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APPROVED 11/17/98 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONER BUDGET WORK SESSION JUNE 9, 1998 MINUTES The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, June 9, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. in the new Southern Human Services Center, Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the purpose of holding a Work Session on the proposed 1998-1999 budget. ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, and members Moses Carey, Jr., William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, and Stephen H. Halkiotis. STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John Link, Deputy Clerk to the Board Kathy Baker, Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell. Other staff will be identified as required. PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Brown dispensed with the reading of the Public Charge. OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR Chair Margaret Brown convened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance. She then turned the meeting over to County Manager John M. Link, Jr., to give a brief presentation on the recommended budget. PRESENTATION OF BUDGET: County Manager Link reviewed the highlights of the 1998 -1999 proposed budget totaling $93,035,893.. He indicated that it contained sufficient resources to meet the needs of our citizens as well as providing funding for a quality education for our children. This recommended budget addresses the growing need for additional staff to assure that Orange County citizens receive the services that they need in a timely and professional manner. Also addressed by this proposed budget is funding for upkeep-and operations of county facilities and a competitive compensation plan. He mentioned that some additional highlights of the budget include a $151.00 increase in the per pupil allocation. This is an increase in the per pupil allocation from $1,889 to $2,040. The Orange County School System's share of the total current expense appropriation of $30.4 million is $12,911,60. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System share is $17,511.30. The overall current expense appropriation represents an increase over the 1997-1998 budget of $3.2 million. This 11.9% increase exceeds the average yearly increase approved by the Board of Commissioners over the past ten years. The General Fund property tax would be established at 91.05 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This represents a 3.75-cent increase over the current rate of 87.3 cents. The Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools district tax rate would be maintained at 17.9 cents with projected revenues from this source of $7,660,642. A copy of the proposed 1998-1999 Orange County budget, in its entirety, is in the Clerk's office. He then turned his attention to the recommended school budgets. He mentioned that County staff had determined that approximately $500,000 of the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School's continuation budget could more accurately be called expansion. He indicated that