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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 05-09-2013 - 2ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 9, 2013 Action Agenda Item No. 2 SUBJECT: Fiscal Year 2013 -14 Budget Drivers 1 DEPARTMENT: Finance and Administrative PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No Services ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Clifton, 919 - 245 -2306 Clarence Grier, 919 - 245 -2453 PURPOSE: To receive this background information in regards to the budget drivers for the upcoming fiscal year 2013 -14 General Fund Budget. BACKGROUND: At the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Retreat in February 2012, we provided information on possible budget impacts, based on the information available at that time, while anticipating the affects on the upcoming FY2013 -14 budget process. The information presented at this work session will update the previous information based on the budget requests submitted by each County department and both school districts. We currently anticipate the FY 2013 -14 General Fund budget to be approximately $183 million. We are aware of several major budget drivers that will need to be addressed as we formulate and finalize the budget. The known budget drivers for the FY 2013 -14 budget are as follows: • Medical Health Insurance increases — up to 8.5% $ .23 million • Retirees Health Annual Funding Requirement 5.30 million • Emergency Services Requests 1.78 million • School Districts Budget Requests — up to 8.50 million • Total budget drivers /impacts $15.81 million This represents 10.04 cents if applied to the current property tax rate for the FY2013 -14 budget. Health Insurance The County pays approximately $6.6 million for health insurance across all funds for employees ($5.5 million for the General Fund) each fiscal year. Additionally, the County pays approximately $1.4 million (on a pay as you go basis) per year for all retiree health insurance related costs. For the upcoming budget year, Mark III Benefits and United Healthcare have informed us that we can expect up to an 8.5% increase in health insurance for employees and retirees for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. We estimate the increase and the effect on the FY2013 -14 budget to be as follows: • Employee health insurance • Retiree health insurance • Total $.23 million .50 million $73 million We anticipate, based on past experience that our health insurance costs will continue to increase by 10 to 15 percent per year as a result of claims paid in previous fiscal years, and the current average age of the County's workforce. This would represent an increase of $1.1 million to $1.5 million per year in health insurance for current employees and retirees. In the next few months, staff and County insurance consultants will bring forth proposals from which the Board of County Commissioners can select an appropriate course of action. This will be a difficult decision for the Board. Other Post - Employment Benefits (Retirees Health Insurance Funding) As previously discussed, the County currently funds post - employment benefits /retirees' health insurance (OPEB) on a pay -as- you -go basis. Our required annual actuarial contribution is approximately $5.3 million per year. As a result, this leaves the County with a funding deficit and an unfunded OPEB liability of $63.7 million, as of June 30, 2012. Putting this in perspective, last fiscal year we issued debt to fund an elementary school, equipment, and refund existing County debt that totaled $58.9 million that represented the County's largest, most current, combined debt issuance. We must continue to address this issue, it can and will, impact discussions with the bond rating agencies, impact our bond rating and the ability of the County to issue debt in the future. In this fiscal year, we provided $3,000,000 in additional funding to fund the annual required contribution. Additionally, as previously mentioned, the annual cost is increasing proportionately to the number of retirees. Emergency Services Emergency Services (911 and ES) requested an increase of approximately $1.78 million in FY2013 -14. These increases address the recommendations of the Emergency Services Work Group and the consultant's report received during the fall of this year. The final allocations may be adjusted based on input, but considering the importance of these services to the public, necessary increased financial commitments will be a reality. K School Districts and Education Requests for Funding Both the Orange County and the Chapel Hill — Carrboro City Schools districts have requested increases in the per pupil allocation that the County provides to each district in the FY2013 -2014 budget. Orange County Schools is requesting an increase in the per pupil allocation from the County of $158 per pupil. This would raise the County's current expense allocation for both school districts to $3,325. This would represent an increase of $3.8 million based the projected average daily membership (ADM) provided by North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) for both systems. This funding request would represent 2.42 cents on the current property tax rate. Chapel Hill — Carrboro City Schools is requesting an increase in the local per pupil allocation of $393. This increase in the local per pupil allocation for current expenses would raise the per pupil allocation to $3,560. This funding level would represent an approximate increase in the current expense for both school districts of $8.5 million. Employee Compensation A budget driver that has not been quantified, but is an issue across all of the departments of the County, is employee compensation. As we interview and attempt to fill vacant positions, we are experiencing difficulty obtaining and maintaining employees due to the constriction of employee compensation. County employees have done an outstanding job of responding to increased demand for county services, provided by a smaller workforce, under difficult conditions. We will attempt to address this issue as we formulate the FY2013 -14 budget. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact as a result of accepting this information. The financial impact will result from funding decisions made during the FY2013 -14 budget process. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board continue to provide guidance to staff in regards to preparing the FY2013 -14 Annual Operating Budget.