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APPROVED 9/3/2002 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING May 30, 2002 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Thursday, May 30, 2002 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The purpose of this meeting was to hold a public hearing on the County Manager's recommended 2002-2003 budget. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Moses Carey, Jr. and Stephen Halkiatis COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Commissioner Alice M. Gordon 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) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. Chair Jacobs welcomed everyone to the meeting. He announced that Commissioner Gordon would not be in attendance tonight because of another meeting, but would review the video. Commissioner Carey made reference to a legislative meeting he attended in Raleigh of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. He brought back some information for the Manager, staff, and the County Commissioners. It includes information an the Governor's proposed budget and outlines some of the recommended changes for State departments. He also brought a copy of the proposal by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners combined with the North Carolina League of Municipalities to the legislature and the Governor to try and get support for protecting the counties' and the cities' revenue over the next couple of years. The proposal includes the adoption of new sales taxes. He said that because it is going to take a lot of pressure on the legislature to adopt this strategy, the NCACC has scheduled a series of County Lobbyists Days over the next month. They are asking county commissioners to walk the halls of the legislature each Wednesday to make the legislature aware of this strategy and how cities and counties will be affected by the proposed State budget. He plans to go there at least one or two Wednesdays to participate. 1. Budget Presentation County Manager Jahn Link made this PowerPoint presentation. He thanked Budget Director Donna Dean and all of the staff that have worked so hard to pull this budget together. He also thanked the two school superintendents and their staff for their cooperation. The proposed General Fund Budget totals $122,850,400. This is a 4.9% increase from last year, which is an increase of $5.7 million. The proposed general fund tax rate increase is 4.5 cents, or 85 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Nearly two cents of the proposed increase is attributable to funds needed to pay debt service on the sale of the 1997 voter-approved bonds. Past Year Successes In terms of the past year, it is most notable that Orange County remains #1 in the State for education funding. The per-pupil allocation in Orange County is $1,000 more than the second ranking County. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system opened Smith Middle School on the campus of Chapel Hill High School and Seawell Elementary School. Construction has begun on Elementary School #9 located in the Meadowmont subdivision. The Orange County School system will open Cedar Ridge High School in August.