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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 05-17-2018 Budget Public Hearing APPROVED 6/19/2018 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING May 17, 2018 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Commissioners Mia Burroughs, Mark Dorosin, Barry Jacobs, Earl McKee, Mark Marcoplos, Renee Price and Penny Rich COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Chair Dorosin COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: None COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager Travis Myren and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) Vice Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m., and said Chair Dorosin is out of town. 1. Opening Remarks PUBLIC CHARGE Vice Chair Rich summarized the public charge. 2. Presentation of County Manager’s Recommended FY 2018-19 Budget Bonnie Hammersley made the following PowerPoint presentation: FY2018-19 COUNTY MANAGER RECOMMENDED BUDGET Continuation budget  Debt Service  Personnel Cost  Contract Obligations  Reserve Levels  CHCCS and Orange County School Funding FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET BUDGETED EXPENDITURES & REVENUES FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET BUDGETED REVENUE FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET BUDGETED EXPENDITURES FY2018-19 Recommended Budget Assumptions  Tax Growth = 3.0%  Sales Tax Growth = 2.4%  General Fund Reserve = 16% Commissioner McKee arrived at 7:08 p.m. Phase In Tax Rate Increase $0.0142 to $0.8519 $0.01 on county tax rate = $1,838,250 $0.0142 on county tax rate = $2,610,315 $0.01 on county tax rate = $1,838,250 $0.0142 on county tax rate = $2,610,315 $0.0142 Tax Rate Increase Impact Property Value FY2017-18 Tax Rate ($0.8377) FY2018-19 Tax Rate ($0.8519) Increase $100,000 $837.70 $851.90 $14.20 $200,000 $1,675.40 $1,703.80 $28.40 $300,000 $2,513.10 $2,555.70 $42.60 $400,000 $3,350.80 $3,407.60 $56.80 $500,000 $4,188.50 $4,259.50 $71.00 FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET REQUEST COMPILATION Commissioner Jacobs asked if the sales tax increase through GoTriangle’s projections has been calculated. Travis Myren said it is in the 4% range, and is backed into the transit plan. Commissioner Rich asked if this is just for Orange County, or Durham and Orange Counties combined. Travis Myren said this is just for Orange County, and Durham County’s is higher. Bonnie Hammersley resumed the presentation: Functional Leadership teams  Community Services  Increase Solid Waste Program Fee $4 to $132 per year  General Government  Food Council Coordinator - 1.0 FTE (contingent on cost share)  EMS Billing Collections - 1.0 FTE (additional revenue)  Racial Equity Training (REI) - 1st year of 3 year plan (fund reallocation)  Human Services  Dental Hygienist - 1.0 FTE (new revenue and fund reallocation)  Implement pilot for “Local Housing Voucher” program  Public Safety  Criminal Justice Resources - 0.5 FTE (Contingent on new ABC revenue) FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET COUNTY DEPARTMENTS 1- Increase living wage for temporary employees to $14.25 on July 1, 2018 2- Increase living wage for non-competitive contracts = $37,150 FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET COUNTY DEPARTMENTS FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET EDUCATION *Funded by Article 46 Sales Tax FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OUTSIDE AGENCIES  Advisory Board scoring was used to recommend funding amounts FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET OUTSIDE AGENCIES  Clerk to Board of Commissioners  County Finance & Administrative Services Office  Orange County Library  Chapel Hill Public Library  Carrboro/McDougle Branch Library  Orange County Website - http://orangecountync.gov Commissioner Jacobs said he does not recall if the tax increase, which will be implemented due to the voter approved bonds, will remain in effect after the bond has been repaid. He asked if any commitment was made to the public, and if the increase will just become embedded in the County budget.  $1,401,173 is consistent with the target established by the BOCC to allocate 1.2% of general fund expenses, not including education, to outside agencies. FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET FIRE DISTRICTS FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET FY2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Bonnie Hammersley said she does not recall that conversation, but it is the will of the board to determine what is best at that time. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the Board can discuss this question during budget work sessions. Commissioner Price said the previous Manager said such an increase remains, and becomes an embedded part of the budget. Commissioner Burroughs said she does not think the current Board can bind a future Board. Commissioner Jacobs said when the Board passed bonds in 2001, the Board made a pledge to the public to not keep the tax increase once bonds were paid off. He said future Boards were not bound, but Commissioners that adopted the pledge did feel bound. Commissioner Burroughs asked if the Board at that time held to the pledge by dropping the 7 cent tax increase once the bonds were paid off. Commissioner Jacobs said he could not remember. Bonnie Hammersley said there was nothing in the education campaign that addressed this question for the bond. She said the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) can raise and lower taxes at its discretion, whoever it sitting at a particular time. 3. Public Comment Elizabeth Welsby said she has three teens in the CHCCS system, and she thanked the Manager for presenting a conservative budget. She said she is grateful for the funds being put aside for deferred maintenance, but fears it is not enough. She is here to talk about the safety of the students, and some of the expansion budget items are really important for the safety of the students; specifically the middle and high school psychologists. Carlyn Welsby (her daughter) said she is in the 10th grade at East Chapel Hill High School, and has been participating in recent demonstrations against gun violence in schools. She said she is asking the BOCC to stand with the students to support mental health professionals in the middle and high schools. Elizabeth Welsby said she hoped that the BOCC would fund the entire expansion budget, but funding the psychologists is $377,000. She also expressed support for the Compass Center’s request, of which she is part of as well. Cordelia Heaney said she is the Director of the Compass Center, and she thanked the Board for its consideration of the outside agency proposed funding for the Center. She described the services provided by the Compass Center. She said their objective is to serve more residents, and she hoped the Board would increase the Center’s funding this next year. Gillian Hare said she is the Board Vice-Chair of the Compass Center, and she asked for the Board’s support through the $7000 additional funding through the outside agency process. Denise Moody said she works for OE enterprises and thanked the Board for its funding allotment to OE, which provides services to the developmentally disabled. She introduced Aaron, who works at OE. Aaron said he works at OE, and his job is in Durham for two days a week. He picks up trash. He said he likes being outside, and he gets a paycheck every two weeks. Denise Moody read a statement from Aaron’s mom, who shared how OE has been an answer to her prayers; has helped Aaron find a place in the world; and enables her to continue to work full time. Norma White said she represents rural seniors, through the Orange County Rural Alliance (OCRA). She said, as of 2010, there are about 4000 seniors who live in rural Orange County, and they are only reaching about 1000 seniors at this time. She said OCRA’s mission is to keep seniors in their own homes as safely as they want to be, allowing them to age in place. She said OCRA helps seniors with safe homes, nutritional food, social interaction, and access to services. She said many of the residents do not eat good food for a variety of reasons, and thus OCRA is now an affiliate with Meals On Wheels, and serves 93 people weekly. She said isolation is hard on the seniors, and breeds all of kinds of depression. She said OCRA has and a social interaction program, and from that information it is learned who has nutritional needs. She said OCRA has many alliances with churches and businesses in the area, as well as the Department on Aging. She thanked the Board for its support this past year. Stephanie Kilpatrick said she is the Residential Services Director for the InterFaith Council (IFC), and she encouraged the Board to consider IFC’s request for increased funding this coming year. She said IFC appreciated the Board’s financial support last year too. Elvira Mebane thanked the Board of County Commissioners for its service to Orange County residents. She shared a letter that she sent to the Manager and some staff, from the United Voices of Efland Cheeks, of which she is the president. She read the following letter: April 18, 2018 Dear Ms. Hammersley: On behalf of the Efland-Cheeks community we thank you for your vision to empower community-based entities like United Voices of Efland Cheeks with financial resources to play an active role in the operation of the Efland Cheeks Community Center. Our ability to offer various programs· and activities for the youth, senior citizens, community at-large, has reaffirmed to us that a Community Center without well designed and delivered programs and activities is simply an empty building. In addition to our Summer Youth Enrichment Program, we have also been able to offer special events such as the Art Show featuring two local community artists, and the Pencil Head Society, a teen writing group lead by a renowned poet, Jaki Shelton-Green. The programs and activities we have been able to offer the community has enhanced many lives. Our budget request for FY 2018-19 was based on our critical review of each program, activity, and existing human resources. We currently have a full-'time Center Manager, an administrative assistant (or back-up staff) 12 hours per week, and program coordinator for 24 hours a week for seven weeks, primarily during the summer. Because of the need the program coordinator continued on a voluntary basis through February 2018. Based on our experience, it became clear early on that the Center Manager can't keep the Center open while trying to coordinate programs and activities with other groups. The administrative assistant's hours are insufficient for the clerical and records management workload; and we proposed increasing this positon to 20 hours per week. To ensure that the Center is staffed fully at all times we proposed increasing the program coordinator hours to at least 20 hours a week year-round. This would relieve the Center Manager of trying to be in two or more places at a time. We tried to make these human resource changes within the existing allocation by reducing other areas in the budget. However, we were not able to accomplish this, which resulted in a budget request of22% or $18,714 above the current allocation. The other budget line items are fairly self-explanatory. We may be able to reduce these items ftu1her if we can maintain the proposed staffing, contract services, and summer program budgets. We recognize the many demands on the County and the limited resources available to meet these demands. We understand that the County cannot continuously support initiatives like this forever; nor do we expect this. To this end, we have established a Fundraising Committee that is in the process of developing various fundraising strategies to move United Voices of Efland Cheeks toward a more financially sustainable future. We look forward to further discussions with you on our budget request for FY 2018-19 and how we can make the Efland Cheeks Community Center the jewel it was envisioned to be for the community. Sincerely, Elvira Mebane President Robert Dowling said he is with Community Home Trust (CHT), and he thanked the Board for all of its support for the non-profits in Orange County. He said he is grateful for all of the support CHT gets from all of the government entities, and CHT will have 10 sales this year. He said there is a new home closing on Homestead Road very soon, which is in an over 55 development. He said CHT has a benefactor that donated $400,000 along with some fundraising, and CHT can now purchase 2 affordable homes in this development. He said CHT has 257 homes in its home ownership inventory, and 59 rental homes. He said CHT purchased a rental development in Carrboro last year, called The Landings. He said CHT took ownership of this property in December 2017, and is working to turn it around. He said there have been expected bumps along the way. He said CHT will continue its work, and is grateful for the ongoing support of the BOCC. 4. Adjournment A motion was made by Commissioner Burroughs, seconded by Commissioner McKee to adjourn the public hearing at 7:48 p.m. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Penny Rich, Vice-Chair Donna Baker Clerk to the Board