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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20050614APPROVED 9/712005 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET 1NORK SESSION JUNE 14, 2005 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a budget work session on Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. at the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Alice Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barry Jacobs COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. 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. Commissioner Jacobs announced that Chair Carey would be late. 1. Chair Review of Schedule and Topics 2. Refunding of General Obligation Bonds John Link said that the staff is proposing that the Board consider refunding certain general obligation bonds that were incurred in the past. This means refinancing, and a savings to the County of $109,000 a year, so that over the remaining life of the debt, the County could save $1.5 million. Finance Director Ken Chavious said that they are asking the Board of County Commissioners to take steps required by the Local Government Commission {LGC} to refund up to about $35 million in the bonds issued in April 2000. He has been working with the firm that worked with the County on the last bond refunding, and they have done the required analysis and have requested permission from the LGC to pursue this refunding, and permission has been granted. The sale has been tentatively scheduled for August 16th by the LGC. In order to accomplish the refunding process, the Board is required to take the following actions: 1. The Board must introduce the Bond Order for the Bond Refunding. 2. Adopt a resolution establishing June 23, 2005 as the date for the Public Hearing, authorizing the Finance Director to File a Debt Statement and the Clerk to Publish a Notice of Public Hearing. The County Bond Counsel, Bob Jessup, has prepared all of the appropriate documents. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the expected rate of the bond and Ken Chavious said the original bonds were sold from 5.25-5.3°I°, and they are expecting the net present value benefit to be about 4.02°~. Commissioner Halkiotis highlighted the fact that the County has refunded bonds in the past to a total savings in excess of $5 million. Commissioner Jacobs introduced the bond order: Bond Order Authorizing the issuance of general obligation refunding bonds in the maximum amount of $35,000,000. A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to adopt the Resolution, which is incorporated by reference, setting the date for a public hearing, authorizing the Finance Director to file a Debt Statement and authorizing the Clerk to publish a Notice of Public Hearing. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 3. 2005-06 County Operating Budget Matters a. Revenues (including but not limited to Revaluation, anticipated federal and state funding cuts, charges for services and other major revenue sources) John Link went over the major revenue elements in the budget and his recommendations for modifying the tax rate downward (pink sheets). He made reference to mental health and said that the State will not act on new service definitions for mental health until October 1St at the earliest. Budget Director Donna Dean gave a recap on revenue. The overall tax base is $12 billion, which reflects a 19% increase aver the $10 billion that was used to plan the current budget. One cent on the tax rate is projected to produce $1,187,580. On the non-property tax side of the revenue picture, they increased about $4.8 million. Of that increase, intergovernmental revenues mainly associated with Social Services functions made up about $1.4 million. Sales taxes increased a little over $700,000. Other revenues such as investment earnings have either remained stable or have decreased. No fund balance has been appropriated, and the amount appropriated in the current year to date equates to $2.2 million. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the estimate of the fund balance and Ken Chavious said that it is about 8.5%, which equates to about $11.5 million. Chair Carey arrived at 7:47. Commissioner Gordon asked for a copy of this revenue summary. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if anything has changed with regard to anticipated federal and state funding cuts. Donna Dean said that they have not heard anything over the last two to three weeks. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that this, along with charges for services, be included in the revenue summary that Commissioner Gordon asked for. b. Review Menu of Possible Modifications to the FY 2005-06 Manager's Recommended Budget John Link said that he has provided alternative scenarios for possible modifications to the FY 2005-06 budget (pink sheet) and the methodology for the tax rate. He pointed out the paragraphs at the top of the handout. He said that they tried to be judicious about areas taking too big of a cut. Commissioner Gordon pointed out the yellow sheet from her, as shown below. COMPARISON OF CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS -JUNE 12, 2005 The Manager's Presentation for the Budget Public Hearing included a chart entitled "Comparison of Capital Appropriations" which made comparisons between the Original 2004- 2005 Budget and the Recommended 2005-2006 Budget. The chart assumed 3 cents for school recurring capital and 1 cent for county recurring capital. The last column of the chart showed the increase of the current year aver the previous year. (You can view this chart on the county website by clicking on Departments and Services and selecting the Budget Office, and then the 2005-2006 Public Hearing Presentation. The chart is on page 28 of the 34 pages in the presentation.) INCREASE IN CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2005-2006 The chart below takes the numbers in the last column in the Public Hearing Presentation chart and simply separates the Schools part of the chart into CHCCS and OCS. The County part of the chart remains the same. CHCCS Recurring Capital PAYG Long Range Capital TOTAL CHCCS Amount of Increase (Decrease} $ 902,302 (802,955} Recurring and Long Range Capital $ 99,347 OCS Recurring Capital PAYG Long Range Capital $ 569,994 1,301, 415 TOTAL OCS Recurring and Lonq Range Capital $ 1,871,409 COUNTY Recurring Capital $ 1,162,650 PAYG Long Range Capital 2,212,714 TOTAL COUNTY Recurring and Long Range Capital $ 3,375,364 DISCUSSIONS ABOUT REDUCING THE CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS Discussions about reducing either the recurring capital or long-range capital should consider whether the reductions would hold CHCCS harmless in 2005-2006 as compared with 2004- 2005. That is because the recommendation for the current year for CHCCS is only $99,347 over the previous year. Since 1 cent on the tax rate equals $1,162,650 in this chart, significant reductions would push CHCCS into negative numbers. Note: Projected number of students far CHCCS is 10,863 and for OCS is 7,013. Commissioner Gordan said that the point is that, in the 60140 policy, when long-range and recurring capital are decreased far the schools, CHCCS will be in the negative for capital appropriations. John Link said that the Board might want to look at recurring capital and long-term capital at the same time. He continued going over the alternative scenarios handout. He said that the third cent begins to cut into important goals and objectives of the County Commissioners, such as cutting the per pupil appropriation. He thinks that the Board can probably cut two cents without totally damaging any particular area of County government. Commissioner Gordan said that Commissioner Halkiotis had suggested looking at the non-departmental budget for passible savings. John Link said that there are two areas of nan- departmental -one portion is the outside agencies and the other portion includes the pay plan. He does not recommend any cuts to the pay plan. Donna Dean said that the information that Commissioner Halkiotis asked for is in the June 16th agenda packet. Chair Carey made reference to the reduction in the critical needs reserve and asked for elaboration on this. Jahn Link said that instead of having $1 million in this account, at the twa- cent stage, it would be reduced. c. Employee Pay and Benefits Personnel Director Elaine Holmes referred to the budget manual and the 4 appendices in back of budget. Appendix B is the benefits survey that the Board requested in follow up to the February Pay and Benefits Work Session. Appendix C is the annual update of the living wage. Appendix D is the housing wage information update. In addition, she provided supplemental information on differentiating pay. Employee Pay and Benefits Current Employees Impacted by Class and Pay Study Of 796 current employees: Phase Date Employees Who Received Employees Who Did Not Receive 04/14/03 592 204 12/08/03 398 398 04/26/04 292 504 Cost of Living Increase - Recommend 2.5°~ effective July 1 - Cost of living increased 3.3% in 2004 - For the first 4 months of 2005, rose at an annual rate of 4.8% - Led by energy, gasoline, food, housing, medical casts In-Range Salary Increase - Recommend 2.5°~ - For work performance that is proficient or higher effective with performance review - Provides a way for employees to progress in the salary range as gain experience and proficiency - Salary compression urgent issue - Employee salaries concentrated in the lower, hiring area of the range - Creates equity, employee relations, hiring issues Meritorious Service Awards - Budget includes funding far $750 far Superior and $1,500 far Exceptional accomplishments - Requires Manager's advance approval - Tool to recognize top performing employees 401(k) Plan Improvement - Recommend additional $5 per pay period (from $20 to $25) - Helps employees build retirement security and supports recruitment - Particularly benefits lower salaried employees - Contributions of other area local governments significantly stronger Living Wage - Increase from $9.11 to $9.34 an hour effective July 1 - Consistent with Board's policy - Affects about 60 temporary employees Sustainability - Need to retain a stable, qualified, competent and flexible workforce - Pay and benefits plan essential infrastructure - Maintenance is fundamental business cost Summary - Classification and Pay Study built the necessary foundation - Critical to move forward in 2005-06 to sustain this talented, committed workforce Commissioner Halkiotis said that he was struck by the employees that spoke at the public hearing. He said that it sounded like the County Commissioners had not done anything far the employees in the past five years. He knows that the Board spent over $80,000 hiring a consultant to do the Classification and Pay Plan. He made reference to attachment 2 of appendix A-5 and said that starting in fiscal year 2000-01, the County spent $1.288 million; in fiscal year 2001-02, $1.348 million; in fiscal year 2002-03, $552,000; in fiscal year 2003-04, $1.576 million; in fiscal year 2004-05, $947,000. This shows that the Board did vote for employee benefits. There seems to be a gap between what the Board did and what people understand was done. He thinks it is important to highlight to the employees what actually happened. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 3 and said that the 204 employees that did not receive were all hired after the 04/13/03 phase. Elaine Holmes said that same of these employees would have received the 2% COLA in October 2004. Commissioner Jacobs asked to see a breakout of the longevity of the employees. Chair Carey said that he thinks the employees in the 204 group individually know why they did not get the salary increases. Most employees inquire about why they do not get increases. He said that the employees speak with authority to the public, and hopefully the press knows the Board's history and will set the information straight. He thinks the Board has done what it can for the employees, and not necessarily what they really wanted. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like not to rely on the press, but to directly communicate from the Chair to the employees what has been done over the last five years. He asked the staff to tell the Board how much money was requested versus how much was received and the rate of increase for County appropriations for the last five years. Commissioner Gordon said that, in terms of the Classification and Pay Study, the Board fully funded the Manager's recommendation. She recalls that the Board completely funded what the Manager recommended. There were resources put in for employees, but it was not in-range and other increases. She suggested a reworking of the chart, showing the employees that were employed after 04/18/03. She said that the way the chart is presented has an influence on the way people perceive it. She would like to make it clear that the 204 did not get increases because they were not employed at the time. John Link clarified that the majority of the employees received at least phase 1 and same received phase 2 and a lesser number received phase 3, based on the number of years worked for Orange County. Employees who came after the plan was effective received the 2°~ COLA last October. He said that he listened carefully to the employees that spoke at the public hearing. He thinks all employees appreciate the issues faced by the County over the last few years and they are just asking that the employees be considered also. The cost of living is increasing, and the in-range is important because it is how people move up the ladder based on years of experience. He said that the staff spent a lot of time sending out letters to employees at the point of implementing the Classification and Pay Plan, explaining who would be qualified for each phase and who would not be. He would be glad to follow up on those who did not receive this information because they were not employed at the time. Commissioner Jacobs said that he was at a meeting today of the Association of County Commissioners about how the Association can do a better job of communicating. This is another example of how the County can improve its methods of communication to its employees. Chair Carey said that there will always be employees that are angry because they were not included, but he knows what the Board has done and the Board will always do well by the employees. Elaine Holmes continued with her presentation (above). Commissioner Gordon asked for clarification on the compression issue. Elaine Holmes said that in order to keep compression from getting worse, there needs to be an ongoing way far employees to move up in the salary range. She said that in the February work session report, she provided some specific examples of compression situations. Commissioner Foushee asked for the number of long-term temporary employees that have been here for longer than one year. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he had asked Elaine Holmes to pull together statistical information on the County employees' salaries. He was trying to balance this with an article in the News and Observer. The article says that the State is horrible to its employees. He was struck by the fact that over 2t3 of the entire State work farce is making less than $38,000 a year. He asked what percentage of the County's work force was making less than $38,000 a year. Elaine Holmes said that about 60% of County employees make $40,000 or below. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the elimination of the lowest salary grade hand out. Elaine Holmes said that the current lowest salary grade is grade 7, and this would affect 28 employees. The new County minimum salary would become $23,748. The housing wage for rental of an efficiency apartment is $22,960, which is higher than the minimum for salary grade 7 - $22,604. She noted that the 2.5% COLA, when applied to the minimum salary grade 7 would also take the minimum above the housing wage. The cast to eliminate salary grade 7 would be about $51,000. There is a Housing Wage Reserve of $45,000 in this year's budget that could be carried forward and used next year. Commissioner Halkiotis said that this was done a couple of years ago, and they are not winning this game. He thinks that this does nothing for the lowest grade employees. He finds this troublesome because he does not think these people are handled with a COLA because it is a temporary band-aid. He would like to da something far these 28 employees that are always at the bottom of the ladder. Jahn Link said that you move lower ends up faster with the in-range. Elaine Holmes said that this was mentioned in the memo that went out with the agenda package about differentiated pay. This would provide a faster rate of progression at the lower end of each salary range and a slower rate of progression beyond the midpoint of the salary range. Commissioner Foushee would like to see a couple of scenarios as to how this would work, with the costs that would show the differentiated increases far the lowest paid employees. d. Major budget, policy, operational issues including but not limited to: o County Department Focus ("review by exception") This timeframe assumes that BOCC will discuss departmental budgets only to the extent that the Board has questions about specific departments. !t does not allow sufficient time to address ail departmental budgets. Section 3: Commissioner Jacobs said that he asked the Clerk to give a breakdown of the $60,000 in membership dues. He also asked about the Commissioners' contingency and asked for information on what has been spent out of it in the past five years. He does not think $50,000 should be budgeted for this each year. This year, only $18,000 was spent. Commissioner Jacobs suggested using fund balance money if needed. Commissioner Gordan said that they generally try and set the budget with reserves for emergencies and not use the fund balance. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about Animal Services and if they underestimated health care casts for animals. John Link said yes. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if it would be cheaper for the County to hire its own veterinarian. John Link said that it would be best to wait until the new animal shelter is built. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to section 3-31 and asked about Cable Casting Committee Meetings and John Link said that it was Cable Casting Commissioner Meetings. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the Fairview Community Policing station and why this is not under capital. Donna Dean said that this could be capital, but it started out in the operating side. Rod Visser said that this is part of an interlocal agreement with the Town of Hillsborough, so it was treated as an operating expense. Commissioner Jacobs said that it might be easier to track in the CIP. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the school collaboration consultant and asked if this was costing $12,000 a year. Rod Visser said that for the last year, the County has been paying bills for this. They will raise this issue at the next collaboration meeting. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about rewarding County employees that come up with ideas that save the County money. He asked if anyone had come up with any ideas lately, and if they have been rewarded. John Link said that they have rewarded employees andlor teams of employees with good practices. They have not rewarded anyone with cash. Commissioner Halkiotis said that a reward system is very important and it works in the private sector. He thinks this would stimulate people into thinking of ways to save money. John Link said that they talked about this at the last efficiency process. The question is the amount. Section 4: Commissioner Jacobs referred to page 4-13, Tax Assessor, and asked how the County costs went up $135,000. Donna Dean said that several long-term employees have retired this year, which is reflected in the 12-month estimate being lower than the original budget. A position was also moved from the Tax Assessor's Office to the Tax Collector's Office. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the increase in the Information Technology budget for next year. He asked what this would include and the replacement cycle. Rad Visser said that before Information Technology Director Todd Jones came to the County, there was athree-year desktop replacement cycle. This was then slowed down to a four-year replacement cycle. At this time, it is about five or six years. Todd Janes said that they have skipped two years of the four-year cycle, so half of the fleet is five or six years old. Regarding areas of increase, the two largest items are the telephone charges and the equipment repair. They are trying to move the ongoing charges into the operating budget and out of capital. Regarding equipment repair, there has been an increase in annual maintenance charges far software. The bulk of it is the MUNIS system, which is $66,000 annually. There are also increases in charges for new packages in the Sheriff's system and land records. As new technologies are acquired, there is a resulting increase in annual maintenance fees. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to page 4-5 that there are 750 network PC's and there are 796 County employees. He thinks that the lowest paid employees probably do not have the PC's. Todd Jones said that they are close to having one-to-one equity of computers to employees. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the total phone charges and Todd Jones said $179,000. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if they were looking at a new phone system for the County. Todd Jones said that he and Pam Jones have held discussions, but they are preliminary. Chair Carey asked why Building and Grounds was going from $2.7 million to $3.1 million and why the recommended amount was less. Public Works Director Wilbert McAdoo said that the additional cuts are reflected in utilities and part of it was that the Manager took some of the money out for reserve for utilities. Rod Visser said that the total request came in at a $500,000 increase over last year. They cut another $100,000 off. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the motor pool increase. Wilbert McAdoo said that this is related to fuel costs. Donna Dean said that they will need to look at the motor pool charge backs, because this has not been adjusted since the high increases in fuel costs. Section 5: Chair Carey asked about Economic Services going from $2.9 million to $3.5 million. Donna Dean said that those are offset to additional revenues. They are related to new positions added (Social Work positions for OCS and others). Social Services Director Nancy Coston said all of their additional operating costs are offset by revenues. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the concept of communities in schools and that the original vision was for the school system to provide the building and students and the County provided social workers, nurses, psychological assistance, etc. Then the schools became turf oriented and wanted their own. The County can get these positions at less cost because there is a revenue piece. He argued that both school systems would be foolish not to have Social Services provide social workers. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the proposed cuts to in-home care for seniors and haw this might affect people in Orange County. Nancy Coston said that there are a couple of different proposals. The first one was to cut the number of hours that a person living at home gat for Medicaid far personal care. At this time, some would be hurt by that and same probably would not. The latest proposal is to have a gate keeping approach. This would not be too detrimental. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 5-28 and asked Health Director Rorie Summers about the Healthy Carolinians position that is funded by a grant. Rorie Summers said that this is the Kate B. Reynolds grant and this next year will be year three of the funding for this position. Commissioner Jacobs said that he thought these positions would be highlighted and brought back separately to see if the Board wanted to fund them. Rorie Summers said that she had brought this to the Manager in the budget presentation and they discussed that this position has had good outcomes. The Manager felt that this position could go forward. John Link said that this position is the coordinator of the program. Commissioner Jacobs said that there are other places where there are positions that someone is cutting funding, and the Board is expected to assume the additional costs. He said that if the Board is going to set aside money in the contingency, it is more appropriate to do that than to assuming the costs into the budget. He would like to separate these out. Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Jacobs John Link said that they would provide an addendum of funding sources that are being cut from outside sources. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 5-39 and pointed out that the date is a misprint - 2004. Also, on page 5-46 it looks like the State is no longer willing to provide computer terminals for Cooperative Extension, so the County is replacing half of them. This is another example of a cut that the County is expected to assume. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out page 5-51, where UNC Hospitals is cutting money for the Senior Health Coordination Program and the County is supposed to assume this. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 5-79, and Previously Unfunded Outside Agencies, and she would like to see them listed and given a description like the other ones. Donna Dean said that this is included in the package for June 16t" Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the Schaffer House, which has been in the budget far many years. He asked if this was still actively serving students. Nancy Costan said that they are serving 5-6 kids only in OCS. Chair Carey asked about the Senior Care Program that is requesting $40,000. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that this was originally funded to the Department on Aging and it was the intention of the Board for this organization to become its own entity. In this fiscal year, it comes forward as an outside agency, requesting that the Board appropriate the $40,000 as the original appropriation for Senior Care of Orange County, Inc. This is chaired by Florence Soltys. On page 5-4$, Department an Aging Administration, there is a corresponding reduction of $40,000 in operations. Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to page 5-74, Alliance of AIDS Services, which is assistance to low-income people living with HIV-AIDS. North Carolina ranks at the bottom of the 50 states in providing services to poor people with AIDS. Section 6: Commissioner Jacobs said that Hillsborough gave $5,000 for the library and asked if it was conditioned at all. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that she verified that with Town Manager Eric Peterson that this is a general appropriation far the library, but it is specifically for Hillsborough. Commissioner Jacobs said that it looks as if the operations budget is unchanged. He thought that one of the recommendations of the Library Services Task Force was to try and raise the level of support for library services in Orange County. He asked if there was any thought about putting more money into the budget. Library Services Brenda Stephens said that she held the line this year. Chair Carey asked if there was something related to the strategic plan that the County should be doing that it is not doing. Commissioner Jacobs said that Orange County is way below the State average for the per capita allocation for library services. Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that the update to the report conducted last summer was dealing with the adequacy of space and did not address questions from the original task force. Chair Carey said that it would help him mare if there were some qualitative information on what the County should invest in for library services. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested asking the staff what $50,000 more would buy and what $100,000 more would buy so that they know exactly what they would get with additional money. He thinks the County is sending the wrong message with library services. Chair Carey said that they could increase the per capita by funding the Town of Chapel Hill's request. This would not serve the needs of people all over the County. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 6-13, Recreation and Parks, and asked about the increase in revenues because of additional fees collected. Recreation and Parks Director Lori Taft said that it is not an increase in fees, but more fees because more people are signing up for activities. Rod Visser said that the Board will adopt the fee schedule on June 23~d, and any changes will be shown. Section 7: Commissioner Jacobs asked Planning Director Craig Benedict about money to do joint planning with Hillsborough and Craig Benedict said that it is under non-departmental and it is not recommended at this time. John Link said that there were several possible contracts that he cut out, so that is why it is not listed. Commissioner Jacobs asked if Hillsborough appropriated any money to that end. Craig Benedict said that he was told that they would, but he has not checked on it. There is money appropriated for the Orange-Alamance Water System contract, but not from Hillsborough. Commissioner Jacobs said that if Hillsborough did provide any money, then the County should probably match it. Commissioner Halkiotis asked what was gained from the membership of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. Economic Development Director Dianne Reid said that the partnership is one of seven across the state, and they serve as a marketing arm for the counties that make up the region. They do trade shows, consultant visits, serve as a conduit for contacts, etc. They receive about three inquiries a month for businesses looking for a location in the region. One difficulty is not having a lot of product to respond to those inquiries. She thinks it is a viable organization. Chair Carey said that he is the County's representative on the RTRP, and he thinks it is important for the County to continue participation. Commissioner Jacobs said that the question is whether to give additional funding, because this is an organization that seems way out of step with some values that the Board considers important in Orange County. Dianne Reid said that they have been paying a lot more attention to existing industries and not as much to bringing in new industry. Section 8: Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to 8-1 and the request from the Sheriff and if this reflects some decreases in fuel costs. Donna Dean said that this does reflect some decreases in motor pool and fuel costs. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if all vehicles were being serviced at the motor pool, or if some agencies take them to outside garages. Wilbert McAdoo said that all are currently serviced at the motor pool except for specialized services (transmission, glass, etc.}. Rod Visser asked if there are any volunteer fire departments that should be represented on June 16t" and Commissioner Jacobs said that they could all be invited to make comments or ask questions. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the emergency telephone fund and Rod Visser said that one component is that State regulations that govern how the proceeds of subscriber fees can be used by public safety answering points charge fifty cents on the land line for telephones. In the last five or six years, wireless phones have an 80-cent surcharge. Commissioner Halkiotis said that he thought there was some debate in State government about how the wireless fee could be used. Rod Visser said that there are several bills in the legislature that would change how this fee is used. The 50-cent fee still comes to the County. Commissioner Halkiotis pointed out that the monthly service charges from the phone company to the County amounts to about 213 of the revenue collected by the 50 cents. Rod Visser said that the balance of the money does help Orange County in helping to replace technology. Commissioner Halkiotis asked if the County could track cell phone calls to 911. EMS Director Jack Ball said that there is phase 1 and phase 2. Phase 1 gives the tower location of where the cell phone is transmitting. Under phase 2, it provides the location of the phone. Not all cell phone companies have the phase 2 capabilities. Commissioner Jacobs asked about money in the budget to do the Strategic Emergency Services Plan. Rod Visser said that this was discussed late in the budget process. It was not included in the Manager's Recommended Budget. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an estimate of what this would cost. o Fire District Funding (BOCC Discussion - if fire districts need to respond to Board questions, representatives would be asked to attend the beginning of the June 16 work session} The meeting was adjourned at 1Q:03 p.m. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board