Minutes 05-20-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Gordon asked if the school nurses were for both school systems, and the school resource officers were for only the Orange County schools. Clarence Grier said Chapel Hill Carrboro City schools use the fair funding with the police department to fund their school resource officers. He said the Orange County Schools use officers funded in the sheriff's department, which equates to $556,424. Commissioner Gordon said the capital expenditures will all be reflected in the operating budget, as they will be debt service or outright dollars in recurring or long range capital. Clarence Grier said this is correct. Commissioner Gordon referred to the funding that goes into this budget. She said this includes the per pupil allocation, and she asked if the sales tax allocation is counted in this as well. Clarence Grier said yes. He said this is comprised of property tax and sales tax. He said part of the sales tax is mandated by the state to go towards capital. He said the County already funds at such a high rate that it is over the required threshold. Commissioner Gordon said, looking at the current expense appropriation and how it relates to the 48.1 percent target, the per-pupil is a big part of it, but it is not all of it. Clarence Grier said the per pupil funds only the current expenses. He said the recurring capital and the long range capital are outside of the per-pupil if you want to phrase it that way. He said the school nurses and the resource officers are an additional 1.25 percent that is above the mandated categories for the 48.1 percent. Commissioner Gordon asked if the fair funding still comes out of the per pupil amount. Clarence Grier said no; the fair funding is not part of the per pupil expense. Commissioner Gordon confirmed the only thing that comes out of the per-pupil is current expense. Clarence Grier said that is correct. He said the $1.25 million in additional mandated services brings the percentage up to 49.9%. He said this has been in place since fiscal year 1999-2000. Commissioner Rich asked about the Cost of Living (COLA) Merit increase. She asked if the 2% increase is comparable to what the towns and OWASA are doing. Michael Talbert said it is somewhat comparable. He said the amounts range from 2-3 percent. He said the past several years the County has done about 2 percent for cost of living and has stayed ahead of other local governments. He said the County is trying to build up the 401 k contribution, as this is one area of disadvantage. Commissioner Rich asked if this is part of the package with the $1,200 match. Michael Talbert said that is correct. He said it maxes out at 4 percent max, up to $1,500. Clarence Grier said the County had great participation in the 401 K program, and it exceeded expectations by $675,000. Commissioner porosin said he wanted to follow up on Commissioner Gordon's questions with regard to school funding. He said he would appreciate some simplification of how schools are funded. He referred to the slide regarding the resource officers and nurses. He asked how much of the $697,000 for nurses goes to each school district. He asked the same question for the resource officers. He would like to see how this is broken down. He said he is curious why there is a separation where the percentage is 49.3 in one place and 49.9 in another place. He feels like there should be a total amount and then a clear designation of how much is going to each school district. Michael Talbert said staff will provide all this detail at the work session. He said this is a somewhat older formula that is based on historical information, and this information will be shared.