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V. Decide at the February 12, 2004 meeting that the BOCC will begin with the 2004105 Orange County budget to phase out the city school district tax over a three (3] year or five [5) year period {period to correspond with the date selected far the Effective Date of Merger) and increase the general properly tax proportionately to fund schools. VI. Decide at the February 12, 2004 meeting to ask each school board whether they would participate in the development of a proposed merger plan if asked to do so. Commissioner Jacobs said that his proposal is a collaborative effort and he and Chair Brown had worked on this together. He wanted to acknowledge the thoughtful, heartfelt, and insightful comments from the public. He thinks it is clear that the Board listened and was affected by all comments and ideas. He said that one major difference in his proposal from Commissioner Corey's proposal is that he still believes that we are in the process of articulating the problem that needs to be solved and analyzing the alternatives to solve the problems. It is also clear that same actions are called for in the short term. His proposal has three parts. A PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY IN ORANGE COUNTY TASK FORCE: Create a Commissioners' Educational Excellence task force to provide a thorough, unbiased review of the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school districts. Analyze the resources and programs available; address concerns regarding funding disparities, cooperation, and other matters identified by the Board of County Commissioners; and determine to what extent changes are necessary to assure that each student in Orange County has an equal opportunity to achieve a quality education. Charge the group with returning a report to the Board of County Commissioners by the end of the 2003-2004 fiscal year, if possible. ACTION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: --Hire a consultant to report to the BOCC who would examine the operations of each school system from an efficiency and business standpoint, with the object of improving education, reducing costs, and identifying areas of potential collaboration such as purchasing. -- Consider for adoption as part of the 10-year Capital Investment Plan a resolution stipulating that capital funds will be allocated to build a single proposed central office shared by both school systems. --Have county staff analyze for possible adoption by voters a countywide supplemental school tax that would be dedicated to school needs, scaled to reduce the CHCCS district tax as appropriate, and that would serve to unify support for education in Orange County. COLLABORATION: Charge the Chapel Hill Carrboro City and Orange County school boards to return to the Board of County Commissioners by June 1, 2004 with an analysis and plan of action to implement collaboration in the following areas: --A joint effort to coordinate the implementation of a middle college