Minutes 05-27-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Jacobs asked if a letter was ever sent to Chapel Hill about the occupancy tax and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker said that it was mailed yesterday and the copies are in the various packets this week. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 36-2 and the last section, which says, "expand sales department", but the sales position was eliminated last month. He asked how the sales department would be expanded. Economic Development Director Brad Broadwell said that he does not know if this should be altered in the notes. His understanding was that the sales person was being taken away and the outside sales source in Washington D. C. was also being taken out of the budget. He does not know anything about outside sales except what is happening with the staff. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 36-3 and the hits on the OCAC website. He asked why it had decreased so much in 2009-2010. Brad Broadwell said that this is because of lack of travel due to the economy. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Manager had mentioned moving $200,000+ out of the fund balance, but it is not in the budget document. He would like to track this and discuss it. He would like to leave the Arts whole even if it is going to be moved. Frank Clifton said that they did move the total function of the Arts, but the State grant money is not being shown. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the local matches and Frank Clifton said that they would be in the Tourism Fund. Commissioner Jacobs said that they County Commissioners have heard a lot from the arts community and this is a good move. He suggested that it might be a good idea to have some kind of stated relationship between the Visitor's Bureau and the Arts Commission. There needs to be some surety that goes along with this change. Frank Clifton said that he moved the Arts Commission because of a funding function and a supervisory function. He said that the Board of County Commissioners set up the advisory boards and agreements. As far as he is concerned, the Arts Commission and the Tourism Board can both function as they already do. Commissioner Jacobs said that if there is `x' money going from the reserve of the Visitor's Bureau to Economic Development, he would like some recommendation from the Economic Development Director as to how this would be applied to Economic Development. Brad Broadwell said that he would provide this to the County Commissioners. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the County is in need of increasing economic development and they need to see how they can fund this department more rather than cutting services. • Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) Michael Talbert said that these three divisions have a total budget of about $2.5 million. There are also a number of cuts. The funding for the Triangle Land Conservancy has been eliminated. There has been a reduction in personnel, mainly temporary, reduced travel and training, reduced hardcopies and mailings, reduced use of staff vehicles, and reduced operating expenses such as subscriptions and computer needs. In Soil and Water, there are similar reductions for travel, conferences, and training; operating expenses; and educational materials. In the service delivery for the Parks and Recreation division, there are similar eliminations, but it also includes two positions — a Park Conservation Technician I and an Administrative Assistant II. With the staff reductions, they are also decreasing the level of park maintenance. There are also reductions in operating expenses and travel in those areas. Regarding capital projects, the total reductions are proposed to be $800,000 for this department.