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for the County. There will be a holistic approach, recognizing that the approaches and the <br />responsibilities of the two departments would be different, but should be compatible. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board has talked about at least considering a staff <br />attorney. He asked how this would get into the budget. Laura Blackmon said that she talked <br />with Geof Gledhill about the responsibilities this person would have, but there are a lot of details <br />to work out before it gets put into the budget. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked for a placeholder in the budget for a staff attorney. <br />Donna Coffey said that there was a reserve set-aside during the budget process last <br />year, and it is still there, but there was no actual position tied to it. Now there can be a <br />placeholder with an FTE. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that part of why it was delayed was so that the new Manager <br />could help craft the position. <br />Commissioner Nelson asked if the staff was looking for potential efficiencies in some <br />departments and things to be cut. Laura Blackmon said that she has not sat down with the <br />departments yet. One of the directions to the departments was for them to look at programs <br />that are no longer needed and other tradeoffs. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked for clarification on the money the County is spending on <br />functions related to schools that are being funded outside the per pupil. He asked if this would <br />be in a separate category. Donna Coffey said that the $800,000 in fair funding would show in <br />the education budget. Commissioner Jacobs wants to highlight this every time educational <br />spending is discussed. <br />Donna Coffey said that Attachment fi shows the $800,000. <br />Attachment 9 was from Finance Director Ken Chavious regarding fiscal issues. He said <br />that he was on a waiting list of other units of government to speak with the actuaries who <br />provided these numbers. Some people are finding that there are problems with how the <br />numbers were provided. He said that right now there is no requirement to fund GASB 45, there <br />is just a requirement to report it. He said that everyone is not scrambling and trying to fund it <br />right away. He thinks that the issue down the road is how the rating agencies will look at it. He <br />said that he would not recommend addressing this in 2007-08. There is a PowerPoint <br />presentation in the agenda materials from someone at UNC's School of Government. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked Ken Chavious what he plans to do about the fact that the <br />County has a debt and the school system has the assets. Ken Chavious said that the County <br />could have the school systems title the property to the County. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked if the school systems have similar liabilities regarding <br />retired employees and Ken Chavious answered that the State does. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about the $84.5 million and Ken Chavious said that this <br />number will be different every year, and this can be amortized aver a long period of time. He <br />said that this number is based on the assumption that the Caunty would have to pay all of the <br />money, which means that everyone that the County employed that was eligible to retire actually <br />retired and was eligible far this benefit, this is what it would cast. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about the plan and Ken Chavious said that the plan is not <br />to address the $84.5 million, but to address the annual required contribution, which is $8.8 <br />million. <br />Laura Blackmon said that she looked at the preliminary figures and her first reaction is <br />that the benefits clearly need to be changed. She said that the current plan is very generous. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about other states that have done this already and Ken <br />Chavious said that this is new to everybody this year. <br />Geof Gledhill asked if the Local Government Commission had weighed in on this and <br />Ken Chavious said that the LGC has said that it is a reporting requirement for the financial <br />