HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20080909 - Work Session APPROVED 10/21/2008
Orange County Board of County Commissioners
BUDGET WORK SESSION
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
7:30 pm
Link Government Services Center, Hillsborough, NC
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Work Session on Tuesday, September
9, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough, N.C.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses
Carey, Jr., Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Mike Nelson
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geof Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County
Managers Willie Best and Gwen Harvey, and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (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
The meeting was called to order at 7:36 pm.
1. Appointments
a. Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee — New Appointment
A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Nelson to
appoint Wendy Gellert to the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee to a one-year
training term ending September 30, 2009.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
b. Advisory Board on Aging — New Appointments
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Nelson to
appoint Leo Allison (#2) and Thelma Perkins (#7) to At-Large positions, with terms ending June
30, 2011.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Nelson to
appoint Miriam Settle for the Chapel Hill position #3 with a term ending June 30, 2010.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to
appoint Steve Lackey for at-large position #1 with a term ending June 30, 2011.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
c. Commission for Women — New Appointments
A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Nelson to
appoint Jessica Ray to position #8, Chapel Hill Township, with a term ending June 30, 2011;
Doreen Nicholas to position #12, At-Large, with a term ending June 30, 2010; and Jasmine
Farhardi to position #19, At-Large, with a term ending June 30, 2011.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to
appoint Wendy Gellert to position #6, Hillsborough Township, with a term ending June 30, 2009;
Donna Musson to position #13, Non-CH/H Townships, with a term ending June 30, 2011;
Pamela Rich to position #16, Hillsborough Township, with a term ending June 30, 2011; and
Caroline Greene to position #17, At-Large, with a term ending June 30, 2009.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
d. Hyconeechee Regional Library— New Appointment
A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Carey to
appoint Rhonda Mascarella to the Hyconeechee Regional Library to a first full term ending
March 31, 2011.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
e. Joint Orange Chatham Community Action (JOCCA) — New Appointment
A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Carey to
appoint Patrick Kelly to the Joint Orange Chatham Community Action to a first full term ending
January 30, 2011.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
f. Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee — New Appointment
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to
appoint Tiffany Washington to the Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee to a one-year
training term ending June 24, 2009.
VOTE: UNANIMOUS
2. Report on the Status of Discussions with Orange County Rescue Squad
Laura Blackmon gave some background on this issue. The act that regulates the
provision of emergency medical services is the North Carolina Emergency Medical Services Act
of 1973, which requires counties to establish an emergency medical services system and
ensure that emergency medical services are available to all residents. The County provides
these services throughout the County, even into the towns. The North Carolina Medical Care
Commission is the group that establishes the rules and regulations that guide the local EMS
service system and the County must submit an EMS systems application to the Office of
Emergency Medical Services, which has the responsibility to the Department of Health and
Human Services for the North Carolina EMS program. This application has to be put in every
six years to re-certify. Orange County's recertification comes up in 2010. The County was
authorized to adopt an ordinance in 1993. The Emergency Management Ordinance included a
provision for franchises for ambulance and rescue services. Under this ordinance, the
Emergency Services Director is responsible to the County Manager with regard to all phases of
Emergency Management Services and is responsible for planning, coordinating, and operating
Emergency Management activities in the County. Orange County does have franchises. She
asked Colonel Montes de Oca to talk about the franchise agreement.
Emergency Medical Director Frank Montes de Oca said that the Orange County
Ordinance provides that a franchise may be granted if the County finds that the applicants meet
County/State standards and standards outlined in the franchise agreement, and the proposed
service will fit within the existing service so as not to adversely affect the level of service or
operation of other franchises to render services, and a need exists for rendered service in order
to improve the level of service available to residents of the County, helping to assure the
provision of adequate and continuing service, which preserves, protects, and promotes the
public health, safety, and welfare.
He said that on December 14, 2004, the Board of County Commissioners approved an
application for franchise agreements for the two active volunteer rescue squads in Orange
County. Prior to approving that application, the Board held a public hearing to determine that
the franchise was necessary to assure the provision of adequate service, etc. On August 16,
2005, the Board approved an Emergency Services Events and Facilitation Agreement Renewal
for both of the rescue squads (Attachment 1). The EMS services provided in the agreement
were rescue services defined as light and heavy extrication, underwater revive rescue,
wilderness and land search, and two primary ambulance providers for special events only.
He said that, on or about June 27, 2008, he ordered the stand down of the Orange
County Rescue Squad based upon information he had received from several sources. Some of
the sources were the local and area fire departments and fire districts, his staff members,
members and staff from rescue squads in the County, and from citizens throughout the County.
He said that in all of the positions that he has assumed in this business, he has always sought
to find the basis of his responsibility. He said that in Chapter 13 of the County Code of
Ordinances, as of January 23, 2007, he read, "The County Manager shall employ a Director
who shall be a person well versed and trained in planning operations involving the activities of
many different agencies, which will operate to protect the public health, safety, and welfare in
the event of danger from disasters." He continued, "The Director shall be responsible to the
County Manager in regard to all of these phases of emergency mentioned and accept it." He
said that he takes this responsibility very seriously. His staff has been trying for many years to
get control of an organization that is uncontrollable. He said that the rescue squad has not been
abiding by the rules and has not complied with the State laws of North Carolina. He thinks that
it is his responsibility and duty to take control of this.
Shortly after the stand down, a meeting was convened, chaired by Chair Jacobs, to try
and work through the issues and bring the rescue squad back online. He asked Lieutenant
Jamie Joseph on his staff to work with Chief Brian Matthews and his staff to gather the roster of
members to see if they met and complied with State requirements, and if the squad would allow
the County to make a determination to assess it objectively, capably, and fairly. He said that he
has never been more frustrated because he has tried on many occasions to meet with, to call,
to email, to get information, and to gather rosters and accurate records, and at almost every
turn, he was stymied by information that was inaccurate, incomplete, or missing. He felt that the
stand down was justified. He offered that the Sage Report in 2006 was not an ideal report and
the report recommended dissolving the squad as a separate organization.
He said that, as far back as 2006, the report that was commissioned by the Board of
County Commissioners alluded that there were problems with the squad. He said that the
squad is a potentially dangerous organization and he is concerned about the management
capabilities, the business practices, and the operational safety in the field.
He said that the Orange County Rescue Squad meet does not meet State compliance
requirements for operating a light, medium, heavy-duty rescue or EMS transport service. He
said that the organization has not produced documentation allowing assessment.
Lieutenant Jamie Joseph said that he was tasked with looking into this matter by Colonel
Montes de Oca and gathering the information and documentation based on the rescue squad
and the training. He made contact with Chief Matthews via email, and he could not get on the
same page. He gave nine different dates of possible meetings, and it took almost a week for
Chief Matthews to respond with a possible date. There was a meeting with some rescue squad
representatives, including Chief Matthews, and they brought some documentation, but it was
incorrect and not what he had asked for. When he confronted Chief Matthews about the
information, the response was, "I'm not bringing all of that down here." He said that he was able
to convince Chief Matthews to bring the information, but he only brought some of the
information. He said that he asked for training records, and very little training had been done.
He said that it has been a frustrating and time-consuming project for all involved.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that the North Carolina Association of Rescue Squads and
EMS requires that, for a rescue squad to be sanctioned or certified, it must have properly
trained members. Early on in the request, 38 members were on the roster that the N. C.
Association of Rescue Squads and EMS report. Shortly after he requested information about
the rosters, 21 members were removed off of the roster. A minimum of eight members must be
properly trained to be recognized as a rescue squad. Three of the members originally a part of
that recognized group do not live in the area. One lives in Charlotte, one lives on the east
coast, and one lives in Alamance County and would not confirm that he is a member of the
rescue squad. The final count is that there are only seven members on the rescue squad,
which means that it does not comply with State law. He does not know how long the squad has
not complied with State law. Based on the information provided by Emergency Services, the
department shall continue dialogue with Orange County Rescue Squad to determine what
useful role Orange County Rescue Squad can play in the Orange County Emergency Services
system. The department will conduct this dialogue over the next 60 days and then come back
to the Board with a recommendation on this issue. This is his recommendation.
Regarding the question of financial impact, the County pays $2,409 per month for rent of
a building that he would not stay in. He said that the building is unsecure, dirty, and noisy. In
addition, the franchise calls for$20,000 a year of in-kind services, which can include fuel,
supplies for special events, loaning of ambulances for special events, etc. This equates to
$48,000 every year that the County is committed to in order to provide support for a voluntary
service. South Orange Rescue Squad does not receive all of this. He said that all of the fire
districts now provide rescue and extrication services in addition to fire services. Part of the
framework of franchises is that services are allowed to come in that do not duplicate or over-
duplicate other services, and this would. He said that there is no strategic advantage of the
rescue squad providing the service if all of the fire departments are already providing the
service. All of the fire departments are committed to training. He said that he recommends not
duplicating a service that is already being provided by the fire service in these tight budget
times.
Laura Blackmon said that the County has a responsibility that is under State statute for
providing services. She said that the staff would continue to work with the squad for the next 60
days.
Chair Jacobs explained that there would be no public comment since this is a work
session. He said that, in fairness, a representative from the rescue squad should be allowed to
speak for a few minutes and respond.
Orange County Rescue Squad Response:
Chief Brian Mathews distributed Chapter 14, which was alluded to by Colonel Montes de
Oca. He said that his issue with the stand down was the way it was done. There was no
contact with him prior to the stand down about any of the issues. There was a meeting set on
May 20, 2008 with Emergency Services and in that meeting it was stated that Emergency
Services wanted to have a long-range planning session with the rescue squad for five, ten, and
fifteen years out. There was a plan to have a follow-up meeting on June 131h, and that meeting
was cancelled. On June 27th he received a phone call about the stand down. He made
reference to Section 14, under the Terms and Agreements of 14-151, which states that, "The
County may revoke the franchise as directed or as provided in Section 14-123, #5. This section
says that, "The County office of Emergency Management shall be the enforcing agency for the
regulations contained in this article. Such office will: 5) Recommend to the Board of County
Commissioners the temporary or permanent suspension of a franchise in the event of non-
compliance with the franchise terms of this article and recommend the imposition of
misdemeanor of civil penalties."
He said that if the Emergency Medical Director recommends to the Board that means it's
the Board's decision to act on the recommendation. In this case, the County Manager was the
one that maybe acted on behalf of the County Commissioners to stand the squad down, which
is in clear violation of the County ordinance. Regarding requests for documentation, on the date
that he received a call from Colonel Montes de Oca, he asked specifically about the complaints,
and no explanation was given. On August 15, 2008, he formally requested public records from
Emergency Services requesting any documentation and any proof of any allegations and
complaints that had been lodged against the Orange County Rescue Squad. As to this date, he
has not received any documentation. He called the Manager on August 21st and she told him
that she was aware of the request and that it was being processed and she would check the
status and get back with him. He has received no phone call to date. On August 29th, he called
for the status of the request again and he spoke with Gwen Harvey who told him the same
thing. As of today, he has not received any documentation of any of the allegations inside the
preliminary report that Colonel Montes de Oca provided the County Commissioners. His
questions are that, if Emergency Services has written proof of the allegations that were used to
draw up the preliminary report, why have they not been turned over to him. If all of the proof
has been put together to make the report, then he should be able to see it.
He distributed the Orange County Rescue Squad response to the preliminary report from
Colonel Montes de Oca. This response addresses multiple different agencies. He made
reference to the self-dispatching issue and said that the preliminary report stated that the squad
self-dispatched to calls. One of the incidences was 261 S. Churton Street. This address is the
squad's station. Members of the community have been receiving emergency services at this
location for the past 40 years. He said that this is a landmark within the County and since the
stand down, the squad has received people coming into the station wanting emergency
treatment and emergency help, as recently as this afternoon. Regarding the allegation of
ambulances going out to dinner, he said that every ambulance in this County goes out to
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He asked the County Commissioners to please read this
document before making any decisions.
He made reference to the stand down and the claim that this is a temporary stand down.
He said that it is his opinion that this is not the case. He said that it has been 71 days with no
schedule for assessment. In the interoffice memo from Colonel Montes de Oca, he ordered the
squad to be removed from the CAD system —all numbers and all apparatus was to be removed
from the dispatch system. In an email sent by Lieutenant Joseph to Gordon Joyner, Director of
North Carolina Association of Rescue Squads and EMS, it said that Lieutenant Joseph wanted
to know the process that Orange County would go through to have the Orange County Rescue
Squad removed as a rescue organization within the agency. He submitted this documentation
also.
Regarding training documentation, the Orange County Rescue Squad started utilizing
new software in 2007. It is the Firehouse software. In that software, there was some learning
and some unfortunate software crash, which caused most of the data to be lost from 2006 and
2007. However, in the training response that was provided in 2008, the rescue members that
had been documented have a 28.75-hour average for training. This report was generated in
August. The State standards require 36 hours of training per year, and some of the members
have already completed that amount of training, but the rest of them have another three months
to get this time in.
He asked the County Commissioners to review the documents that he submitted. He
made reference to the comment that Colonel Montes de Oca could not get in touch with him and
said that during that time he was on military activation. As soon as he came back he started
working on getting the documentation.
Chair Jacobs thanked everyone involved for acting in a professional and civil manner.
He knows that there are some strong feelings, but everyone has been respectful.
Commissioner Gordon noted that there are two active volunteer rescue squads, and the
names sound similar. She wants to be clear that the name for the squad we are discussing is
Orange County Rescue Squad and NOT Orange EMS and Rescue Squad, which is based in
the southern part of the county. Chief Matthews verified this. Commissioner Gordon wants to
be clear that there are two separate organizations.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to Chapter 14 and asked for an opinion from the
Attorney if the County Commissioners would be the ones to terminate or suspend the franchise.
Geof Gledhill said that he has not looked at this yet. He said that he does not think what has
happened is an action on the franchise.
Commissioner Nelson said that there was a meeting with the Orange County Rescue
Squad in June. Chief Matthews said that his documents show that the last meeting held was
May 201h. There was one set up for earlier in June, but it was cancelled because of scheduling
conflicts.
Commissioner Nelson asked if, at that meeting, it was made clear to the rescue squad
that the relationship was in danger of being terminated if certain actions were not taken.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that he made it very clear that the rescue squad was in violation of
the agreements of the relationship. He also made it very clear that the conditions for the
employees at Station 1 were horrible and unacceptable. He also made it very clear that he
would look into the operations of it to make sure that the rescue squad was being compliant. He
thinks that it was very clear that the squad was to come under compliance.
Commissioner Nelson asked if written direction was given as to the problems and the
expectations. Colonel Montes de Oca said that he could not say this for a fact because
Jeannette Jones was the Acting Deputy Director of EMS at the time, and she was the point
person for this interaction.
Commissioner Nelson said that his main concern is that he cannot assess the 46
instances that were in the report. However, he can assess the process leading up to it. He has
some concerns about diving into a suspension of a franchise without giving people express or
written warning, laying out the problems, making the repercussions clear, and giving a road map
for fixing it. He said that the people in the rescue squad really care about people and when he
came on the Board, they called him over to visit the squad. He is concerned that the squad did
not get due process in terms of being given a chance to correct the problems.
Commissioner Nelson said that, of the 46 problems in the report, 16 were self-
dispatches and 19 were non-medical professional issues (i.e., too much noise in the station,
dirty clothes lying around the station, doors not properly secured, children running about). He
said that these 35 instances were non-emergency related. Of the 46, 11 were incidences on a
site. There is no documentation about any follow-up on any of those. He asked what follow-up
took place after the 16 self-dispatches, if that is the wrong thing to do.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that he could not speak to most of the incidences because
he was not present for them. He said that Orange County owns the license for the radio
frequency, and if it is used improperly, the people that do that can be sanctioned by fines, loss
of license, or imprisonment. He sent a supervisor today when this happened to notify the squad
to use 9-1-1. This is how he would have handled the other self-dispatches had he been
present. He said that he trusts his staff, who indicated that these were infractions of safety
operations.
Commissioner Nelson asked about the follow up on the more serious incident, the
Linden Road incident, where a circular saw was used, which created sparks.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that in that particular case, the fire department took the
rescue squad out of the scene to continue the extrication. He does not know the follow up as
far as changing operations, training, or admonishing the rescue squad. He said that, in past
administrations, these types of incidents have fallen on deaf ears. He said that the staff is very
frustrated because over the past five to ten years, they have tried to get control of the
organization that was uncontrollable.
Commissioner Nelson asked for examples of how the staff has tried to get control of this
uncontrollable organization.
Captain Kim Woodward addressed this question. She said that she has been in her
position for about two years, and in those two years, most of the admonishments or the
discussions have been verbal. There have been a few emails, but there has not been any
formal sanctioning. There have been some issues with leadership until Colonel Montes de Oca
came on board as the Director.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that in the file that he has with some information, he found
two letters—one from Major Tapp and Major Snowden —which alluded to a lot of the complaints
and concerns prior to his arrival.
Commissioner Nelson said that he is not insinuating that anyone made anything up, but
he is concerned that there were these problems and there was not, what he would consider due
process.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to the issue of redundancy and said that he has
always been told that in emergency services you want redundancies built into the system. Now
he is being told that the redundancies are not needed and that it is not efficient. This is contrary
to what he has been told and his own personal vision for the way he has always seen
emergency services. He asked why redundancies are now not the way to go.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that he meant to say that there are currently ten fire districts
and two municipal fire departments and all of them provide extrication rescue services. There is
redundancy built into the system, and then some. He said that part of the franchise parameters
are that if there is an organization with redundancy, it would be better served to look at the
services and match them up with the need of the community. The need of the community right
now is not extrication rescue services, because there are in excess of 17 stations that provide
these services.
Commissioner Nelson said that he can see the point. However, the Sage report was
discredited, so there is not a clear picture of what needs to be provided and where. He does not
think that it can be said that this station is a redundant station and should not be there. He does
not think this is a good argument.
Commissioner Nelson asked why Colonel Montes de Oca did not give the rescue squad
a written statement laying out the problems, the deadline to fix the problems, and the course of
action.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that this was the purpose of the preliminary report, to show
areas in which there were infractions. He said that the intent of the following meeting with
Commissioner Foushee and Chair Jacobs was to work with the rescue squad over 60 days to
look at the infractions, the training, and to develop an assessment. He said that, at every step
of the way, there was incomplete or non-existent information so that a determination could not
be made.
Commissioner Nelson said that his concerns are not with the issues, problems, and
concerns laid out in the memo because he has no way to assess the legitimacy of those. His
concern is with the process that led up to the termination on June 271h. He said that he has
never seen anything like this without things written down.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that he agreed, and when he came in he realized that
documentation was one of the needs. He said that he has been given documentation from his
staff, other fire departments, other rescue squads, and people from the community that
someone was going to get hurt or killed if the actions were not stopped.
Commissioner Carey said that none of the County Commissioners were at these
locations, and they have to trust the staff to gather the data and respond to problems. He said
that he may have had some concerns about the process, but we are where we are and he
would like to set a course for the future that will allow everyone to make the best decision in the
public's interest. He does have problems with not having things written down, because if it is
not written down, then it does not exist as far as he is concerned. However, he knows that there
are occasions when you have to act on and respond to verbal indications of problems. He
encouraged both parties to try and address these problems and provide the Board with written
indications of which direction to go.
Commissioner Foushee said that most of her questions were asked at the initial
meeting. She said that it would seem to her that moving forward, she has also learned what
appears to be an unwillingness to cooperate. It seems like someone would have been
designated in Chief Matthews' absence to respond to questions from the County, and someone
should have responded from Emergency Services if Colonel Montes de Oca was not present.
She said that there is a perception in the community that Orange Rescue is a necessary unit.
Moving forward, she thinks that there has to be a meeting of the minds between the two groups,
and an understanding that any unwillingness to move forward in a cooperative manner does not
work in anybody's best interest. She said that, without due process, you cannot hold anybody
accountable, and it does not appear that due process occurred in this situation. She hopes that
there can be willingness and an effort to resolve this issue.
Commissioner Gordon said that certainly due process needs to be followed. She also
thinks that Commissioners need to be notified. She cannot think of any explanation why the
County Commissioners were not notified before the stand down happened because one of the
ultimate responsibilities of the County Commissioners is public health and safety. She said that
finishing the study would be a big help.
Chair Jacobs said that the long list of problems is alleged because there is nothing
documented. He said that incidences either need to be documented or dropped. He would also
like to have a specific deadline. He said that one of the cardinal sins in journalism is the
misspelling of someone's name, and Chief Matthews' name is misspelled throughout the
document.
He supported Commissioner Gordon's comment that it has been too long for the fire and
rescue study and it is a shame that nothing has been done to pursue this report. He would like
to have someone come back to the Board with a timetable for a study. He said that the County
should set the example, and if someone asks for public information, they need a response. He
would like a specific date.
Colonel Montes de Oca said that by the end of this week he can give an idea of a
timeline. Secondly, he can give a response for the interaction with the rescue squad.
Chair Jacobs suggested that the update to the Board be next Tuesday. He said that, in
July, it was agreed that the two entities would get together and come up with a plan for
addressing the issues with training (i.e., what is required and where the deficiencies lie). He is
expecting that this will be reinitiated and the last two months will be thrown out as a false start.
Commissioner Carey asked that everything be in writing.
Chief Matthews said that they have already gone two months and he would like for the
County Commissioners to address the issue of whether or not it was a valid order that was
given to stand down. He does not know if this was a legal, valid order. If it is in contradiction to
County ordinances and law, it is not a valid order.
Geof Gledhill said that he can say that the franchise is not part of the agenda materials,
so his assumption is that whatever the Colonel has done in this regard has nothing to do with
the franchise. He said that he would meet with the Manager and get an answer back to Chief
Matthews.
Laura Blackmon distributed a letter from Chief Matthews that he gave to her just now
with copies to the County Commissioners.
3. Development of 2009-19 Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and FY 2009-10 Annual
Operating Budget
a. BOCC Comment on Past CIP and Annual Operating Budget Processes and
Provide Direction for Upcoming Processes
b. Preliminary Timelines for Development of CIP and Annual Operating Budget
Laura Blackmon said that this is the first budget work session. She would like to talk about the
plan for the future as well as discuss the budget process from last year. The Clerk is working
with the calendar for next year.
Chair Jacobs pointed out that Commissioner Gordon also sent an email requesting a discussion
about the budget process.
Commissioner Nelson said that he would like to talk about the budget process as well as the
retreat process. He has some minor concerns. First, the County Commissioners received the
budget document right before Memorial Day weekend, and it did not even include the real meat
of the budget. Not knowing this, he had set aside part of the weekend to study the budget, and
when he opened the document, it was all narrative. He regrets that staff spent a lot of time
writing the narratives and it was not the meat of the budget. For him, this was not something he
needed and he never looked at it again. Given the fact that he did not receive the entire budget
until the 2nd or 3rd of June, he did not have time to study it thoroughly. He said that next year,
when the Board receives the budget, he wants it to be the real budget.
The second concern has to do with the work sessions between the period of getting the budget
and adopting it. It was not clear to him what was going to be discussed in those work sessions
and he did not know how to prepare. He said that he was frustrated.
The bigger concerns have to do with how the budget is created. He said that the retreat is
where he is used to bringing up the projects that the County might be working on. Typically, at
a retreat, the County Commissioners toss out ideas and discuss it, and if there is enough
support, it is put on the list of items for the budget and the Manager figures out a way to work
them into the budget. He said that the Board held its retreat in January and there were 200+
items and the Board never finished discussing them and never prioritized them. He does not
know how the Manager created the budget because there was no input from the Board about
what to include. He said that this makes the second budget in a row where he felt cut out of the
process of creating the budget. He said that it is frustrating as an elected official to make
promises to constituents, to have projects and ideas, and there is a block to getting it done.
Moving forward, he would like to pick back up with the notion of doing a real strategic planning
retreat and prioritize projects. He wants to get back to the retreat model and have one
sometime this fall. He would suggest working with a good facilitator who knows how to work
with local government. He would suggest having a more doable list with 30 or 40 items. He
would like to set up a retreat planning committee.
Chair Jacobs said that he recalled talking about a retreat in multiple parts and the first part
would be to clean up. It might fit the Proposed Schedule for the Capital Investment Plan to try
and do it between the election and November 13th when there is a work session so that the new
County Commissioners can come to the meeting. He wants to make sure that the new County
Commissioners are very much in the loop. He suggested having the Clerk poll people on dates.
Commissioner Carey agreed with Commissioner Nelson and said that he would like to pick up
where the Board left off at the retreat. He will not be around for the next retreat, but he
encouraged the Board to set the priorities for the Manager to use as a foundation for the budget.
He encouraged the County Commissioners to get as much information as possible about the
costs of projects before going to the retreat. He suggested having the agenda for each of the
work sessions decided at the beginning of the process and also deciding whether decisions are
going to be made at each work session that will impact the budget.
Commissioner Gordon said that it is important to try and get the newly elected Commissioners
involved in November. She said that the Board had a couple of preliminary retreats last year,
and then a retreat with all of the staff. The point was that the staff was supposed to put the
goals with the associated items in a more manageable form and then come back to the County
Commissioners for adoption. It was always meant to come back to the County Commissioners
soon after the retreat, but it did not come back until very late in the process. Another thing that
happened was that the budget work sessions after the budget presentation were reduced from 4
to 3. She suggested having some priorities on the front end and moving the process back
earlier. She suggested adopting the budget before the summer break.
Regarding what went well, she said that the schools got their information in sooner. It was also
a good idea to start the CIP process sooner, but the CIP was not approved. She thinks that with
a little discipline, the process will be better.
Commissioner Foushee agreed with not waiting until the last meeting to adopt the budget. She
suggested that the last meeting be used for clean-up. She said that it would seem that a work
session should be dedicated to working on goals and objectives. She said that trying to get
200+ objectives down to 40 would take an entire day. The only way she sees the Board
prioritizing this is to commit a work session to the goals and objectives so that there is some
frame of reference.
Chair Jacobs summarized what he heard from the County Commissioners about this issue—
decisions should be made before the last meeting, the whole process should be moved earlier,
the Board wants clear directions and guidance in the agendas and an overall plan of action for
the agendas, more work sessions are needed, the budget should be tied to the goals and
objectives articulated by the Board.
Chair Jacobs said that he would be glad to work with Commissioner Nelson on a retreat
process. Another way to look at it is to have a work session to invite the new County
Commissioners to see what their goals and objectives are before cutting the list down. He
thinks that sharing the budget drivers with the schools was also very effective.
He said that he was also concerned that spending decisions are made outside of the sequence
of the budget as the Board gets toward the budget. He also talked to the Manager about the
way that Hillsborough changed its budget process, and it is now tying goals and objectives to
departments and outcomes. He thinks that everyone is of the same mind to make this work
better.
Laura Blackmon said that the staff tried to set up a preliminary timetable for the CIP. The
schools cannot get information any earlier. She said that the thought was to follow up on
November 13th and have the CIP adopted on the 18th or December 1St after the new Board is
elected. She said that there is flexibility.
Regarding the Operating Budget, she respects the need, desire, and responsibility of County
Commissioners to add new projects and to set the goals and strategic plan, but there is never
any money to do anything other than the bare minimum. She wants to do some housecleaning
and figure out some of the things that are not important that the County has been doing for
years. Another issue is that the staff is wearing out. She is asking departments to look at some
suggestions on reallocating money. She feels like the County is stagnant right now.
She suggested presenting the budget earlier, mid- to late-May, and having the Board adopt the
budget in early June.
Commissioner Nelson agreed with doing housecleaning. He suggested structuring part of the
retreat where the Board talks about projects that do not need to be done anymore. Orange
County Schools is doing an efficiency study and he suggested that Orange County do one as
well.
Commissioner Foushee said that she mentioned an efficiency study at the Schools'
Collaboration meeting and that the CHCCS do the same thing.
Chair Jacobs agreed and said that he would like to understand why Orange County has the
highest tax rate in the State. He thinks that he understands what drives it, but he wants to invite
someone to look at it and confirm that the County Commissioners know what they are doing, or
if they are missing something.
Laura Blackmon said that she would like to look at, not only what the County will be doing next
year, but also what it will do in future years, because most things are difficult to implement in
one year and there is an evolution.
Commissioner Nelson asked at what point the Board actually adopts the CIP. Laura Blackmon
said that the Board should recognize that when it adopts a CIP, it is a plan, so each year it will
be readopted and adjusted. She would like it to be done before the end of this calendar year.
The question is whether to do it now or when three more County Commissioners come on
board. It is still a fluid document.
Commissioner Gordon made reference to the operating budget on page 2 (salmon-colored
sheet) and said that the document should designate what are staff responsibilities and what are
County Commissioner responsibilities.
Laura Blackmon said that this will be a process of a couple of meetings and not just one retreat.
Her suggestion had been to do something after the election and before the new Board is seated
to do something preliminary. Her concern is that it is not too late in the process so that there is
so much scrambling. She said that the school superintendents have seen this already and the
preliminary budget outlook and have had some input.
Chair Jacobs suggested that the Personnel issue be deferred since it was 10:00 p.m. Laura
Blackmon said that the Board will need to do something with this because the Board budgeted
money. The Board will need to approve an option the first meeting in October.
Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis distributed the Pay and Benefits Update
PowerPoint.
c. Preliminary FY 2009-10 General Fund Budget Outlook
d. Manager's Tentative Plan for Development of Future Departmental Operating
Budgets
Laura Blackmon made reference to the lavender sheet which was a preliminary outlook of
budget drivers. With the revaluation next year, the staff is looking at a neutral rate to start with.
She said that it was helpful to have a guideline from the Board last year that it did not want to go
over$1.
The growth projection is about 3%, which would be an increase of about $3.8 million.
Regarding sales tax, there are some decreases coming next year of about $4.9 million because
of the State retaining some of this revenue for Medicaid. Total sales tax budgeted next year is
about$15 million.
The projected revenue is expected to decrease by $3.7 million. The total projected
expenditures are $188.8 million. Right now, the shortfall, based on preliminary figures, is almost
$10 million.
Adjournment:
A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to adjourn
the meeting at 10:13 pm.
Barry Jacobs, Chair
Donna S. Baker, CMC
Clerk to the Board