Agenda - 09-04-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 Clarence Grier said this is correct. 2 Commissioner Gordon referred to the funding that goes into this budget. She said this 3 includes the per pupil allocation, and she asked if the sales tax allocation is counted in this as 4 well. 5 Clarence Grier said yes. He said this is comprised of property tax and sales tax. He 6 said part of the sales tax is mandated by the state to go towards capital. He said the County 7 already funds at such a high rate that it is over the required threshold. 8 Commissioner Gordon said, looking at the current expense appropriation and how it 9 relates to the 48.1 percent target, the per-pupil is a big part of it, but it is not all of it. 10 Clarence Grier said the per pupil funds only the current expenses. He said the recurring 11 capital and the long range capital are outside of the per-pupil if you want to phrase it that way. 12 He said the school nurses and the resource officers are an additional 1.25 percent that is above 13 the mandated categories for the 48.1 percent. 14 Commissioner Gordon asked if the fair funding still comes out of the per pupil amount. 15 Clarence Grier said no; the fair funding is not part of the per pupil expense. 16 Commissioner Gordon confirmed the only thing that comes out of the per-pupil is 17 current expense. 18 Clarence Grier said that is correct. He said the $1.25 million in additional mandated 19 services brings the percentage up to 49.9%. He said this has been in place since fiscal year 20 1999-2000. 21 Commissioner Rich asked about the Cost of Living (COLA) Merit increase. She asked if 22 the 2% increase is comparable to what the towns and OWASA are doing. 23 Michael Talbert said it is somewhat comparable. He said the amounts range from 2-3 24 percent. He said the past several years the County has done about 2 percent for cost of living 25 and has stayed ahead of other local governments. He said the County is trying to build up the 26 401k contribution, as this is one area of disadvantage. 27 Commissioner Rich asked if this is part of the package with the $1,200 match. 28 Michael Talbert said that is correct. He said it maxes out at 4 percent max, up to 29 $1,500. 30 Clarence Grier said the County had great participation in the 401K program, and it 31 exceeded expectations by $675,000. 32 Commissioner Dorosin said he wanted to follow up on Commissioner Gordon's 33 questions with regard to school funding. He said he would appreciate some simplification of 34 how schools are funded. He referred to the slide regarding the resource officers and nurses. 35 He asked how much of the $697,000 for nurses goes to each school district. He asked the 36 same question for the resource officers. He would like to see how this is broken down. 37 He said he is curious why there is a separation where the percentage is 49.3 in one 38 place and 49.9 in another place. He feels like there should be a total amount and then a clear 39 designation of how much is going to each school district. 40 Michael Talbert said staff will provide all this detail at the work session. He said this is a 41 somewhat older formula that is based on historical information, and this information will be 42 shared. 43 Commissioner Dorosin said this is his second time through the budget, and he feels like 44 all of the information is there, but it is not coming across in the way that is most accessible. He 45 wants to make sure everything is being done as equitably as possible between the two school 46 systems. 47 He asked where the school district tax for the Chapel Hill school district shows up. He 48 said he looked at the Orange County projected cash flows for 2014-15. He asked if the school 49 district tax is part of this.