Agenda - 06-04-2024; 8-a - Minutes

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2 1 1 am here this evening specifically to discuss Item 16 of the 2024 budget, which involved a 2 proposed increase in the cost of these Motor Vehicle Requests handled by the Orange County 3 Sheriffs Office. The proposed increase was from $5 per request to$10 per request and the record 4 of your meetings indicates this increase was noted to be an effort to replace lost revenue from 5 pistol permit fees. Based on the need outlined, and the information provided to you, the request 6 was approved. 7 While this small change seems reasonable on its face, this increase in the fee paid for MVR 8 requests resulted in an increase in the cost our firm pays annually for MVRs of approximately 9 $200,000, a devastating financial shock to a small business like ours. Conversely, the loss of 10 revenue from the pistol permits, the stated reason for the increase, amounted to approximately 11 $14,000. 12 To add insult to the financial injury incurred by this decision, we were not notified of the request 13 to increase this rate, despite the fact that we were and are the primary consumer of NC MVRs 14 from the Sheriff's Office (by an order of magnitude). No communication was provided by the 15 Sheriffs Office about the possibility of an increase. Instead it was presented as a fiat accompli 16 once approved. 17 Daniel Hatley continued to read from the statement: 18 How would you look at a staff of 80 and decide which 8 of them you are going to fire to take care 19 of that increase in costs? It is a decision we were not prepared to make and one we strove to 20 avoid. We were told that there were two options: negotiate with the Sheriffs Office or wait one 21 year and have the budget changed. 22 Option #1 seemed reasonable. We had a five-year relationship with the Sheriff's Office after all. 23 Surely, we could all look over the cost of providing the service and come to something fair. Our 24 math indicated the service was provided by one employee alone, with salary and benefits likely 25 less than $100,000 annually, but we felt that this estimate could be wildly off the mark. Perhaps 26 there were costs we were unaware of, such as a fee for accessing MVRs or the requirement for 27 insurance or a surety bond. We were more than happy to sit down and find out what the costs 28 were. 29 Unfortunately, our outreach to discuss this matter with the Sheriff went ignored. So here we are, 30 having borne seven months of this increase in costs, holding out hope you will see the 31 unreasonableness of our plight. It has been difficult being patient, but we still believe this was the 32 best path forward. We have to had to delay hiring, delay changes to our system because of this 33 increase. We still believe this is the best path forward. 34 Ticket was started in Orange County and we want to stay in Orange County. Aside from our 80 35 employees,we also partner with Extraordinary Ventures, a Chapel Hill non-profit, creating another 36 24 employment opportunities for local adults with developmental disabilities who work on our 37 direct mail project. Ticket's ultimate goal has been and is to stay local, but we cannot work in a 38 vacuum where one party benefits and the other is harmed. 39 Our hope is that the County and the Sheriffs Office can see that a mutually beneficial. 40 agreement could be reached that more than covers the cost of this service but that does not come 41 at the expense of our workforce. To that end, we request that a bulk contract rate of$5 per driver 42 history request be added to the 2025 budget. The $200,000 generated annually in fees will amply 43 cover the salary of the individuals involved in processing these requests and provide the Sheriff's 44 Office funds for new initiatives. 45 46 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 47 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 48 49