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31 <br /> Slide#12 <br /> FY 2026-27 Operating Budget options <br /> • Payments to Municipalities <br /> I Payments to Municipalities <br /> Recreation Subsidies <br /> Chapel Hill-S83,76C $ 125,108 <br /> Carrboro -$35,898 <br /> • Mebane-$5,450 <br /> Chapel Hill Library(additional'/2 of payment) $ 310,662 <br /> OTAL $ 435,913 <br /> 12 ORANGE COUNTY <br /> Travis Myren noted a $125,000 annual non-departmental payment to municipalities for <br /> recreation programming, which dates to the 1970s in some amount and has been maintained without <br /> re-examination. He also noted the remaining Chapel Hill Library contribution as a separate payment <br /> within that category. <br /> Commissioner Carter said it looks like the Town of Chapel Hill has allocated approximately $5 <br /> million for the library budget and asked what proportion of the total budget is provided by the county. <br /> Travis Myren said that the county allocation to the Chapel Hill Public Library is around 6% of the <br /> total budget. <br /> Commissioner Bedford noted that the Town of Chapel Hill's own proposed budget increases <br /> library funding and said she wants to ensure clarity for the public, noting that the county's reduction <br /> does not eliminate the library's total budget. She observed that residents might be under the impression <br /> that the county's decrease in funding represents a far larger cut to library services than is actually <br /> proposed. <br /> Travis Myren confirmed those points. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the phase-out of library funding was a new concept or was <br /> discussed in the past. <br /> Commissioner McKee said he had not found definitive language in meeting minutes, but <br /> recalled there were discussions over the years that, with the investment in an Orange County Southern <br /> Branch Library,the funding for the Chapel Hill Public Library would decrease. <br /> Commissioner Greene confirmed she was involved in library discussions as a Chapel Hill Town <br /> Council member and recalled that Orange County had advocated for interoperability between the two <br /> library systems, and Chapel Hill asked for more county funding to serve users who resided outside of the <br /> Town. She said both jurisdictions entered into an MOU from 2012 to 2015, but neither was fully satisfied <br /> with the terms, and the agreement was not renewed, and there was a general understanding, though <br /> not a formal commitment, that county funding would be revisited upon the opening of a Southern <br /> Branch Library. <br />