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APPROVED 2/14/2000 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />BUDGET WORK SESSION <br />JUNE 8, 1999 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, June 8, 1999 at 5:00 p.m. in the Board <br />Room at the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Alice M. Gordon and Commissioners Margaret <br />W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. <br />Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE <br />PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL <br />RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. <br />Link. <br />Chair Gordon called the meeting to order. She turned the meeting over to County Manager John <br />1. REVIEW OF SCHOOL BUDGETS <br />a. Manager's Presentation <br />John Link explained the current expense appropriation for the Orange County and Chapel <br />HilltCarrboro City Schools as noted on the blue sheet distributed. The recommended allocation per pupil in <br />both school systems is $2,256. This is an increase per pupil of $216. The Orange County School system is <br />projecting to have an average daily membership of 6,406. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro City School system is <br />projecting to have an average daily membership of 8,903. There are 2,500 fewer students in Orange County <br />than in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. The Orange County School system does not have a district tax. In the budget <br />message, he made a specific recommendation that the County Commissioners and the Orange County <br />School Board talk about setting aside a certain amount of fund balance next year toward the startup of the <br />new elementary school. He said it would be a challenge to fund both ongoing expense as well as address <br />any kind of expansion and startup costs by relying on the per pupil allocation that goes for both school <br />systems. He said the Orange County School system's total request is 18.4 million dollars, and his <br />recommendation is 17.7 million dollars. He asked Donna Dean to explain the adjustments and mandates for <br />this funding. <br />Budget Director Donna Dean reviewed the adjustments and mandates as listed on the blue sheet <br />distributed. She said the expenditure decreases come from savings that the Orange County School system <br />is going to have from what they put in their budget as clerical. They have savings from clerical substitutes, <br />overtime, and vehicle liability insurance. All of these savings total $16,000. She said the mandates were <br />those items that the system felt that they had to do, including salary increases for certified and classified <br />personnel. There was a health insurance increase of 35%. This was the first increase in about seven years. <br />There is some increased cost for utilities and liability insurance. The mandates total $848,884. There are <br />also some additional needs at the A. L. Stanback Year Round School. These needs total $159,773. She <br />explained that the additional charter school students that would be added next year would be figured into the <br />per pupil allocation. The school system requested 1.2 million dollars to fund new initiatives, and the County <br />agreed to provide $532,119. <br />b. Presentation from Orange County Schools <br />Superintendent Randy Bridges made a Powerpoint presentation that he distributed and which is in the <br />permanent agenda file (PAF) in the Clerk's office. He gave an update on the success stories of the school <br />system, including increased academic proficiency and teacher recognition.