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of the EMS squads on more than one occasion. He indicated that without their services <br /> he would not be alive tonight. On several occasions he has refused to be transported to <br /> the hospital, because he could not afford the hospital expenses. He stated that if the <br /> user fees were implemented, there would be people who will refuse this needed service <br /> because they cannot afford it. <br /> Mr. Bob Bateman spoke on behalf of the Orange County Board of Education. He <br /> requested that the Commissioners reconsider the Managers proposal. The expansion <br /> requests and the supplements were important elements of the proposed budget and need to <br /> be included in the County's budget. <br /> Mr. Christopher Cooke, a resident of Northern Orange County, thanked the <br /> Commissioners for their role in the Bond issue last fall. He also thanked the County <br /> Manager for addressing the equalization of county funding. He indicated that he <br /> believed the existence of the Chapel Hill District Tax was the factor that has created a <br /> situation of inequality. He encouraged the Commissioners and the County Manager to <br /> continue to work toward a progressive solution to this problem. <br /> Ms. Robin Zill, a resident of Orange County and a member of the Education <br /> Foundation for Orange County Schools, thanked the Board of Commissioners and Manager for <br /> their efforts toward equalizing funding between the two school systems. Attracting <br /> business to Orange County is critical to improving the tax base and one of the keys to <br /> doing this is education. This is a two-fold problem in that we have potential employees <br /> who are functionally illiterate and that we have difficulty attracting the business <br /> leaders to relocate their companies here because they do not want their children to go <br /> to school here. She also suggested that some of there problems could be addressed <br /> through better networking and that method needs to be addressed as seriously as does the <br /> current request for more funding. <br /> Ms. Luanne Smythe pointed out that the commitment of Chapel Hill and Carrboro <br /> during the last two decades is the reason for the inequity in funding. She requested <br /> that the energy responsible for this problem not be stifled. She also reminded the <br /> citizens of Orange County that a School District Tax is school money. Increasing our <br /> tax base does not assure the schools that they will receive that money. <br /> There being no further comments, the public hearing was closed. <br /> Moses Carey, Jr. , Chairman <br /> Beverly Blythe, Clerk <br />