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funding at the higher level should be considered before any discussion of merger." Commissioners, we ask you tonight to formulate your position on merger and present it to the public. It is certainly possible, if nothing else, to articulate the circumstances under which you would support merger, or the circumstances under which you would oppose it. It would be very difficult for us to vote for a candidate next May or in any future May primary if the candidate has not taken such a position. Commissioners, one of the basic premises in this discussion has been flawed. All through this debate, we've heard about the trend towards merger in the state of North Carolina. Many of us have come to believe that this is a State priority that we might be forced to merge. investigated this point, and I can tell you that while there was legislative interest in merger during the Martin administration in the 80's, that is not the case now. I've communicated with our State representatives, with the State legal department, and with the Department of Public Instruction. What I've heard from all sides is that merger is a local issue. There is no current movement in Raleigh to push for merger. There is no statutory preference for merger under North Carolina law. Furthermore, the State Board of Education has never taken a position on merger, but has merely complied with the requests for information. Ladies and gentlemen, the trend towards merger over the past 40 years is no longer a trend. There is no legislative interest in merger and there is no DPI interest. There is just the five of you, the County Commissioners. And there are thousands of us in the Chapel Hill district, and we ask you tonight to end this uncertain drama and set a clear course. We ask you to improve funding in the Orange County district without creating a burden on the very families we're trying to help. We ask you to enhance our excellent local systems without destroying them in the process. And finally, we ask you to find solutions that work for everyone. Thank you. Artie Franklin: My name is Artie Franklin. I live in the Chapel Hill part of Orange County. When a politician recently bemoaned the politics that entered the debate of the merger issue, a red flag went up. There can be little doubt that a political calculation was made to introduce merger during anon-election year, to label it a civil rights issue, and to label it a social justice issue. It is clear that this issue has been political from the beginning. One point of contention is the projected capital expenditure for the next ten years. Setting aside the logic of building schools near children, some supporters of merger have labeled this a subsidy because the City will get more than it contributes. Tc find even a veneer of accuracy in the subsidy conspiracy, one must limit consideration for the next ten years. Using the tax revenue projections, appendix R1 provided by the Board of County Commissioners, a quick calculation shows that the City schools will receive $1.30 in capital assets for every $1 its taxpayers contribute. But limiting one's consideration to future events, ignoring recent history is unfair and wrong. During the last ten years, the County school system received $1.25 in capital assets for every $1 provided by non-City taxpayers. City bashers willfully ignore the County's gain in their fairness calculations. On top of that, the City tax base grew at a greater rate than non- City tax base during the last ten years. Since this trend is not reflected in the projected tax revenues, the City's projected tax payments are understated. Consequently, this understatement flaw further fuels the misguided claim that the City schools will be subsidized by non-City taxpayers. Ultimately, the merger debate returns to the end quality and per pupil funding. The Board of County Commissioners is accountable for under funding the County schools, and the remedy is to budget for appropriate funding. Ironically, same merger partisans want to avoid an education dedicated special district tax and leave all of the County's education funding at the mercy of the Board of County Commissioners. Apparently, a merger will ensure that all the County school children are equally under funded. It is evident from their overblown rhetoric, that there was no