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Carrboro <br /> The Assistant Town Manager Bing Roenick, spoke about the Carrboro budget. They too are <br /> proposing a tax increase. There are no pay increases or new positions included in their budget. <br /> Representative Verla Insko made some comments about the State's situation. The State is <br /> projecting a $1.2 billion loss in revenue, and the Appropriations Chairs have directed various divisions to <br /> cut certain amounts. She is on the Health and Human Services Appropriations this year. She said that <br /> you may hear that the State is overemphasizing the problem and that we actually have an increase in <br /> revenue this year. She checked with the economist for the General Assembly and he said that there is a <br /> 3% decline in revenue. Our revenue last fiscal year included some deductions to pay off some lost <br /> lawsuits. So it appears we have an increase in revenue but we actually do not have an increase. The <br /> Department of Health and Human Services was directed to cut $330 million out of its budget. The <br /> Department sent options for cuts, and those added up to $280 million, which means that the <br /> Appropriations Committee would have to come up with another$50 million in cuts in order to meet the <br /> goal of$330 million. In the Division of Aging, they are proposing to cut home and community care block <br /> grants 11 %, which would be $1.5 million. These provide in-home services including skilled home care <br /> and home aid levels (Meals on Wheels, etc.). The impact would be that 455 clients would not receive in- <br /> home care, 431 people would not receive congregate meals, and 431 would not receive home delivered <br /> meals. Another cut proposed was to cut 35 positions in child support enforcement. The cuts in the <br /> Health and Human Services Appropriations budget are very painful. The cuts from mental health will be <br /> $65 million, with $60 million coming out of area programs. The reason the proposal is to take the money <br /> out of area programs and not the state institutions is because state institutions are the safety net. This <br /> will be discussed later in the agenda. She said that the Orange County delegation would vote for many <br /> ways to solve this problem —cigarette tax increase, beer and wine tax increases, and other options. <br /> They would also cut some loopholes. The State has about $2 billion worth of loopholes, but there are <br /> some that do not benefit vulnerable populations. There would have to be 61 votes in the House and 26 <br /> votes in the Senate to cut the loopholes. She said that these are just proposals and there will be a long <br /> process. The hope is that it will not be this bad. <br /> Alex Zaffron said that we appreciate the extent to which the State has had to cut the budget. He <br /> said that it was bizarre that the State was operating on a 4% revenue growth projection when it was clear <br /> that the economy was really bad. He said that the municipalities are having to raise taxes to a painful <br /> extent in order to balance the budgets. He asked the Representatives to take this information back to <br /> the legislature. <br /> Jackie Gist said that she hopes that when the local delegation is making arguments from the floor <br /> that they would point out several things. One thing is that the State is saying that they do not want to <br /> raise taxes, but they are raising taxes all across the State by their actions. She does not think the public <br /> understands this. She would like to know what happened to all of the money. Money does not just <br /> evaporate - it had to go somewhere. Her feeling is that the money went upward in the organization. She <br /> said that the State was avoiding the political consequences of raising taxes and forcing it onto the <br /> municipalities, and she wishes that the delegation would make that argument. <br /> John Herrera arrived at this point at 8:35 p.m. <br /> Commissioner Halkiotis said that he and Chair Jacobs had lunch with a legislator from outside of <br /> Orange County, and he shared that Senator Basnight was trying to get $900,000 out of the Highway <br /> Trust Fund to build a new bronze statue of the Wright Brothers because of the big anniversary coming <br /> up. He heard a couple of weeks ago that some folks on the coast are lamenting that they were not going <br /> to have $7 million in state funding for the year long celebration of the Wright Brothers and that they were <br /> only going to get $800,000 for the celebration. Also, last week, he received an email that a proposal had <br /> been made to chop out the group within the North Carolina Department of Agriculture that was in charge <br /> of the Federal Commodities Program. For the Orange County school system, that is about $98,000 a <br /> year, but for many of the poorer school systems in the State, where 80% of their children qualify for free <br />