Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20030605APPROVED 9/2/2003 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISISONERS Budget Public Hearing AGENDA June 5, 2003 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a budget public hearing on Thursday, June 5, 2003 p.m. at 7:00 p.m. at the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill, Sean Borhanian COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (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. CLOSED SESSION Chair Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to go into closed session "to plan and hear a report concerning an investigation of alleged criminal misconduct," NCGS 143-318.11 (a} (7). VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to reconvene in open session at 7:35 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING County Manager John Link expressed his appreciation to the staff and the school superintendents for their cooperation. He said that the proposed budget tries to strike a balance between meeting the existing service needs of the County citizens and also pursuing important service initiatives that have been discussed far some years - improved response in technology, emergency medical services, and providing appropriate support for recreation and parks. He made reference to the chart and said that 48.3°~ of the County budget goes towards education. The next highest area is in Human Services at 21.8%. The recommended budget calls far an increase in the tax rate of three cents, going from 83 cents to 86 cents per hundred dollars of valuation. Over one cent goes toward addressing the debt service for the sold bonds from 2001. General Revenue Highlights: Regarding the general revenue, the largest source of revenue is the property tax {65°k) and sales tax {15%). The Board has petitioned the general assembly for many years to try and pursue alternative revenue sources to reduce the reliance on property tax. The tax base has increased by about 4-4.5°~, which means it has gone up $400,000,000 to a total of $9.8 billion. He reported that the tax collection percentage would be close to the 98.7°~ that was achieved last year. This is the top rate in the State. The County's financial picture remains solid. This budget calls for an appropriation of two million dollars from the fund balance to balance the budget, leaving 10°~ of the general fund for the fund balance next year. Because of the severe budget cuts from the State, the County had to cut $4 million out of the budget last year. The State did allow counties to enact a '/z cent sales tax, and this will generate approximately $3.4 million next year. General Fund Expenditure Highlights: Education: Orange County leads all other counties in the State in per pupil contributions with $4,405 per pupil. The next highest county is Carteret County, with $3,782 per pupil. The increase in the general fund appropriation for education increased by 6.3% and totals $63 million. The Board of County Commissioners' target funding level for education is 48.1 %. He is recommending that the per pupil allocation {operating expenses) be increased from $2,516 to $2,566. The figures from the Department of Public Instruction indicate that Orange County Schools (OCS} is expected to have an additional 309 students and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools {CHCCS) is expected to have an additional 295 students. He then explained the formula for calculating the recommended current expense funding far the schools. The percentage of total request funded for the CHCCS is 98.24% and for the OCS is 84.9°~. He explained that the OCS asked for mare funding, proportionally speaking. Another recommendation is to increase the CHCCS district tax by .8 cents, going from 19.2 cents to 20 cents per hundred-dollar valuation. This would generate approximately $12.47 million, which is the equivalent of $1,165 and would address the start-up costs of Rashkis Elementary School. Human Services: John Link said that the Medicaid increase this year is only $140,000. He has also recommended the continuation of the Human Services Safety Net by recommending an additional $200,000 in the budget for the coming year. Also, the funds from last year would be carried over. Debt Service: The County issued $22.65 million in 2001 voter approved bonds (sold in March 2003) along with alternative financing. The associated debt service is $1.1 million for 2003-04, which equates to 1.2 cents on the proposed tax rate increase. Public Safety: He commended EM5 Director Nick Waters and his staff and the Rescue Squad for the difficult transition whereby the County will assume responsibility for EMS ambulance transportation in the County as of June 30, 2003. The County will make sure that there is 2417 coverage. Also, the Emergency Communications Study indicates that the County needs improvements in the infrastructure. This is a very important unfunded County capital project. He commended the Sheriff's Department and Emergency Management Services for pursuing grants to help address homeland security. Also, volunteer fire departments will need increases in their tax rates far emergency management transportation because the number of volunteers are declining and they are having to add additional paid staff to make sure all shifts are covered. Employee Pay and Benefits: The staff is pursuing Phase 1 of the Classification and Pay Plan and there is funding for pursuing Phase 2 next year in the budget. There is also some money to assist the County Commissioners in pursuing the housing wage initiative ($40,000 in reserve for this effort). New Initiatives: Parks and Recreation -four new positions to operate and maintain new parks Information Systems -three new positions to improve the County's website and make it more user friendly Department of Social Services -Income Maintenance Caseworker to address increase in requests for mandated services Planning and Inspections -Plans Examiner to ensure that homes are constructed in compliance with life safety codes Library Services -two part-time positions at Northern Human Services Center and Carrboro Cybrary EMS -Wireless Communications Coordinator to ensure that emergency calls made from wireless phones can be dispatched appropriately and physical locations can be established Solid Waste Enterprise Fund: Orange County is the first county in the State to reach a 40°~ level of waste reduction. The County has also implemented a successful Regulated Recyclable Materials Ordinance (RRMO). Also, a recycling drop-off site has been added at Meadawmont and household hazardous waste disposal services has been expanded at a lower cost, and the staff is working on a new C&D landfill acquisition. There are no new programs or services recommended this year. The mixed solid waste-tipping fee remains at $45 per ton. He is recommending that the County make the first installment of reimbursement from the General Fund for the County's 60 acres of the Greene Tract, which is $240,038. He is also recommending that $1 million be appropriated from the fund balance to balance the Solid Waste budget without pursuing an availability fee. However, an availability fee will probably be needed. There is a paradox that the County has reduced the amount of solid waste, and the revenue is going down. The tipping fee has remained the same in order to be competitive. He is asking that the Board begin as soon as possible working on the availability fee, the needs for future facilities, and updating the solid waste plan for submission to the State. On the Horizon: - Develop alternative financing sources for County's Solid Waste Enterprise Fund - Determine best service delivery mix for emergency and non-emergency EMS - Implement the Orange-Person-Chatham Mental Health business and financial plans associated with State mandated reforms of mental health system - Major reworking of the County's comprehensive land use plan - Joint park and recreation facilities Commissioner Gordon asked about one cent on the general property tax and one cent on the district tax and what they are equivalent to. It was answered that far the Countywide property tax, it is $970,000, and for the district tax, it is $623,000. Public Comment: Tom Rankin spoke about the Orange County Schools. He thanked the County Commissioners far their commitment to education. He asked the Board to fully fund the OCS budget. He said that the County Manager's recommendation sets back the progress that has been made. He said that a few programs that could be dropped as a result of this proposed budget include Spanish teachers in elementary schools, International Baccalaureate program at Cedar Ridge, Reading teachers, etc. Secondly, he spoke about the inequity of the funding between the two school systems. He said that this should never become one system against the other. He said that the community first has to identify this as a problem and he does not believe that we have done this. He urged the community to do something about it. Bob Shreiner, Chair of Board of Trustees of the Chapel Hill Public Library, asked for support for all public libraries in the County. He distributed a handout and thanked the County Commissioners for their support. He asked that the County's support be raised to the State average. The Board of Trustees has completed a master plan for the library. The recommendations include technology improvements and other service improvements over the next few years, as well as an expansion of the building. Mary Purcell is a Reading Recovery teacher at Central Elementary School (OCS}. She said that she is one of the teachers that the State of North Carolina considers non- essential since she does not have 20 or more children assigned to her. She thanked the County Commissioners for their support. She said that 70°~ of the students at Central qualify for free and reduced lunch and 80% of students in first grade did not meet the basic reading readiness standards. She spoke on behalf of Central parents that could not be here tonight. She said that they desperately need additional reading positions at Central. She said that the budget proposed by the County Manager makes it impossible far these positions to be funded and puts her jab in jeopardy. She left 60 letters from parents asking the County Commissioners to support the OCS budget in its entirety. She spoke about her opinion of the disparity in the two school systems and said that she believes that the issues of disparity and inequity relate directly to the school funding issues and to the merger issue. She thanked the County Commissioners for putting merger on the table. Robert Nutter said that he went to the Orange County School Board meeting Monday night and he said that they are short of money and are not able to fund reading teachers. He said that before he got home, he learned that they were sodding the football field at Cedar Ridge High School, and he wondered if this was more important than funding reading teachers. Tracy Carver, Chairperson of Efland-Cheeks Elementary School Governance Council, spoke in support of 100°lo funding for the OCS board's budget proposal. She thanked the County Commissioners for the past support of the requests made. The majority of the budget for Efland-Cheeks is regarding safety and security at the school. She recognized the school board and the Sheriff's Department for their support of the efforts to make this a safe school. Debra Ivey Elmore spoke as a concerned Efland-Cheeks parent. She asked the County Commissioners to please make our children's safety a top priority. She has a handicapped child and they face many issues each day that mast children da not have to face. She said that she knows two families that live in the Efland-Cheeks district that have applied to different schools in Orange County because of the safety issues there. Other schools in the County have lock-down procedures and have not had to use them. She said that these problems should have already been addressed. She asked that the County Commissioners support the OCS proposed budget 100°l0. Gordon Lee Martin is a parent and is also on the Governance Committee at Efland- Cheeks. He thanked Commissioner Halkiotis, Superior Court Judge Wade Barber, Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass, Superintendent Mike Williams, Lester Albright, Dave Gibbs, the Orange County Board of Education, and staff. He said that they could lose $661,000 next year because one of their schools is not considered safe. He asked the County Commissioners to please fund the Orange County Schools budget 100°~. Hervey McIver is on the Central Elementary School Governance Committee and asked for support of the Orange County Schools budget. He asked for a show of hands of people in support of the needs of children specifically at Central and those who were in support of the Orange County Schools budget. He said that the proposed budget allows for no expansion in the Orange County Schools. He made reference to the statistic given by Ms. Purcell about $0°~ of first graders that were not at an appropriate reading level. Carolyn Wilson was representing Cameron Park Elementary School. She said that they really need a Spanish teacher at their school. There is currently only one school in the system with a Spanish teacher. She said that at the very least, the schools should share the services of the Spanish teachers. There is also a strong need to update the media center at Cameron Park. The library is significantly behind other schools. She said that if it were not updated in the next few years, they would be at risk for not achieving accreditation through various educational organizations. Cameron Park has made efforts to raise money for the media center. Additionally, their school needs a social worker. They are also without a fulltime school nurse. Also, there is a lack of air conditioning in their gym. She asked the County Commissioners to support the Orange County Schools budget. Tanya Hedley spoke about the benefit of a second language for schools. She asked the County Commissioners to consider the introduction of Spanish in the primary school system . Don Owens is a parent of three children in Orange County Schools and he is the PTGO Chair at Cameron Park. He is concerned about the possibility of the school system getting only 85°l0 of what is requested in the school budget. He said that the school board and staff have done a remarkable job in working with very limited funds, but at some point, this has to change. He said that it was important for the County Commissioners to come out and visit the schools and see the needs. He said that the shelves at their library are half empty. He said that the best estimates are that it would cost an additional $50,000 just to get their accreditation. He said that there was a laundry list of basic maintenance needs at Cameron Park. Joe Capowski lives in Chapel Hill. He showed a graph. He said that he is concerned about the taxes that have continued to increase. He said that this is an extremely bad time far a 3.8-cent increase. He was laid off last year from UNC and several people in his neighborhood were also laid off. He asked the County Commissioners to talk with Nancy Suttonfield, Vice-Chancellor for Business and Finance at UNC, before making a decision on the budget. He made reference to schools and said that he has two stepsons who went through the CHCCS. He said that they got excellent educations. Since 1990, the property taxes have gone up 240°~. He asked if the 2003 graduates were getting a better education than the 1990 graduates. He said that it was definitely not 2.4 times better. He said that performance in high schools has been pretty flat for the last two decades. He said that the money is not going to the teachers, and that is why he is here. Teachers make the quality and the other stuff is less important. He asked the County Commissioners to conserve in other places. He asked the County Commissioners to please not levy a big increase in taxes right now. Katharine Everson is a resident of Orange County and teacher in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. She said that it is appalling to hear the discrepancies between the two school districts. She urged the County Commissioners to adopt atwo-cent district tax increase instead of the proposed .8 cents because of the impact on special education students. In the proposed budget, there is no funding for teacher assistants far the additional 12 K-2 classes, which are State mandated. She is concerned that the special needs students will be the first to feel the effects of a reduced number of teacher assistants. Martha Tyson is a Friend of the Carrboro Library and said that in the last census, the County's population increased 26°~. She said that if the library were open more hours, more of the new people could be served. She said that during these hard economic times, people are relying more on libraries for computers that they cannot afford, for information that they cannot obtain elsewhere, and for entertainment. She said that the Carrboro Library has 16 computers for use, but the library must be open for access. The task force has recommended that the library be open 32 hours, and they are now open 20 hours. She said that being open more hours would allow more minorities to use the library. They also have art exhibits. She said that they need to strengthen their programs and not duplicate them. She asked the County Commissioners to provide the funds in this budget for the library. Nancy Grebenkemper is a school psychologist at Grady Brawn Elementary Schaal. She said that at Grady Brown, aver 113 of students in 4`" grade are special needs students. There are also an increasing number of ESL students {English as a second language). She urged full funding of the Orange County Schools budget. Susan Houck has two children in the Orange County Schools. She said that on May 31 S`, in the Chapel Hill News, Chair Brown was quoted as saying, "but we can't give them {Orange County) more money, unless we give Chapel Hill more." She agreed with the statement because giving Orange County what the school board has requested would be a huge waste of taxpayer money because Chapel Hill does not need that amount of increase in per pupil funding on top of the district tax. In the same article, John Link was quoted as saying, "I am comfortable with my proposal." The proposal was to fund 98.2% of the CHCCS and 84.9°~ of the OCS. This makes her feel very uncomfortable. Each year, the discrepancy gets larger and CHCCS adds expansion items, while OCS cuts back on existing programs. She hopes that a solution would help all of Orange County and not just CHCCS. She recommended that the County Commissioners fund the OCS fully as requested, and lower the city schoal district tax to a level that still gives Chapel Hill what they have requested. She said that she does not understand the argument that Orange County Schools cannot have what they requested because Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has too much and at the same time raising the district tax. She realizes that Orange County spends the highest percentage of the budget on schools in the State, but Orange County is not what it is today because we follow the standards set by others. Stephanie Decker requested that the budget for the next school year be readdressed. She said that OC5 will have to cut programs and items from the current operating budget and eliminate the expanded budget items altogether. She is PTO president at Efland-Cheeks. She said that they need new doors and new security camera monitors, as well as a fence around the playground. They have also requested a proximity card system. The children at Efland-Cheeks have been exposed to two incidences involving guns. Without the money in the budget, the school board cannot act on their request. She asked that the County Commissioners approve 100% of the budget for OCS. Libbie Hough is a parent of two OCS children. She said that she realizes that Orange County is lucky that almost 50% of the budget is spent on education. However, something is amiss. For the last three years, she has heard that the low funding was because of the opening of two new schools and low or negative growth projections from DPI. But this year they expect a lot of new students. This year, if the proposed budget is adopted, they could be facing a $1.2 million shortfall in the continuation budget. They need elementary reading teachers, Spanish teachers, etc. She said that the district tax for Chapel Hill now threatens to undermine the quality of education in Orange County Schools. This was not anticipated when the district tax was put in place, but things have changed. She believes in a district tax for Orange County Schools because she believes that the children and teachers deserve all the resources we can give them. She asked that everyone put their heads together to address the inequities that exist between the two school systems. Michael Jones is a resident of Orange County and he asked that the County Commissioners fully fund the Orange County Schools' request. The OCS Board is only asking far things that are absolutely essential to maintain the current standards and to achieve the 21St century goal set forth by the OCS administrators. He asked the County Commissioners to do what it takes to meet the funding request. Anne Lutes has a daughter at Grady Brown School and said that she is deeply disturbed by the proposed budget and the disparity between the two school districts. She said that this budget is only going to make the gap wider. She said that her daughter's teachers have asked the parents for copier paper for two years because the school system cannot afford to buy it. She said that there could not possibly be any fat in this budget. She also does not understand why the district tax is being raised. Chair Brown asked for the Manager to clarify how the County funds schools and why there is a discrepancy in the percentage of funding. This is because the County funds per pupil, and the amount is the same for each school system. John Link said that everyone is expressing important opinions about how schools should be funded, but the County must fund schools on a per student basis for the same amount far each school system. Because the CHCCS has many more students than the OCS, this generates that much more money. He said that OCS asked fora 25% increase, and the CHCCS asked fora 7% increase. This is why the percentages have such a wide gap. He said that counties are not allowed to fund schools based an need or some other criteria - it is appropriated an a per pupil basis. Chair Brown said that the district tax recommended increase for the CHCCS is specifically to address the needs for the opening of the new elementary school at Meadowmont. Commissioner Jacobs asked John Link how much additional revenue would be generated for the CHCCS by the proposed district tax and Jahn Link answered $12.47 million for the 20-cent district tax. Commissioner Gordon pointed out again that the school boards decide how the money is allocated. Betty Tom Davidson said that OCS is looking at a half million deficit in their capital outlay budget. She also realizes that if the per pupil allocation is increased, then it has to be done in CHCCS and it impacts other County services. She said that the underlying message is that the OCS has great needs and they are trying to find ways to cut the budget. She said that for the OCS, the No Child Left Behind campaign is looking like an unfunded mandate. Bobby Clapp is a parent of CHCCS students. He said that we should not make this an issue of Orange County Schools vs. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. He advocates for 10Q°~ funding far both school systems. He made reference to the per pupil allocation, and said that it is only a 2% increase on a per pupil basis. He said that this area is very dependent on property tax for its source of funds. He said that as long as we rely on residential property tax rather than commercial tax, it is only logical that the funds that come out of residential tax base -the family tax base - goes to support the needs of families. Along with this comes the significant need to invest in schools. Jane McIver is a parent and first grade teacher at Central Elementary. She asked the County Commissioners to support the school board proposal for OCS. She said that the No Child Left Behind act has far reaching consequences for their school. They have 70% of students an free and reduced lunch. This has huge consequences for them in the classroom. She asked them not to leave the OCS behind and to support the school board's proposal. Allen Spalt is from Carrboro and said that it is important to remember that we are facing the consequences of misguided national economic and fiscal policy, which has threatened the public institutions and gives more responsibility on local officials to do what really needs to be done. He spoke about the Carrboro Branch Library that has requested bus service and more hours of operation. He said that this is a really needec service. Also, the Town of Carrboro has requested support for computer services far downtown, which is within walking distance of many of the most disadvantaged of Carrboro's residents. He asked for the County Commissioners to fund them both. He understands the constraints in terms of the funding formulas, but he asked the County Commissioners to fully support both of the school systems' requests. He said that we need to have mare creativity in how these formulas are applied for funding education. Mary Justice is from the ARC of Orange County, which works with developmentally disabled children and adults. They have asked for $4,000 for transporting residents, who cannot drive, in Northern Orange County to activities. She asked for consideration of their application. Tony Britt is a resident of Orange County. He asked for an explanation of the $2,566 per pupil. He asked if this was a requirement of the State or a recommendation. John Link said that this amount is what he has recommended per pupil and the State does not have any limitation on what the County Commissioners decide upon per pupil. Tany Britt is in support of 100% funding of the school board budget request. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to go into closed session "to discuss the County's position and to instruct the County Manager and County Attorney on the negotiating position regarding the terms of a contract to purchase real property," NCGS 143-318.11 {a) {5). VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to reconvene into open session at 9:30 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Carey to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Margaret Brown, Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board