Orange County NC Website
$79.62 million. She then gave examples of appropriations to come from the County's remaining <br /> portion of available revenue. <br /> b) Proposed Service Reductions — Community Services Departments <br /> Laura Blackmon said that departments were directed to reduce current operating <br /> budgets by 2%, freeze capital purchases, reduce travel, and delay hiring for three months. The <br /> budgeting goal was met and spending was reduced. She said that this coming year, she is <br /> directing departments to decrease from the current year budget by 10%. She said that some <br /> departments will not be able to do that for various reasons. There are no capital requests for <br /> next year and the bulk of the cuts are to come from operating budgets. <br /> She said that she brought the Community Services Management Team, which includes <br /> the departments that provide services directly to the public. Some of the services are safety <br /> net, but some are not and are just nice to do for the community. She said that each department <br /> will summarize the reductions. This information was in the yellow packet. The Board is not <br /> being asked to make decisions tonight. <br /> Aging (p. 64): <br /> Department on Aging Jerry Passmore made reference to page 68 and Senior Center <br /> operations. The best way to reduce this is to reduce the hours at night. Each center could have <br /> two evenings when they would be open. The following reductions can be made: <br /> - Funds for supplies used for major events at senior centers will be reduced <br /> - The trainer monitor hours for the fitness studio will be reduced <br /> - The Home Modification Fitness Upfit service will be discontinued ($6,000) <br /> - The management of the Friend-to-Friend volunteer match project will be <br /> discontinued <br /> - In-home aide services will be reduced ($5,900) <br /> - The VITA tax program coordinator's hours will be reduced <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that the fiscal impact refers to the Budget Request Excel <br /> Spreadsheet and the County Commissioners did not receive these. Laura Blackmon said that <br /> the Board did not get this because the numbers are not being considered tonight, but only <br /> programs. <br /> Donna Coffey said that she just received these spreadsheets from the departments and <br /> this information will be provided as soon as possible. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that the County Commissioners ultimately have to determine <br /> budgetary amounts and this cannot be done without a context of the budgets. <br /> Laura Blackmon said that she is trying to show the County Commissioners the kinds of <br /> things that departments can offer up in order to save money. <br /> Chair Foushee said that this is a much better way to do cuts than what has been done <br /> the past couple of budget cycles. She likes hearing from the departments about the cuts that <br /> can be made. <br />