Orange County NC Website
12 <br /> Slide #12 <br /> Minimizing Tax Rate Increase <br /> • 1.25 Positions Added in other funds, not funded by General Fund revenues <br /> — 1 Program Coordinator FTE in Arts Commission <br /> • Position cost of$85,216 <br /> • Paid with Occupancy Tax funds <br /> — .25 Time Limited increase to Clinical Coordinator in Criminal Justice Resource Department <br /> • Response to increase in pretrial detention rates and increasingly complex behavioral health needs at the Detention Center <br /> • Position funded with Opioid Settlement Funds <br /> • 3 Positions moved from Grant funding to County funding <br /> — 2 Positions from Expiring Mental Health in Policing Grant <br /> • Community Care and Diversion Response Team Mental Health Coordinator—CJRD;Funded through Maintenance of Effort <br /> • Social Worker—Sheriff's Office;funded by reclassifying existing position budgeted at a higher cost <br /> — 1 Community Emergency Medical Technician from Expiring Mobile Crisis Grant <br /> • Offset by additional revenue in Emergency Medical Services1 <br /> • Contract for Crisis Counselor in the 911 Center recommended to be eliminated ORANGE COUNTY <br /> 12 NORTH CAROLINA <br /> Chair Bedford asked if maintenance of effort funding has an assumed growth each year. <br /> Travis Myren said no. He said that in the previous year, the county began phasing out a <br /> contract for UNC Psychiatry Services. He said that reduction paid for the additions in this <br /> recommended budget. <br /> Commissioner Carter asked if the contract for the Crisis Counselor and the 911 center <br /> was underutilized and that is why it was phased out. <br /> Travis Myren said it was the least used component of the total. <br /> Commissioner Carter said as they look for opportunities to save and fund those <br /> positions, the 911 center position is important to appropriately route crisis calls. She said the <br /> importance of rapid response is crucial. She said she had someone that reached out to her and <br /> said they were unaware of those services. She petitioned the Board to try to retain that position. <br /> Travis Myren said the dispatchers do not decide who gets a crisis response because <br /> those are dictated by law enforcement agencies. He said there are safeties built in to establish <br /> protocols for and lessen the chance of human error. <br /> Commissioner Carter asked for clarification on what the Crisis Counselor position is <br /> currently doing. <br /> Travis Myren said there may be situations that are deescalated, and the team is not <br /> dispatched to begin with, and this is a primary benefit. <br /> Vice-Chair Hamilton said it would be helpful to have a better sense of how the mental <br /> health system comes together. She said there may be other places that people are entering the <br /> system. She suggested that as they go forward, that they think about how all of this is <br /> coordinated. She suggested a work session to investigate the details and noted that this would <br /> not be for this budget cycle. <br /> Chair Bedford requested that staff make a note to potentially cover that topic at a future <br /> retreat. She asked if it was accurate to say that those positions mean they do not have to hire <br /> EMS for a short while. <br /> Travis Myren said it enhances the quality of the response rather than precluding. He said <br /> they serve different functions. He said that if this team is responding instead of law enforcement <br />