Agenda - 03-16-2004-9g - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 For the last three years, the Board has postponed formal adoption of a long-range capital plan for a variety of reasons, including the budget crisis caused by State revenue reductions two years ago and the budgetary uncertainties derived therefrom ever since. Instead of adopting the entire long-range plan, the Board has chosen to approve funding, by individual capital project ordinances, in the first year of each plan without affirming projects included in years two through ten of the plan. The unadopted CIP, as reflected in the Manager's Recommended CIP document, has served as a general guide for future capital project planning instead, with no specific funding appropriations made except for those in the then-current fiscal year. The mutual approval of the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO) in the summer of 2003 by the County, Towns, and school systems places a responsibility on the BOCC to formally adopt a ten-year Capital Investment Plan that addresses identified needs based on projected student membership and school capacities. This requirement heightens the need for the BOCC to affirm long-range projects to indicate to our SAPFO partners - the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, along with both school boards - that concrete plans are in place to ensure that adequate additional school capacity will be brought on line in a timely way that satisfies the provisions of SAPFO. Attachments to this abstract include tables of County and School projects that were included in the Recommended 2003-13 CIP. The tables are footnoted to reflect the degree (full, partial, or none) to which designated funding for each project has already been appropriated for FY 2003- 04 by means of a BOCC-approved capital project ordinance. The tables also reflect several changes that the Board discussed and agreed to since May 2003. For example, CHCCS High School #3 was included in the CHCCS Board of Education Approved CIP at approximately $33.6 million. Since the Board of Education submitted that particular request, the BOCC has agreed to fund the school at $27.8 million for land and construction plus an additional $2.2 million (assuming the BOCC and Board of Education reach agreement on the implementation of an appropriate set of "smart growth initiatives") that would increase the total budget of the phase 1 high school project to $30 million. If there are proposed long-range projects that the BOCC is not prepared to affirm exactly as submitted by one or both school boards, the BOCC may still proceed with formal adoption of the CIP and simply earmark the funds in question for a conceptual project and place the recommended funding in a "reserve" until a later date (this approach could apply to County projects as well). For example, although both school boards have included in their 2003-13 CIP recommendations to fund new or expanded central office space, the BOCC has discussed on a number of occasions since the concept of having both school administrations housed in one central facility. Since further discussion on this concept will be needed with the school boards in the coming months, staff have proposed a reserve for OCS central office space (the CHCCS central office space proposal has no designated funding source, and is accordingly listed as a reserve in the tables related to "Projects That Require Funding Beyond Currently Programmed Pay-As-You-Go Funds and Debt Financing". This suggested approach would facilitate the BOCC's accomplishing formal CIP adoption while clearly signaling any projects that need further review and coordination before they move from the "planning" stage to the "funded/ implementation" stage. Following BOCC discussion and direction, staff will produce and distribute (in accordance with the SAPFO Memoranda of Understanding) copies of an adopted CIP document that reflects the updated list of long-range projects to be included for the 2003-13 planning period.