Minutes - 12-09-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED 6/5/2001 AGENDA ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ANNUAL PLANNING AND GOAL SETTING RETREAT SOUTHERN HUMAN SERVICES CENTER December 9, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a goal setting retreat an Saturday, December 9, 2000 at 9:00 a.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Stephen H. Halkiotis and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gardon, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below} A. Review A enda and Agree on Process for Conducting Retreat The Board decided to take afive-minute break at 10:30 a.m. The Board also decided to add three subheadings under "Bond Process" as follows: Timeline, ParameterslGuidelines for bonds, and Structure of Bond Committee. There were five carryover items from the previous meeting -Chapel Hill-Carrboro Elementary School #9 Planning Funds, Upcoming Meeting with Duke Officials, Fairview Park Ballfield, regular appointments, and Mobile Source Emission Reduction Grant Application. B. Fiscal ReviewlOutlook for FY 2000-01 and FY 2001-02 Budget Director Donna Dean made a Powerpoint presentation. In summary, she said that the County's undesignated fund balance exceeded the Local Government Commission's recommended target of eight percent of expenditures. Regarding the General Fund, the Tax Collector's office indicates that property tax collections for the current fiscal year are in line with past years. The County is confident that it will continue to have one of the best tax collection rates in the State and that collections will exceed 98 percent. There has been a slowing of retail sales in the State, and there is a potential that the County's sales tax collections for both the current and upcoming fiscal years may be negatively impacted. She said that it is becoming increasingly important to maximize those County revenues as much as possible -particularly with charges for County services. It is also important to implement a regular review schedule for in-depth, detailed analysis of County related fees. The Tax Collector's Office has been successful in collecting unpaid delinquent bills from those persons who have the ability to pay. These remedies have produced to date, about $25,000 with an additional $90,000 secured. The fees that are currently being studied are Planning, Inspections, and Development related fees and Emergency Medical Services related fees. There will be reports to the Commissioners in the spring of 2001 on these fees. There are new federal regulations related to Medicaid and Medicare that prompt the County to restructure the current EMS fees. Revenue Collector Jo Roberson said that from what Ken Chavious and Nick Waters have looked at, they are being very reasonable in their recommendation for an increase in the current fees for emergency medical services. The increases will also be based on what Medicaid and Medicare are currently paying and are not drastically increased. Donna Dean continued by talking about the revaluation process. At this point, revalued real property valuation totals about $7.8 billion. This is about 27°~ more than the currently budgeted valuation. There are still several unknowns since budget requests are not due from departments until March. However, it is known that increased funding will be needed for additional debt service and education. Other items that may require additional funding are the Master Aging Plan and Public Assistance.