Minutes 04-24-2018 Schools - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 Commissioner McKee said he knows citizens voted in the special district tax, but he has concerns about increasing this tax, and thus increasing the disparity between the schools James Barrett said this tax has not been increased, other than when new schools have been built. He said the request is boiler plate language that has always been put in the overall budget request, allowing for the BOCC to meet CHCCS operating needs by increasing the tax, which it never has. He said CHCCS does not want to increase disparity between the districts. Commissioner Price asked if CHCCS seeks an increase from the County, as well as the district tax. She said OCS is asking for a higher increase than CHCCS, but wonders if the two increases requested by CHCCS would be closer to the one increase request made by OCS. She asked if the BOCC were to approve the OCS per pupil increase, would it cover the amount requested by CHCC. Chair Dorosin said if the BOCC approves increases for one system, it must approve it for both. Chair Dasi said if the BOCC approves the increase outlined by OCS, there would be no need to increase the special district tax for CHCCS. Commissioner Jacobs asked Bonnie Hammersley if she could identify how much of a tax increase is being recommended to cover the school bonds. Bonnie Hammersley said this will be phased in over 4 years, as well as a one-time increase of $.05. Commissioner Jacobs said last fall the BOCC discussed that it would be unlikely that the County could afford the requested increase, yet each year the BOCC is asked to do so. He said he realizes that the schools are trying to advocate for the needs of the students, but it is important to realize the limitations of the taxpayers at some point. Chair Dorosin said to be fair, everyone is being realistic and offering both continuation and expansion budgets, knowing that the bonds have to be paid for. Commissioner Burroughs said she has a suggestion for the school bus driver problem. She said Commissioner McKee has a license and did it previously, and maybe he could do it. Chair Dorosin said some OCS employees are paid less than minimum wage, and asked if the number of employees/contractors in CHCCS making less than $15/hour is known. Todd LoFrese said all district employees are making the current Orange County living wage of $13.75/hour. He said the information provided in the handout is a bid analysis for custodial contract bids last spring, and the cost difference between the base bid and the living wage bid, just for custodial services, is $400,000. He said CHCCS could not move forward with the higher bid, and he is not certain how many employees are with the contractors currently. Chair Dorosin asked if the number of contracted custodians is known. Todd LoFrese said he is unsure. Chair Dorosin said the cost of these employees is still a major concern to the Board of County Commissioners, and the possibility of bringing the services in house is still on the table. Todd LoFrese said the CHCCS BOE approved a policy in January 2017 to insure that all employees received the living wage, and custodial and child nutrition services are the only exception. Steve Halkiotis said he wished they had control over the $1.2 million state mandate increases. He said the districts should run the fund balance into the ground, and if a crisis arises, approach the BOCC for a bail out. He said Guilford County recently suffered a tornado, and one cannot know what Mother Nature may do. He said the bottom line is to take care of the kids, and if that means using the entire fund balance, he will vote to do so. He said he cannot control Raleigh, and the districts are caught between a rock and an extremely hard place.