Agenda 11-02-23; 12-6 - Information Item - Memorandum - Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Memoranda of Understanding

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1 ORANGE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager Travis Myren, Orange County Deputy Manager FROM: Cy Stober, AICP, Planning & Inspections Director CC: Perdita Holtz, AICP, Deputy Director, Long-Range Planning & Administration DATE: November 2, 2023 SUBJECT: Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Memoranda of Understanding ATTACHMENTS 1. Diagram of Annual SAPFO Reporting Process 2. 2003 Memorandum of Understanding In 2003, Orange County, the Orange County Schools (OCS) and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS), and the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough agreed to Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) pertaining to Schools Adequate Public Facilities (see Attachment 2 for the MOU pertaining to the CHHCS; the OCS MOU features identical language). Earlier this year, Orange County entered into a contract with Woolpert, Inc., to conduct a public school capital needs assessment. Additionally, the school districts contracted with OREd (Operations Research and Education Laboratory) at NC State University to produce land use studies and student membership projections, similar to those reported annually by the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance Technical Advisory Committee (SAPFOTAC), a committee comprised of staff from all signatories. OREd performs this service for multiple counties, including Chatham and Wake. OREd is also being used by OCS and CHCCS to provide technical assistance in their respective redistricting efforts. Both Woolpert and OREd are nearing completion of their respective work and, depending on the final results, modifications to part or all of the SAPFOTAC's annual report may be warranted. The MOUs detail the components of the SAPFOTAC annual report. OREd is working on matters related to projected student membership growth rates, the methodology used to determine these rates, and the student generation rates, all of which are currently prescribed by Section 1.d of the SAPFO MOUs. Changes to these aspects includes review and recommendation by the SAPFOTAC, and the Section states"...the Orange County Board of Commissioners shall inform the other parties to the Memorandum prior to February 1St in any year in which such change is intended to become effective what change was made and why it was necessary." There is also language pertaining to the opportunity for all governing boards to comment on the SAPFOTAC recommendation. As shown in the diagram in Attachment 1, the annual SAPFO process begins in November, concurrent to the work by both OREd and Woolpert. Given the February 1St deadline contained in the MOUs, Planning staff endeavors to complete an analysis comparing the Woolpert and OREd results with the standard SAPFO projections done by staff so that both the SAPFOTAC and BOCC can meet earlier than usual to discuss concerns and recommend next steps. Doing so requires a SAPFOTAC meeting in December in order to meet agenda item preparation deadline dates; the SAPFOTAC usually meets in January and the BOCC releases the annual report for comment in March.