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1,400,000 square feet and 440 acres is a very small amount of money in comparison to the national average of what it takes to maintain school districts. Commissioner Foushee said that the OCS projected a pay increase for uncertified staff at 2°r6 and CHCCS is budgeting at 5°~. Superintendent Pedersen said that no one knows ultimately what the increases will be. These numbers were chosen after the legislative breakfast. Commissioner Foushee asked about the position for the day treatment program and how many students would be served and Jamezetta Bedford said 12. Commissioner Foushee asked about the reduction for the substitute teacher budget and how much has been spent so far and it was answered $400,000 so far. Commissioner Jacobs asked who CHCCS bought mulch from and Steve Scroggs said Orange County vendors because the County's mulch does not pass the playground certification standards. Commissioner Jacobs said that OCS is not budgeting an increase in electricity costs because of energy reduction. He asked why CHCCS was budgeting an increase. Superintendent Pedersen said that they started a program internally driven with the goal to reduce energy consumption by 20°~. This was started about three years ago, and the previous budgets were reduced. The savings have been factored in. The increases reflect rate increases of water, gas, and electricity. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the dollar amount of the fund balance and Superintendent Pedersen said $3.4 million. One factor is that they need 5.5% to meet the payroll in the fall months. Chair Carey applauded CHCCS for using a committee approach to identify potential cuts. He asked about the online survey and if all responses {from parents and staff} were weighted equally. He said that the OCS potential cuts started with the administrative and Central office and then programs. He said that, looking at CHCCS potential cuts, especially on Table 4, it was just the opposite. He said that he did not see a single Central office position on the list. Superintendent Pedersen said that they included every recommendation that was made as a potential area for reduction. No one suggested that specific positions at the Central office be reduced. Lisa Stuckey said that she served on the committee and the committee members were given index cards to provide suggestions and there was no general conversation. Everyone was asked to provide any suggestion. There were about 400 suggestions, and it was not a guided process. Commissioner Jacobs said that this is his 9t" budget and he thinks that these are the two finest school boards that he has worked with. He thanked them for sharing the budget drivers. He said that he was struck last night at the public hearing that the parents have been sent into a panic. He said that the County Commissioners were pretty upset when they read Budget Bulletin, Issue 2 of May 2007, which leads off with the sentence, "The Board of County Commissioners directed the new County Manager, Laura Blackmon, to prepare a budget that would not require a tax increase to support the operating budgets of the County and the two school systems." He said that the way that one might read this is that the County Commissioners are telling the Manager not to support the schools. He thinks that there is a perpetual problem that parents are thrown annually into these kinds of anxieties, partially because of statements like this. He suggested that the school collaboration group work on changing the budget process and ask the school collaboration group to work with the superintendents and the boards to get away from this. He wants to make the budget process the best it can be with the least anxiety produced and with the most honesty. There can still be disagreement, but