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28 <br /> Vice-Chair Fowler asked if the Town of Chapel Hill still contributes to the Visitors Bureau. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said the base contribution is $200,000. <br /> Vice-Chair Fowler asked if restoring the solid waste fee to $146 would cover the need. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said the fee doesn't grow as quickly as inflation, but they will have to balance <br /> the fee against costs. He said that the solid waste fund has a healthy cash balance. He said it's <br /> a capital-intensive program, and part of the use of fund balance is making sure that they are not <br /> borrowing as much so there isn't as much debt service in the solid waste funds. <br /> Commissioner Bedford said they've bought a lot of heavy equipment in the past year. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said it is an expensive enterprise to manage. <br /> Commissioner Carter asked if it is possible to share some of the cost impacts of changes <br /> to SNAP and Medicaid with the municipalities. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said in general towns can't give funds to the county for a service that towns <br /> aren't allowed to do. <br /> Travis Myren said staff would research the question. <br /> Commissioner Greene asked about the unreimbursed HOME expenses. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said it is a balance over 30 years. He said over 30 years they have not been <br /> filing correctly with HUD to the tune of about $30,000 a year. He said there is a period that can't <br /> get reimbursed for anymore, and that is a loss of$600,000. He said there are more recent years <br /> that Housing can still file reimbursement for and that's about $300,000. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked how this was allowed to happen and what we are going to <br /> do to prevent it in the future. <br /> Travis Myren said losses precede the current staff and that the Budget Director is aware <br /> and paying attention. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said Housing staff said that HUD said the county has smaller staff support for <br /> the HOME program than other similarly sized programs. He said if they add staff, they may be <br /> able to include, but it would be an additional county cost. <br /> Commissioner Bedford asked if closing capital funds that have been sitting on the books <br /> is still in process. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said they were doing this for multiple funds, and they identified a surplus of <br /> $300,000 in the county capital fund. <br /> Commissioner Bedford asked if the CIP document will have fewer funds. <br /> Kirk Vaughn said they identified that they could close them, but an action must be taken <br /> in the ERP so that the report does not include those. <br /> Slide #27 <br /> Orange County FY 2026-27 Budget Guidelines <br /> Alignment with Strategic Plan priorities and performance measures <br /> • Additional expenditure requests will require reallocation of existing funds or new <br /> revenues <br /> • Analyze current service levels,cost recovery, and staff alignment <br /> Continue Long-Term Financial Planning Department Reviews <br /> Continue Interdepartmental and Intergovernmental collaboration initiatives <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> 27 NORTH CAROLINA <br />