Agenda - 09-06-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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5 1 broader than just $500,000. She said that even if she agreed that schools are in crisis, she said 2 they has to be very careful about where they take it from. She said that she did not agree that 3 this was a fiscally sound decision. 4 Chair Price said they have a responsibility to the people who have worked for the 5 county. She said she wants to avoid setting the county up for a bad reputation on how they 6 manage their finances. She said that she would prefer to find the funds elsewhere. She said 7 she does not feel that taking from one to give to another. 8 Commissioner Fowler said she was a very conservative person, and originally had 9 concerns about the proposed amendment. She agreed that the schools are in crisis and lacking 10 a teacher is a crisis. She suggested taking only $250,000 for the schools and leaving $250,000 11 for the OPEB Trust Fund. 12 Commissioner Bedford said she would accept that amendment. 13 Chair Price asked the County Manager if ARPA funds could be used for a teacher 14 retention program. 15 Gary Donaldson said under revenue replacement there is some cushion, and it could be 16 done. 17 Bonnie Hammersley said she thought it was an eligible use. She said when the county 18 gives ARPA funds to other entities, the county signs an agreement with the entity that they will 19 do all of the reporting. She said the county does not budget funds for the schools by line item, 20 and that the county cannot tell the school districts how to use the funds. 21 Commissioner Bedford asked if ARPA funds could be used to supplant SRO or nurse 22 funds for school resource officers and other positions and then use the funds for the schools. 23 Bonnie Hammersley said she did not think it would be an eligible use because those 24 positions did not come up as a need during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the county 25 cannot supplant ongoing expenses with ARPA. 26 Chair Price asked if it were a teacher retention program would it work. 27 Bonnie Hammersley said that salaries would be a current expense and she did not think 28 that would be an eligible use. She said that she would be very cautious about that. She said that 29 she does not want to get into a mess in 2024 over ARPA funding and management. 30 Commissioner Hamilton said that Gary Donaldson's report made it clear that there is no 31 threat to their bond rating. 32 Gary Donaldson said it has not been a concern at the rating agencies. He said the other 33 part of that is that jurisdictions are beginning to do a multi-tiered approach and prefunding an 34 irrevocable trust. He said that is the reason for a slow and incremental approach. He said the 35 actuary may show a higher rate of return when they do their report. 36 Commissioner Hamilton said right now it will not affect our bond rating. 37 Commissioner Richards said she did not read it that way. 38 Commissioner Hamilton said it is something in the future that might affect the bond 39 rating. She said that it is not something we need to be concerned about now. 40 Commissioner Richards said that this could create a bigger gap to fill in the future and 41 that will have to be addressed. She said that anything they do for the schools this year will be 42 part of their budget in future years and will continue. She said by adding additional funds they 43 would be creating a situation where there will be less to put into the fund in the future. She said 44 that schools would start out in a higher place than where they are now. 45 Commissioner McKee said it is easy to create funding for worthy projects. He said that 46 they create precedents and expectations. He said they create programs that take on a life of its 47 own. He said that they have set the precedent of not funding OPEB and allowing the liability to 48 grow from $60 million to $160 million in 10 years. He said that he does not think that the 49 additional funding of $500,000 will affect the schools. He said they have the #1 and #3 school 50 systems in the state. He said that they cannot let the legislature dump it back on counties 51 because it creates a bleed down problem and he is not willing to let Orange County pick up the