far the Orange County middle schools, current capacity is 1,466 and the level of service at 107°!o is 1,569. The 4th month membership number is 1,504. Randy Bridges, Superintendent of the Orange County Schools, said that he has used enrollment figures and not membership figures. Discussion ensued about using membership figures instead of enrollment figures. Membership figures include the students actually attending a school, while enrollment figures include all students registered at a school regardless of whether they have dropped out or graduated. The enrollment figures for the Orange County system also includes students enrolled in Charter schools. Commissioner Brown asked if the declining increase in membership in the Planning Department's projections was based on the fact that Chapel Hill would be built out in the next ten years. Craig Benedict said that in probably 10 to 15 years there would be more housing created in the Orange County system instead of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system. This may not mean that there will be mare students in the Orange County system. Donna Dean said that the capacity for high schools in the Orange County system when Cedar Ridge High School comes on line will be 2518 and the level of service at 110°~ would be almost 2700. Right now the 110°~ level of service is 1624. Chair Halkiotis said that he is concerned about the difference in enrollment and membership numbers. He said that he recalls that a definition was developed for these two terms. He asked for the minutes from the School Facilities Task Force meetings. He said that he feels that alternatives for sharing space need to be explored. Commissioner Jacobs questioned if this information should be sent forward to the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force. Chair Halkiotis said that he needs more time to study the information before it is sent forward. If the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force needs additional time they could add a couple of additional meetings. John Link said that he would contact both superintendents and clarify the information they have provided to be sure that they were using the same form of projections. Commissioner Gordan feels that the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force needs this information before their last meeting. Commissioner Brown asked how far we are in sharing resource capacity. Dana Thompson said that they have not yet begun those discussions. Commissioner Brown said that she would think that both school systems would be willing to work together to accommodate the school children. She encourages both systems to work on sharing their resources. e. Preliminary review of Budget Hiahliahts Budget Director Donna Dean summarized this. Property taxes make up about 62°~ of the general fund revenues for fiscal year 2001-2002. The preliminary real property valuation projections are up about 26.2%. The preliminary valuation for the fiscal year is about $7.7 billion. The current tax rate was adjusted downward to offset the increase in real property valuation. The current tax rate is 92.9 cents. The preliminary projected equivalent tax rate is 78.5 to 79 cents. She said that one cent on the tax rate would generate between $840,000 and $850,000 in revenues for next year. Commissioner Brown asked how long the 79 cents would last. Rod Visser said that in 1993, the tax rate was 84.25 cents before revaluation and 74.25 after revaluation. In 1997, the tax rate was reduced from 99.75 cents to an equalization rate of 84 cents. This year, it has gone from 84 cents to 92.9 cents, with an equalization rate of 78 or 79 cents. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the tax implications of the projected bond referendum and Donna Dean said that the increase would be 7.7 cents over the next three years. Donna Dean continued with the presentation. One cent of the sales tax revenue has been dedicated to County operations and two and '/ cents have been dedicated to fund the County and school capital projects and debt service. One cent is about $6 million and the two and '/ cents is about $8.9 million. The second half of the current year inventory reimbursements have been sequestered by the State. This equals about $456,000. Jahn Link said that he feels very confident that the County will receive a significant portion of the inventory reimbursement. Several clarifying questions were asked by Commissioner Gordon and answered by the staff. Donna Dean continued with the presentation. The current year education funding totals $53.9 million, which is $2,395 per student. The approved budget far the current year provided funding far 16,012 students far both school districts. The student planning allotments from the State Department of Instruction for next year includes 710 new students for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools and a loss of 40 students for Orange County Schools. Regarding public assistance programs, the number of clients have increased causing associated expenditures to rise. The target budget for total education funding is 48.1 °lo. Other considerations include the opening of Smith Middle School and full-year funding of Pathways Elementary School. Donna Dean spoke about Cumberland County and how they have issued over $200,000 million in debt over the last three years. They have 50,500 students there and they budget $1,128 per student. They have also used fund balance to pay recurring expenses from year to year. The tax rate is 90 cents. Commissioner Brown said that one thing the County needs to consider is the additional building that will take place on the Horace Williams tract and the number of children this may provide far the schools. John Link will call the University and get this information. d. Solid Waste Budget Preview Assistant County Manager Rod Visser made this presentation. There are three general areas -possible program enhancementsladditions, possible mid-year changes in the reserves, and issues for 2001-2002 and future years. An Education Specialist is needed as soon as possible to implement the program enhancements. There will be same additional curbside recycling in Southern Village as well as multi-family recycling of aerosol cans and all plastics. Chair Halkiotis would like to know the extent of the urban recycling program. Regarding the Construction and Demolition Ordinance, more information is forthcoming. Some other possible additions are electronics and dry cell battery recycling. Some possible mid-year changes include property acquisition an Eubanks Road, the Rogers Road waterline project, C&D Ordinance implementation, modular building refurbishment, the Greene Tract use study, and Habitat for Humanity materials resale facility. Rod Visser pointed out that there is a need to select and implement alternative financing to increase the amount of revenue that underwrites the cost of the recycling program. He said that people da not realize that it is specifically our C&D tipping fees that pay for recycling. Commissioner Brown asked about a master plan for the Rogers Road area and Gayle Wilson said that it would be finished in about two weeks. Commissioner Gordon would like to see some numbers far future expenses for capital projects and facilities so we can factor these expenses into our budget planning process. 2. ADJOURNMENT With no further items far the County Commissioners to consider, a motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS The next scheduled meeting on the calendar will be held on May 1, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Stephen H. Halkiotis, Chair Beverly A. Blythe, CMC