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APPROVED 3/17/2015 <br /> MINUTES <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> WORK SESSION <br /> February 10, 2015 <br /> 7:00 p.m. <br /> The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Tuesday, <br /> February 10, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair McKee and Commissioners Mia Burroughs, <br /> Mark Dorosin, Barry Jacobs, Bernadette Pelissier, Renee Price and Penny Rich <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: <br /> COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts <br /> COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Assistant County <br /> Manager Cheryl Young and Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt (All other staff inembers will <br /> be identified appropriately below) <br /> Chair McKee called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. He asked for a moment of <br /> silence in honor of Dean Smith. <br /> 1. Discussion Reqardinq Potential Requirement that Contractors Doinq Business <br /> with Oranqe County Pay Employees a Livinq Waqe <br /> John Roberts reviewed the following background information and issues for <br /> consideration: <br /> BACKGROUND: At the December 9, 2014 meeting the Board adopted a motion to direct the <br /> attorney to "come back with an explicit policy for when and under what circumstances the <br /> board of commissioners can, might, and cannot require vendors or contractors to pay a living <br /> wage." <br /> In 2013 the North Carolina General Assembly limited the authority of counties and cities by <br /> amending §153A-449, which authorizes contracting with private contractors, to include a new <br /> sentence, "A county may not require a private contractor under this section to abide by any <br /> restriction that the county could not impose on all employers in the county, such as paying <br /> minimum wage or providing paid sick leave to its employees, as a condition of bidding on a <br /> contract." This language limits the County's authority to contractually require a living wage to <br /> those contracts for which the County does not solicit bids. A contractual living wage <br /> requirement could therefore only apply to construction contracts below $30,000, purchases of <br /> supplies and apparatus below $30,000, and service contracts in any amount so long as the <br /> County did not choose to solicit bids. <br /> Proposed policy: It is the policy of Orange County that vendors who enter contracts with <br /> Orange County must pay their employees a living wage. This policy shall not apply to contracts <br /> in the formal and informal bidding ranges or to any other contract on which the county solicits <br /> bids. This policy may be adopted as a standalone policy, as part of the budget ordinance, or as <br /> part of the general ordinances. <br /> Issues for Consideration <br /> 1. What is the living wage? Is it what it costs to live in the county or the state? With or <br /> without benefits? <br />