Minutes 05-20-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner porosin said this is his second time through the budget, and he feels like all of the information is there, but it is not coming across in the way that is most accessible. He wants to make sure everything is being done as equitably as possible between the two school systems. He asked where the school district tax for the Chapel Hill school district shows up. He said he looked at the Orange County projected cash flows for 2014-15. He asked if the school district tax is part of this. Clarence Grier said this slide only shows the County's revenues and expenditures. He said the $21.8 million from the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools district tax is in their budget only. He said since the Board of County Commissioners is responsible for setting the tax rate, this amount is listed just for informational purposes. Michael Talbert said the tax rate for the school districts is set very much like the fire district tax. He said it is collected and the schools get all of the revenue regardless of the collections. Commissioner porosin asked if it is fair to say that the inequity in the per-pupil funding between the two school districts is the result of the district tax. Michael Talbert said that is correct. Commissioner porosin said everything else should have equity. Clarence Grier said that is correct. Michael Talbert said the state law mandates how the County does this. Chair Jacobs said he has seen many Commissioners over the years try to figure out the inequity created by the district tax. He said this is a conundrum. Commissioner porosin said it is stark to see that one cent on the overall County rate is $1.6 million and one cent on the school district rate is $1 million. He said this could be distributed more equitably. Chair Jacobs said it is proportional to the population. He said over the long term, changes in the revenue generation with the economic development districts might change some of those percentages. Chair Jacobs said one of the reasons that the sales tax changed in 2007 is because the state legislature changed the way it allocates sales tax revenues. He said this adversely affected Orange County. He said if this was calculated the way it used to be, the County is doing even better than before. He said the fact that 58 percent of the sales tax is retained within the County means that the County gets hurt more than most counties in the current formulation. Michael Talbert said that is pretty accurate. He said it was a complicated formula, but the County also gave up the expense on the Medicaid. Chair Jacobs said the County is one of the lowest Medicaid counties in the state. Clarence Grier said this continues to be the case. Chair Jacobs asked if the County is still getting the compensation amount promised during this deal. Clarence Grier said yes. He said recently it was $3.2 million. Chair Jacobs said it is a wash that is not reflected in the sales tax. Clarence Grier said yes. Michael Talbert said it is a wash in a "hold harmless" provision. He said this is a complicated provision. Chair Jacobs asked about the fund balance. He heard the figure $36.7 million, which is a little more than 20 percent, and the goal is 17percent. He asked if the money set aside for other post employment benefits (OPEB) is reflected in the difference between the 17 and the 20. Clarence Grier said that is in a separate fund, and it is not part of the $36.7 million.