Orange County NC Website
Commissioner Jacobs asked if putting in $14,000 plus about $9,000 for advertising be <br /> sufficient at this point. <br /> Brad Broadwell said that he would like to continue with the allocation from last year and <br /> continue with those successes. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that if the County is serious about economic development, <br /> then this is the year not to cut this department and fund it at the level from last year. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger agreed and asked how much the funding would be. Brad <br /> Broadwell said that it was $69,000 last year and this year it is $31,000. An additional $38,000 <br /> would put the department back to where it was. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs asked clarifying questions about repair and maintenance, which <br /> were answered by staff. <br /> Paul Laughton said that one of the largest projects for repair and maintenance is the IT <br /> budget, which includes software maintenance. This includes about $180,000. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Aging, page 3-12, Changing in Delivery of <br /> Service and Operations, and asked about Eldercare, which has a $46,000 reduction, including <br /> reducing funding for aging in place service options. He asked how this reduction relates to <br /> services for the frail elderly. Department on Aging Director Jerry Passmore said that there is a <br /> local fund from citizens as contributions. There are also lots of volunteers for calling the frail <br /> elderly and Jerry Passmore plans to continue to use those. <br /> Frank Clifton asked that the Board use specific numbers instead of "about" or <br /> "approximately". <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he wants to restore the $17,000 to the Board of <br /> Elections for polling sites so that there will be four sites. <br /> Commissioner Nelson asked to hear from Health Director Rosemary Summers about <br /> what she considers priorities and Rosemary Summers said that the priority would be to retain <br /> her workforce and be able to replace people as they leave. She would also like to replace <br /> some of the aging dental equipment. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he would like to restore funding to the Health <br /> Department, specifically for the dental equipment. He suggested$100,000 for this purpose. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger asked if the dental equipment could come out of the capital <br /> reserve funds and Clarence Grier said yes. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he would like to restore all of the library funding that is <br /> being cut, which is $260,000. <br /> Library Services Director Lucinda Munger said that the actual reduction was $247,000 <br /> (including all locations). If this is added back to the Library budget, this would include keeping <br /> Cedar Grove open, which would be an additional $107,000. She listed each item for this <br /> amount. There is also a Time Warner connection, which is $100 a month. <br /> Clarence Grier said that the running total so far is $574,000 for things being added. <br /> Commissioner Nelson revised his request to propose restoring 50% of the library cuts, <br /> which would be $150,000, and let the Library Services Director decide how to use it. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that there are some specific things that he would like to see <br /> accomplished: $51,000 restored for the Cybrary; that the main library go from 54 hours to 60 <br /> hours; and to look at alternatives for maintaining services in some form for areas north of <br /> Hillsborough. He suggested at least keeping all branches open until October 1st since people <br /> use libraries the most in the summer. <br /> Lucinda Munger said that the person who left the Cybrary was a 30-hour permanent <br /> librarian. Since this person left, they have been staffing this with non-permanent employees <br /> for 24 hours a week. If the County Commissioners wish to extend the hours back to 30 hours, <br /> it would cost approximately $8,000. Regarding the main library, 60 hours is the State standard <br /> for a central library. If the Board wishes, there could be some hours on Sunday. She would <br />