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things cost Orange County. He asked if 11 paid holidays were standard and it was answered <br /> yes. <br /> Commissioner Gordon made reference to the budget of$177 million and said that she <br /> thought it was going to be cut to $174.3 million. Donna Coffey said that the earlier numbers <br /> were based on the revenue projections before the final valuations were calculated. She said <br /> that it does not look like there will be significant decreases in revenue, so the projections are not <br /> as dire. <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked if it was possible to lower taxes more since the revenue <br /> picture is not as dire. <br /> Laura Blackmon said that the projections are based on 86 cents, which should not be an <br /> increase for residents. Commissioner Gordon said that she would be interested in having <br /> information on the average change in taxes if the value of the property went up. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that when the County Commissioners went through the cuts, <br /> the departments came up with 10% cuts, and that was about$2 million. She asked for an <br /> overview of what cuts were made on the personnel side to save the rest of the money that <br /> needed to be saved. <br /> Laura Blackmon made reference to page 1-5 and the highlights about pay and <br /> compensation: <br /> - 4% increase in employee health insurance <br /> - Maintaining the Living Wage at$10.12 an hour <br /> - No cost-of-living or in-range increases <br /> - No furloughs <br /> - Implementing specific elements of the Classification, Pay and Benefits Study <br /> recommendations <br /> - Implementing a 12-month hiring freeze for vacant positions <br /> - Offering incentives to employees eligible to retire <br /> - Continuing longevity payments to employees with 10 or more years of service with <br /> Orange County <br /> - Suspending non-mandated 401(k) contributions for non-law enforcement employees <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked what the savings would be for implementing these <br /> changes and Donna Coffey said $900,000. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that his recollection from the presentation of tax rates was <br /> that with 86 cents, approximately 86% of taxpayers would be paying some additional taxes. He <br /> asked if this has changed and Donna Coffey said that she does not think it has changed <br /> significantly. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz verified that there are no recommendations for expenditures from <br /> the Fund Balance of the General Fund. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz made reference to page 2-3 and the appropriations for Social <br /> Services - $20 million for some years, then $24 million last year, and now it is below$20 million. <br /> He asked about the bump and what caused this. Donna Coffey said that this has to do with the <br /> renovations of Hillsborough Commons and 50% of the bump will be reimbursed back to the <br /> County from the State. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the $500,000 hold harmless money from the <br /> State and he asked that this be put in a chart because it may not be available. <br /> Commissioner Nelson recommended that the Manager divide up the departments that <br /> the County Commissioners will be discussing on June 4th and June 9th <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked that the entire agendas be listed for the budget work <br /> sessions on June 4th and June 9th <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz suggested not bringing all of the social services to one of the <br /> work sessions. He would like to split them up. <br />