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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 06-07-2012 APPROVED 9/18/2012 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION June 7, 2012 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, June 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, Barry Jacobs, Pam Hemminger, Earl McKee and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Assistant County Managers Gwen Harvey and Michael Talbert and Clerk to the Board Donna 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. 1. FY2012-13 Fire District Tax Rates Budget and Management Analyst Paul Laughton said that historically the County has invited any fire district that is asking for a tax increase to come and give the reasoning behind the increases. Orange Grove has asked for an increase of 0.92 cents and Bill Waddell the President and Tommy Holmes the Chief were in attendance. The abstract on page 2 explains the reasoning for the 0.92 cents for FY 12-13 and then another cent for 13-14. Bill Waddell said that the reason they are looking for an increase is that they wanted to break it into two parts and not have such a tremendous jump when they build their third station down the line. This increase will be needed to outfit the new station. Commissioner McKee asked Bill Waddell to elaborate on the number of homes that each of the new fire stations will bring within a six-mile radius. Bill Waddell said that station 2 would bring 800 homes within the six-mile radius. Commissioner Gordon asked about the costs and Bill Waddell said that station 2 would cost $70,000 and the trucks will be about $70,000+ each. They will also have to buy air packs of$2,000 each, hoses, nozzles, etc., which will cost approximately $300,000 for everything, including the building. The land was donated for station 2. Commissioner Jacobs said that four districts are getting lower ISO ratings and this should be celebrated. He asked staff to track the ISO ratings for the next budget cycle, and if there is a lower ISO rating, staff should put out press releases in conjunction with the fire departments. Commissioner McKee listed the ratings of each district. Eno, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Orange Grove, and New Hope are rated 9. Caldwell and New Hope have been rated in the last couple of weeks and Caldwell should get its new rating in the next couple of days. New Hope will get its rating in the next few weeks. Efland and White Cross are rated at a 7. Orange Rural is a 6. The area covered by North Chatham within its five-mile area would be rated at a 7. The area that Mebane covers for Efland under contract is rated a 5. The two small areas in Chapel Hill that is covered by South Orange is rated a 6. Caldwell, New Hope, and Efland have currently gone through a rating at their own initiation to get the rate reduced. 2. Pay and Benefits Presentation Interim Human Services Director Sharon Laisure made a PowerPoint presentation. Pay and Benefits Recommendations fa-Employees and Retirees BOCC Budget Work Session June 7,2012 Work Session Purpose To oonsider and provide dir�ection on pay and benefits for employees and retirees for FY 2012-13 Key Pay and Benefits Plan Recommendations - A COLA of 2%for permanent employees - An Employee PerFormance Award of$500 or$1,000 - Funding for a health insurance increase of up to 23% - Increasing the IMng wage to$10.97 per hour - Implementing recommendations of the FY 2011-12 intemal Classfication and Pay Study - Extending the sa�nonth hiring freeze and the voluntary furlough program - Continuing the$27.50 per pay period County oontribution to nonaaw enforcement employees' supplemental retirement acoounls and the mandated Law Enforcement Officer 401(k)oontribution of 5%of salary - Addressing increased oosls for Retiree Health Benefits Cost of Living Increase and In�-ange Salary Increases - The Manager recommends: o A Cost of Living Increase (COLA) of 2.0% for all permanent employees, effective July 1, 2012 o An employee performance award of$500 for proficient performance and $1,000 for exceptional performance, effective with permanent employees' annual performance review dates from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 - Employees have had no salary increases since FY 2008-09. - VUith increased revenues,this is the first year in which additional funds have been identified for employee salaries. - Personnel services oomprise the largest percentage(nearly 50%)of the Count�s operational e�enditures. Retiree Health Benefits - As retiree health care�increase due to the increase in retirees and health care�,the County must plan for its fi.ih.ire liability. The County Manager recommends: 1. Setting aside $3.0 million of FY 2011-12 fund balance for the long-term liability of funding retiree health benefits, 2. Revising the Personnel Ordinance for employees hired after June 30, 2012 to: a. Increase the service eligibility requirements retiree health care benefits from 10 to 20 years of continuous service; b. Require retirees eligible for Medicare due to disability to enroll in Medicare, and c. Cap the amount the County pays for Medicare supplements and Part D at 50% of the cost of the individual group health premium. Summary - Fax.is is on retaining a talented workforce that is oommitted to serving the residenls of Orange County. - Employees are very ooncemed about pay and health insurance. - Preserving employee pay and benefits oontinues to be a priority. - The Count�s finanaal oondition is improving. - Funding has been identified to support increases in employee pay and health insurance�. Mark Brov�erfrom Mark 111 made anotherPov�rPoint presentabbn wid�health plan figures. o For 2011, we estimate that the NCACC lost $2,700,000 while insuring Orange County. o The plan is running better now and only at 78% loss plan and the HSA is doing better than the PPO o There will be about a 23% increase for insurance next year Timeline: o July 2, 2012 — UHC Renewal Delivered to Mark III. o The renewal options that will be reviewed both fully insured and self-funded options for the current plan designs. o Depending on the competitive nature of the renewal, we will consider going to market. o We want to be careful not create too much disruption for employees. o For the self-funded option, we will request an alternative pharmacy benefit manager. o In August, we will present renewal options to the Commissioners at the first work session. Frank Clifton said that in September there will be a presentation on being self-insured. He will bring forward the pros and cons of this possibility. Commissioner Jacobs said that when this comes back to the County Commissioners, he would like to have some definition of terms. He made reference to the statement that this plan is running better. He asked for whom it is running better. Mark Browder said that the plan is financially better mainly because the employees are bearing more of the cost sharing. Commissioner Hemminger made reference to the projections for deductibles and if these were going to change and Mark Browder said no. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the chart with 100 counties and said that four counties had lower deductibles. He would like to see these plans. Three of these four are self-insured. Chair Pelissier said that she supported the COLA increase and she asked what surrounding counties were offering. Financial Services Director Clarence Grier said that the surrounding counties are offering something similar, from 1-2%. Commissioner Jacobs said that he supports what the Manager is recommending for the employees. He said that the County did some things to support employees last year and it was not reflected in the documents. The 401(k) was raised and each employee was given $500. Chair Pelissier asked about the six-month hiring freeze that has been done for several years. She asked how this affects staff. Frank Clifton said that this freeze is for positions that are just delayed. The normal hiring process takes between 60-90 days anyway. He does not think it is a tremendous burden. Staff will continue to monitor this and do some market analysis for these positions. The delays have allowed staff to look at the position and reorganize some duties. He does not think that the public has seen a drop off in services. Commissioner Hemminger asked about the COBRA plan and if there were a lot of former employees using this and it was answered no. She asked for some figures about how many people were hired after 2008 and would not be eligible for the spouse benefits after 20 years. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to have a conversation about longevity pay. He also asked about the $3 million budgeted for retiree insurance. Frank Clifton said that the proposal is a reserve fund and would not have to come out of the annual budget. 3. Outside Aqencies: Recommended Allocations FY2012-13 Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said that there were 56 agencies who made applications for funding and 36 were funded for a total of$926,700. There was only an increase of$500 from last year. She made reference to page 190 in the budget document. There were two outside agencies that were funded last year, but in the Manager's Recommended Budget, the outside agencies are linked to the department that would do the best job of seeing how those funds are allocated. These two agencies are Piedmont Health Services (Health Department) and Triangle Wildlife Rehab Center (Animal Services). This gives clearer oversight. Frank Clifton said that the staff went through a very deliberate score card process and analyzed the agencies. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Dispute Settlement Center and how much more they are asking for - $30,000 more or $60,000 more. Gwen Harvey said that the Manager's Recommended Budget is an additional $9,000. There has been a reduction in state funding. Financial Analyst Lisa Henty said that the original request was $76,000 and it currently has $25,000 in the recommended budget, so it would be $51,000 additional to fully fund the request. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would like to have this clarified from the Dispute Settlement Center because there were some emails about needing a full $60,000. She wants to know the total number - $60,000 or $76,000. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the County funded the drug treatment court last year and Gwen Harvey said that those funds are incorporated in the Social Services budget at the same level as last year. Commissioner Jacobs said that the documents for this are confusing. He pointed out some inconsistent figures and said that it is hard to follow. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Freedom House and suggested giving the extra $1,000 that it had requested. Gwen Harvey said that this is a public document and is on the website. There have been no queries about the rating system for outside agencies. 4. Non-Departmentals Paul Laughton said that this is an opportunity for the Board of Commissioners to ask questions about this line item, which is on page 164. The non-departmental budget is structured by functional areas. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the status of setting up the payment-in-lieu system to more robustly collect these fees for the parks. Director of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) Director Dave Stancil said that he will be bringing this information later in June. The timeline is early next year for this payment-in-lieu system. Commissioner McKee made reference to the letter from Judge Buckner about courthouse facilities and the need for audiovisual. He asked where that would fall. Frank Clifton said that there is a Board of County Commissioners Contingency as an option and there will have to be an analysis of the requests first and then staff will decide where it goes in the budget. Commissioner Yuhasz said that there is not a lot of wi-fi access in the court facilities or District Attorney's office and he would like to know what it would cost to supply wi-fi in these areas. Clarence Grier said that he just did a contract to update the wi-fi for all County facilities and they can add the court facilities. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the Triangle Sportsplex and the $41,000 for membership. He said that this seems like a great investment for a low amount of money for the employees' health. 5. Discussion of County Department's FY2012-13 Budqet Requests • Library Library Services Director Lucinda Munger said that in response to a request from Commissioner Jacobs, she came up with some figures for increasing the library hours from 60 to 68. Commissioner Jacobs said that he wanted to see additional hours at the central library because the branch library in the northern part of the County was closed. Commissioner Hemminger said that she wants additional hours, but adding non- permanent employees concerns her. • Aging Lisa Henty made reference to page 32. The total expenditures for the budget this year are just over $1.4 million. This is a small increase of$17,000. This budget continues the $10,000 reduction in the RSVP program that happened this year. Chair Pelissier asked about the decrease in RSVP and Janice Tyler said that they cut out volunteer travel and Aging is raising its own funds for the RSVP event that was held this week. Commissioner Yuhasz asked about the meals program and Janice Tyler said that they are serving approximately 138 meals a day at the senior centers. Additional funds are needed for this program. She is asking to hire a senior for two hours per day that would assist this program • Animal Services (including Fee Schedule change requests) Paul Laughton made reference to page 43 and said that the total expenditure budget is $1.7 million, which is an increase of$52,000. There are a few operational increases. The increase in revenue is $24,000, which is due mostly to the success of web licensing. There are several proposed new fees (page 328). Commissioner Jacobs expressed concern about quarantine costs going up 50%. He suggested having some kind of discounted rate for people that have to quarantine their animals for an extended period of time. Bob Marotto said that a six-month quarantine (exposure to raccoon or fox) would never be done in the County's facility. If an individual wishes to do that, it has to be done with a private veterinarian clinic. The $15 fee for a rabies quarantine is only for 10-11 days for a dog or cat that has bitten a person. Commissioner Hemminger asked about making donations on-line and Bob Marotto said that it can be done in conjunction with the web licensing process. • Asset Management Services Paul Laughton said that this is on page 53. The total expenditure budget is $4.2 million. The budget has been decreased by $2.2 million, most of which is due to moving risk management bonds and insurance and worker's compensation to Financial Services effective July 1St. There is an increase in $70,000 for increased gas and diesel costs. There is a reduction in utilities of$94,000. The capital outlay of$31,500 is building improvements for the most part. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 56 and said that they used to get an annual report on vehicles for various issues. Pam Jones said that the County Commissioners got a report last fall and another one is coming up this fall. Frank Clifton said that since Pam Jones is retiring, her position is not being filled directly, but her operations will be distributed to other staff. • Cooperative Extension Paul Laughton made reference to page 70. Total expenditures are approximately $395,000, which is an increase of$5,000. There is also additional revenue of$5,000 that was generated by class fees, etc. • DEAPR-Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (including Fee Schedule change requests) Lisa Henty made reference to page 87 and said that the total expenditure budget is $2.9 million, which is an increase of$40,000. There are some increases in the parks division. Approximately $19,000 is set aside to improve lighting and field irrigation at the West Ten Soccer Complex. There is allocation for $16,000 for a grasshopper mower. The Forest Service allocation request is on page 179, and this year the request is $78,170. This is an increase of$13,000, which is to help fund a new heavy duty vehicle. There are also some fee schedule changes. Dave Stancil made reference to page 87 and said that there is about $400,000 in offsetting revenues, so the net County costs are about $2.5 million. There is now online registration for parks and recreation and this has helped tremendously. Commissioner Hemminger asked about the scholarship fund for camps, etc. Dave Stancil said that this is administered through the Social Services budget. From what he has heard, the funds have been used up and are in the budget for next year. Commissioner Jacobs said that he asked the Clerk for the minutes from the discussion in March and there were a number of Commissioners who spoke in favor of some kind of lease agreement for $500 annually. Dave Stancil said that this is underway and staff will be presenting to the Board of County Commissioners an update at the June 19th meeting. Commissioner McKee said that HYAA is growing and really needs more fields to use. He asked if there had been any conversations with HYAA about this. Dave Stancil said that the youth baseball is no longer being offered through parks and recreation, so there is no longer competition for fields. He said that he did prepare a draft memorandum of agreement and presented it to HYAA representatives that would have enabled them to find ways to meet the fees that are associated with field usage. The HYAA Board was not interested in pursuing that MOA. He has kept the dialogue open with HYAA and he can try and talk with them again. Commissioner McKee asked Dave Stancil to pursue HYAA again. Commissioner Yuhasz agreed and suggested HYAA compensate Orange County in other ways besides monetarily such as maintenance, etc. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the County Commissioners agreed to proceed with an agreement with HYAA similar to the farmer's market. The majority of the Board of County Commissioners agreed. Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to see what's involved as far as the costs, etc., before saying yes. Frank Clifton said that staff would have discussions and bring back a proposal to the Board for review and approval at a later date. • Economic Development Lisa Henty made reference to page 102. This budget remains flat. There is a small decrease this year. She made reference to page 104 and said that there is a summary on the '/4-cent sales tax. There is also an update on page 105 on the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center. There is a separate fund for the Visitor's Bureau, which also has the Arts Commission. This is on page 251. There is a projection for the occupancy tax to generate $90,000 this year. There will be a recommended fund balance appropriation of$150,000 to use for an advertising initiative for the Agri-Tourism program. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the transition to the 501(c)3 for the Piedmont Food & Agriculture Processing Center (PFAP) and Matthew Roybal (PFAP Manager) said that the hold-up for transition was the last board member to be appointed by Durham County. Once the individual is appointed, the board will meet for the first time as an assembled board. County Attorney John Roberts is helping with the incorporation paperwork. He hopes that it will be filed within the next 30 days. Chair Pelissier asked about increasing staff due to increased clients and Matthew Roybal said that there will need to be additional staffing, but incorporated within next year's budget. Laurie Paolicelli, Director of Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, gave an update on Agri-Tourism. There will be a page in Chapel Hill Magazine dedicated to Agri- Tourism. • Health Department (including Fee Schedule change requests) This was on page 130. This budget is a little over $7.2 million, which is an increase of $70,000. There is a decrease in the central administration services due to reassignment of a 0.5 FTE in the dental division. This budget includes a 0.5 FTE Property Development Specialist. This is shared with the Planning Department. This position provides intake support and permit application processing for the central permitting clients. This budget does include $10,000 shifting from Piedmont Health Services to the Health Department. The Health Department has requested $67,000 in capital outlay related to vehicles for Environmental Health. There are some fee changes in the Health Department (page 330-338). Commissioner Yuhasz asked if the Health Department was going to get vehicles this year and Clarence Grier said yes. • Housing, Human Rights, and Community Development This was on page 143. Paul Laughton said that the general fund contributes about 70% of the Director's salary and benefits. The general fund also contributes to community development funds — Urgent Repair Program ($146,000), HOME Program ($33,651 County match), Homelessness Partnership Program ($28,923). Commissioner Jacobs asked if the Affordable Housing Advisory Board was discussing impact fees. Housing, Human Rights, and Community Development Director Tara Fikes said that it is on the calendar to discuss, but it has not been discussed yet. • Human Resources This was on page 152. The total budget is just over $700,000. Lisa Henty went through the changes. On page 164, the Manager's Recommended Budget includes a $3,400 increase in drug testing. Frank Clifton and the County Commissioners commended Sharon Laisure for serving as the Interim Human Resources Director. • Social Services Lisa Henty said that this is on page 220. The total expenditure budget is $7.26 million, which is an increase of$427,000. This budget does not include the additional $100,000 of County appropriation for childcare subsidies. The State estimates indicate a decrease of $300,000 for childcare subsidies. Social Services Director Nancy Coston made reference to the increase in budget and said that it is all related to the changes in State and Federal funding. Commissioner McKee asked about the backlog in childcare subsidies and said that the backlogs were clear last week, but now the waiting list is starting again. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if all of the mental health guardianships have been transferred over and Nancy Coston said that as of June 30th of this year, the DSS Director is the only public official that can be a guardian. The only other option is corporations. She said that there are eight or nine clients still in transition. Commissioner Hemminger asked about the success of the scholarship program for camps, etc. and Sharron Hinton said that all of the money was used and there were more people that had asked for the funds. Frank Clifton said that Veteran's Services was a function of DSS, and the Veteran's Services employee retired. Nancy Coston is trying to recruit for this position now. 6. CIP Follow-up Paul Laughton said that this is an opportunity to make the changes to the CIP. These changes would be brought back to the June 12th Work Session, which will have the Resolution of Intent to Adopt. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the memo from her at the County Commissioners' places. She said that she got this information from the SAPFO report. She made reference to the elementary school section for Orange County Schools and said that an elementary school is not programmed until 2020-21. She said that the SAPFO should be followed and Elementary School #8 does not need to be built right away. She thinks that OCS should not worry about the County keeping its commitments. She said that a high school would also not be needed when it is shown in the CIP because the SAPFO does not dictate it for OCS. She stated that the County should follow SAPFO, and therefore the recommendations should come from the SAPFO Technical Advisory Committee and should go through the SAPFO process. Paul Laughton said that page 69 is what is included in the Manager's Recommended CIP for the next five years. Page 70 shows everything else that the school systems have requested that were not part of the recommended CIP. This is where Elementary School #8 falls under for OCS. The classroom addition is for year 2015-16 for Cedar Ridge High School. The auxiliary gym is consistent with 2014-15. Chair Pelissier said that it is the school's request, but not necessarily the County's agreement to fund anything in any year except the year that the County is approving, which is the next fiscal year. OCS is saying that there is a faster growth, but the County Commissioners are not making any commitment to funding a school until the SAPFO dictates it. Clarence Grier verified this. Commissioner Jacobs said that it might be simple to make some word changes, like on page 70, where it specifies that these projects are "unfunded." Also, at the bottom, there could be a note that says, "school construction scheduling is guided by SAPFO projections of capacity needs." Also, the $13.86 million for the Cedar Ridge High School Classroom Wing is within the five years, but it could have an asterisk to say, "to be reviewed under SAPFO in light of DPI analysis of Cedar Ridge capacity." Commissioner Foushee said that the CIP request from OCS had unfunded requests in the budget and the County put it in its unfunded requests. She said that it does not create an assumption if it is in the unfunded requests. It is just a placeholder. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the report on the Northern Human Services Center and said that it is good. However, he made reference to the first memo to the Manager, which says that there were mixed opinions about whether to try and retain the cafeteria, and gymnasium in the the facility. Then in the survey results, by far the highest, most intensive response was "keep cafeteria and gym" and "retrofit and improve." This seems different from "mixed feelings." Commissioner Foushee said that people responded how they previously felt with the survey, but after the discussion, they felt differently after they saw the possibilities of what they could have. Commissioner Hemminger made reference to a discussion at the Rogers Road Task Force for a capital project. The community would like to remove a historic home, the Hogan House, to the Habitat site. A complication is that the church is getting ready to start its project, and would demolish this house if it was not moved. She is not advocating for the County paying for all of this. The total price for fixing this is around $800,000, but to move the house would cost approximately $120,000. There will be more information at the next meeting. She asked if the Board wanted to consider a placeholder. There are very strong feelings in the community about keeping this building. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 69 regarding the schools and suggested that Note 1 be Article 46 and Note 2 be, "school construction scheduling is guided by the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance projections of capacity needs." She thinks that this will solve the problem. The County Commissioners agreed. Clarence Grier said that $905,000 has been allocated for the Board to use to address anything that is necessary aside from the Manager's Recommended Budget. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to adjourn the meeting at 10:44 PM. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board