Minutes 04-16-2024 - Business Meeting

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