Agenda - 06-21-2016 - 5-a - Minutes

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15 1 retirement and health insurance contributions for school employees. These mandates total 2 $484,562, and are funded through the Current Expense appropriation. 3 4 Per Pupil Equivalent 5 Based on the structure of the additional funds, recommended for schools, the per pupil amount 6 increases by $24.50, to $3,722. This is because the Health and Safety Service Contracts will be 7 administered outside of the current expense budget, and funding for charter students does not 8 add to the per pupil amount. If the total increase of$2,656,421 were calculated in per pupil 9 equivalent terms, the increase would be approximately $133 per pupil. 10 11 School Districts Budget Requests 12 Both School Districts requested increases in per pupil funding for FY 2016-17. 13 Orange County Schools requested an increase of$390.50, plus funding for an additional 155 14 charter students. This requested increase in the local per pupil allocation for current expenses 15 would increase the per pupil allocation to $4,088. This funding level would represent an 16 increase in the current expense for Orange County Schools of $3,786,240. This would 17 represent a tax rate equivalent of approximately 2.26 cents on the current property tax rate. 18 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools requested an increase of $446.76, plus funding for an 19 additional 50 charter students in the district. This requested increase in the local per pupil 20 allocation for current expenses would increase the per pupil allocation to $4,144, 26. This 21 funding level would represent an increase of $4,465,203 in the current expense for Chapel Hill- 22 Carrboro City Schools. This would represent a tax rate equivalent of approximately 2.66 cents 23 on the current property tax rate. 24 25 County Support of Orange County Campus of Durham Technical Community College 26 The recommended funding for the Orange County Satellite Campus of Durham Technical 27 Community College, located at the Waterstone Development in Hillsborough, provides current 28 expense funding of$628,929, recurring capital of$75,000, and debt service payments of 29 $266,001. In addition, the recommended budget includes $50,000 for 50 scholarships (student 30 tuition for Orange County Residents), which will be paid from Article 46 Sales Tax proceeds 31 instead of through Current Expenses. 32 33 As with local school districts, counties in North Carolina are responsible for supplementing state 34 and federal appropriations to community colleges. For the most part, counties are responsible 35 for day-to-day operating costs such as utilities, security and custodial services. The Counties 36 are not responsible for funding of teaching staff. 37 38 Details regarding recommended funding levels for local school districts and Durham Technical 39 Community College are located in the Education section of the budget document, beginning on 40 Page 145. 41 42 During tonight's work session, Commissioners will have the opportunity to dialogue with the 43 Durham Technical Community College, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and Orange County 44 Schools about county funding and anticipated State funding for schools next year. Attachments 45 A, B, and C provide additional information of how Orange County compares with other counties 46 within North Carolina related to Current Expense funding per pupil and other educational related 47 funding issues; Attachment D provides a history of the Per Pupil Appropriation; Attachment E 48 provides a history of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District Tax, and Attachment F 49 represents the School Districts Local Current Expense Fund Balance Policy. 50