Minutes 06-09-2020 Virtual Budget Work Session

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7 Commissioner Bedford said she appreciated the concerns for the students, but she does not think cutting the library fund is the best way to meet the need. She said Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) has a large fund balance that could be tapped into. She said the rural schools do not have as much excess funding, but there is some, as well as expected relief funding from the CARES Act. She said she would leave the library funding alone, and use the $191,000 to set up a reserve, if necessary. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if Chair Rich envisions using these funds for things other than just technology, as there will be so many emergency needs that will arise going forward. He said an emergency fund is a good idea. Commissioner Dorosin echoed Commissioner Marcoplos and Commissioner Bedford, and said he liked the conversation being started about this amendment. He said the Southern Library will be coming on line in a couple of years, and there has to be a conversation about the Chapel Hill library and the County libraries, as the user numbers will likely shift greatly with the new library being available. He said he also likes the idea of an emergency education fund in these unusual times, and agrees there will be many needs, not just technology. He said the County has been giving money to the Chapel Hill library, which has been closed for the past three months, and asked if there are any savings to be realized there. Commissioner Greene said an equitable fund is needed now, but may not be needed in a couple of years. She said she would not be in favor of cutting library funding now, and there should be ongoing discussions in the fall. Chair Rich said the Board has no agreement with Chapel Hill regarding the library now, because the agreement ran out in 2015. She said the library was going to ask the BOCC for more money this budget season, and that is why she started doing some research on this issue. She said it is important to understand circulation numbers, rather than active member numbers. She said the Board gives a lot of money to the library (over $500,000), and has no say in how it is spent, and there is no interoperability between the County and the City libraries. She said the Chapel Hill library is a great resource for those in the southern part of the County, but an education fund that is managed by the County is needed to serve all children. She said the Board must deliver a sound basic education to every child in the County, and right now the Board is failing to do so. Commissioner McKee said the agreement that continued on after 2015 was by default. He said the members of the Chapel Hill Board and Orange County Board of Commissioners need to sit down and figure out what should Orange County pay. He said he would rather do this by negotiation, and not by budget amendment. Commissioner Greene said she was last involved in discussions in 2015, from the Chapel Hill side, and she thought the conclusion at that time was to have seamless integration between the library systems. She said she is surprised that this has not happened. She said the problem with broadband is acute, but that is a separate issue from the library. Commissioner Price said there has been some interoperability. She said she feels that this amendment is not spelled out enough for her. She said she does support an emergency fund for education, but if students can have access to the library, there are many resources available. She said the BOCC should talk with the school boards to determine how best to meet their emergency needs, but using library funds is not the way to proceed. She said conversations with the town library are important to have, and funding likely will decrease as the southern branch comes online. Chair Rich said she spoke with school leadership, and students need to simply have access to the Internet. She said until all students can access the Internet, the County is not serving children equitably. Commissioner Price said she asked the schools if more hot spots are needed, and the schools said no. She said teachers need to be involved in the conversation about what is really needed.