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Sue Russell read a prepared statement: "I am President of Child Care Services Association, anon-profit agency working in Orange County, across the Triangle and state and nationally to improve the accessibility of high quality child care. Orange County just received a statewide award for having some of the best quality childcare in the state. It has been hard and committed work on the part of child care teachers, directors, and family child care providers in the County to raise the baron quality. They have sacrificed their own earning potential and economic viability because they believe so much in their work with young children. Does quality matter? You bet it does. All the research is clear. If we provide high quality early childhood education, then children will come to school ready, need less remedial education, have great school success and greater success in life. Orange County is lucky to have such a system in place. But the reality for families is that child care costs more than most can afford in Orange County and across North Carolina. The latest market rate study produced by the NC Division of Child Development has established the rate for an infant in a four-star center as $1,Q$2 a month and the rate for atwo-year old as $936 a month. This is more than tuition at any UNC system university. CCSA operates a scholarship program to help families pay for childcare. Last year we helped 324 children and their families are able to afford high quality childcare. These families receiving assistance earned $21,7QQ a year on average. This means that without assistance they would have spent almost 5Q% of their gross earnings each month to access care. Instead, they paid about 1 Q% of their income, a much more affordable share. Yet there remain 461 children on the combined CCSAIDSS list. These families need our help. We hope that the County will continue to invest its resources in childcare assistance to help these families. Your dollars see an immediate return, as parents are able to work and contribute to Orange County's economy. You also see a long- term return as the children are enrolled in high quality settings, where their development and learning are enhanced. Thank you for understanding the importance of the first five years of a child's life and investing in them. According to James Heckman, the Nobel Price winning economist, `investments in high-quality early education programs have the highest rate of return of any social investment.' The `Too Little, Too Late' approach to education continues to fail our children. With your leadership, Orange County can do better. Thank you." B.D. Voyce thanked the County Commissioners for all of the funding they have given in the past for the school systems. He said that tonight the decision is not just thumbs up or thumbs down on increasing the property tax far the schools. He thinks that the decision should begin with the County Commissioners telling the citizens what is driving most of the County tax increases. He spoke about why Orange County has trouble funding its schools. He made reference to the letter that was in the newspaper from Ms. Parker, who lives in the CHCCS district. In the letter, Ms. Parker speaks about the increasing tax burden. He asked if Ms. Parker really knew why her County taxes are increasing so and if she knows about the January 2Q06 N. C. State Report, which details the costs of community services in Orange County. He said that the County population has graven from 77,QQQ to 121,QQQ in the past 25 years. He said that there is a systemic problem in Orange County. Every time a new subdivision is approved, the demand for County services goes up, and the result is net negative financial demand, more property taxes. He asked the County Commissioners to please fix the system. He asked the County Commissioners to spend less time on resolutions and foreign affairs and fix the system. Kate Sanford read a prepared statement: "Thank you for the continued financial support you have made available to families in Orange County. With these funds over the last three years, 85 children have received the benefits of high quality childcare enabling them to work or enroll in higher education. You are