Agenda - 09-10-20; Item 2 - Follow-up Discussion on County Capital Investment Plan (CIP) Years 2 through 5

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are going to fall behind, and this funding is to help address the gap. She said the 1 County is responsible for these children’s education. 2 Commissioner Bedford said she appreciated the concerns for the students, but 3 she does not think cutting the library fund is the best way to meet the need. She said 4 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) has a large fund balance that could be 5 tapped into. She said the rural schools do not have as much excess funding, but there 6 is some, as well as expected relief funding from the CARES Act. She said she would 7 leave the library funding alone, and use the $191,000 to set up a reserve, if necessary. 8 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if Chair Rich envisions using these funds for 9 things other than just technology, as there will be so many emergency needs that will 10 arise going forward. He said an emergency fund is a good idea. 11 Commissioner Dorosin echoed Commissioner Marcoplos and Commissioner 12 Bedford, and said he liked the conversation being started about this amendment. He 13 said the Southern Library will be coming on line in a couple of years, and there has to be 14 a conversation about the Chapel Hill library and the County libraries, as the user 15 numbers will likely shift greatly with the new library being available. He said he also 16 likes the idea of an emergency education fund in these unusual times, and agrees there 17 will be many needs, not just technology. He said the County has been giving money to 18 the Chapel Hill library, which has been closed for the past three months, and asked if 19 there are any savings to be realized there. 20 Commissioner Greene said an equitable fund is needed now, but may not be 21 needed in a couple of years. She said she would not be in favor of cutting library 22 funding now, and there should be ongoing discussions in the fall. 23 Chair Rich said the Board has no agreement with Chapel Hill regarding the 24 library now, because the agreement ran out in 2015. She said the library was going to 25 ask the BOCC for more money this budget season, and that is why she started doing 26 some research on this issue. She said it is important to understand circulation numbers, 27 rather than active member numbers. She said the Board gives a lot of money to the 28 library (over $500,000), and has no say in how it is spent, and there is no interoperability 29 between the County and the City libraries. She said the Chapel Hill library is a great 30 resource for those in the southern part of the County, but an education fund that is 31 managed by the County is needed to serve all children. She said the Board must deliver 32 a sound basic education to every child in the County, and right now the Board is failing 33 to do so. 34 Commissioner McKee said the agreement that continued on after 2015 was by 35 default. He said the members of the Chapel Hill Board and Orange County Board of 36 Commissioners need to sit down and figure out what should Orange County pay. He 37 said he would rather do this by negotiation, and not by budget amendment. 38 Commissioner Greene said she was last involved in discussions in 2015, from 39 the Chapel Hill side, and she thought the conclusion at that time was to have seamless 40 integration between the library systems. She said she is surprised that this has not 41 happened. She said the problem with broadband is acute, but that is a separate issue 42 from the library. 43 Commissioner Price said there has been some interoperability. She said she 44 feels that this amendment is not spelled out enough for her. She said she does support 45 an emergency fund for education, but if students can have access to the library, there 46 are many resources available. She said the BOCC should talk with the school boards to 47 determine how best to meet their emergency needs, but using library funds is not the 48 way to proceed. She said conversations with the town library are important to have, and 49 funding likely will decrease as the southern branch comes online. 50 Chair Rich said she spoke with school leadership, and students need to simply 51 have access to the Internet. She said until all students can access the Internet, the 52 County is not serving children equitably. 53 11