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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: April 19, 2005 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. C-~-p <br />SUBJECT: School/County Efficiency Study and Supplemental Contract with Robert Segal, <br />CPA. PA <br />DEPARTMENT: County Manager/Finance PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Draft Agreement <br />4/14/05 Segal Letter <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />John Link or Rod Visser, ext 2300 <br />Ken Chavious, ext 2453 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To receive an update from the firm of Robert S. Segal, CPA, PA regarding <br />findings to date from an examination of opportunities for achieving budgetary efficiencies in the <br />operations of the two school systems and the County; and to consider approving a <br />supplemental agreement with the Segal firm that will produce various comparisons of <br />educational resources available to the two school systems that were not addressed in the <br />March 2005 Educational Excellence Report. <br />BACKGROUND: Orange County, the Orange County Schools, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro <br />City Schools entered into separate agreements during Fall 2004 with the Robert Segal CPA firm <br />to examine County and school finance records to determine if additional operating efficiencies <br />and resulting savings could be achieved. As was reported at the BOCC's regular meeting on <br />September 21, 2004, the County and both school systems have taken a number of significant <br />steps in recent years to enhance revenue collection and to reduce expenditures through mare <br />advantageous contracting and spending approaches. The Segal firm was engaged several <br />years ago by all three governing boards for revenue enhancement/expense reduction analysis, <br />and succeeded in producing hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings and additional revenue <br />for all three entities. <br />Robert Segal attended the December 14, 2004 and January 22, 2005 Orange County <br />Commissioners' meetings to provide updates on preliminary findings from the Fall 2004 <br />engagements. Mr. Segal will attend tonight's meeting and provide further update of activities <br />and potential savings identified for the County and both school systems. <br />The October 19, 2004 agreement between the County and Segal focused specifically on <br />examining opportunities for revenue enhancement and expense reduction. There was also <br />discussion during that October 19 meeting that during the course of their examination of County <br />