Orange County NC Website
June 9th at SHSC <br /> Work Session/Adoption —June 14th at SHSC <br /> Final Adoption —June 21St at SHSC <br /> Document Availability <br /> •Clerk to Board of Commissioners <br /> •County Financial Services Office <br /> •Orange County Library <br /> •Chapel Hill Public Library <br /> •Carrboro/McDougle Branch Library <br /> •Cybrary, Carrboro <br /> •Orange County Website <br /> •www.co.orange.nc.us <br /> Chair Pelissier said that Commissioner Hemminger is ill this evening and will be unable <br /> to attend tonight. <br /> 3. Public Comment <br /> Daniel Derby is an Orange County employee and he is representing the Employee <br /> Consortium as its Chair. He said that he is here to represent Orange County's most valuable <br /> asset, its employees. He said that the County is blessed with hard-working and dedicated <br /> employees that truly enjoy working for the County. The employees have continued to provide <br /> excellent service through these past few years of economic difficulty. However, due to the rising <br /> costs of everyday living and salaries that have stayed the same since FY 2008-09, many of the <br /> employees are having a hard time providing for their families. He said to please keep <br /> employees in mind as the County Commissioners deliberate the budget. He said that the ERC <br /> will be forwarding a letter to the Board of County Commissioners soon. He thanked Frank <br /> Clifton for balancing the budget without a tax increase. <br /> Jack Chestnut is the Chair of the Senior Orange Development Day Healthcare Program. <br /> He thanked the Manager and Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey for their support of the <br /> Day Program in 2012. He said that the program has 30 participants now. He said that in <br /> February there were some issues and concerns, and he wanted to share these concerns with <br /> the County Commissioners and give them the correct information, since they had heard about <br /> them through various sources. Beginning in last fiscal year, they lost two veterans, which pay <br /> $65/day. Later on, they lost some more. This was a financial hardship. Carol Woods helped <br /> with some funds. They have been trying to recruit more people for this program. He thanked <br /> the Board for its support. <br /> Robert Dowling is the Executive Director of the Community Home Trust and he thanked <br /> the County Commissioners for their past support. He said that he hopes Orange County would <br /> continue to support them in the coming year. The Manager has budgeted for the Community <br /> Home Trust this year at the same level as last year and he hopes that the Board of County <br /> Commissioners would agree with this. If not, then there will be a deficit of$65,000. He said <br /> that the projected salaries for next year are about$25,000 less than this year. Unfortunately, <br /> healthcare costs increases are a concern for them. He said that for 20 years, the Home Trust <br /> has piggybacked on the County for health insurance. He said that they are in relatively good <br /> financial shape. <br /> Krysia Lynes spoke on behalf of the schools. She is the PTA President for the CHCCS <br /> district. She said that they have been actively advocating for funding for public education and <br /> have been concentrating efforts on the State level. They are asking that the additional 1% on <br />