Minutes 04-08-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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leadership includes Susan Worley with Volunteers for Youth and Frances Henderson with the Dispute Settlement Center. She said that staff wants to hear the Board's concerns and questions at this stage in the development. Frank Clifton said that the Board of County Commissioners will receive a summary of what was requested, a summary of staff recommendations, and then his recommendation. He said that if the County fills all of these outside requests, then it would be a penny on the tax rate. Commissioner Yuhasz said that last year the outside agency budget was adopted with an across the board decrease. He did not like this and suggested that it not be done this way this year because some of those agencies specifically serve only Orange County and are funded only by Orange County. This decrease was a greater impact on these agencies than other agencies that have much broader funding sources. Frank Clifton said that he has provided where these agencies are funded from — whether from Orange County or from outside of the County. He said that he will not submit an across the board decrease. However, some will not get funded at all. Commissioner Pelissier said that she would like to look at the bigger picture and what the County's purpose is in funding non-profits. She would like to have the conversation about what kind of non-profits Orange County wants to fund. Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Pelissier about looking at the County's rationale for funding outside agencies. She made reference to Attachment C on page 29 and funding eligibility. She suggested looking at Durham and Wake Counties' eligibility and review processes. Frank Clifton said that Orange County's criteria for funding outside agencies have been minimal and more criteria need to be developed for this process. Commissioner Gordon would like to actively consider the criteria that Wake and Durham Counties are using for processing outside agency funding. Commissioner Pelissier agreed that the request should be less than 50% of an agency's funding. She said that if Orange County gave 49% of an agency's funding and Chapel Hill gave 21%, then that agency should not be a non-profit. She would like to include the Towns in this process also. Frank Clifton said that they could add that an agency's funding needs to be less than 50% funded by all local governments. Commissioner Jacobs said that, before he discusses Wake and Durham Counties, he would like to discuss the rationale for why funds cannot be matched. Also, regarding the listing of all of the agencies, he would like to see them grouped by the type of agency. Commissioner Jacobs said that these are agencies that are dedicated to helping people and to bettering the community. He thinks that there is a reciprocal respect and it makes it difficult to reduce the funding because everyone is trying to do good for the people in Orange County and is trying to help other people do some good. Frank Clifton said that he will try and find the rationale for Wake and Durham Counties about matching funds. He said that there can be several agencies that are pursuing the same mission and this causes duplication of services. He hopes that this process will encourage collaboration between non-profits and fewer ones with better services. Commissioner Yuhasz made reference to the 50% limit and said that Wake and Durham Counties have larger business communities and a lot of these types of organizations are not available in Orange County. He would like to look at where the non-profit is serving before making a blanket prohibition.