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such as security, etc. She said that she was told that the Central Orange Senior Center would have the same as the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill as far as paid employees. She asked that the County Commissioners consider that, if there is a money problem with hiring new help that they look into a reassignment of permanent County employees that may move into these positions. She said that it is impossible for one person to man the reception desk and cover the whole building's activities. The evening help could be part-time. Sharon Van Horn is one of the at-large representatives for the Board of Health, and she is a pediatrician. She said that the Board of Health is asking for support for the Medical Reserve Corps and Community Emergency Response Team programs. She said that there are over 200 volunteers and they provide services during emergencies. Volunteers have provided shots during flu clinics, assisted with communicable disease investigations, surveyed the community door-to-door through the Community Health Assessment, have served on internal advisory communities for Health Department programs, and have actively participated in exercises and drills. She asked for support of the Senior Public Health Educator position that makes the volunteer programs possible. Secondly, in the face of the declining economy, safety net providers such as the Health Department will be increasingly called upon to care for populations that have lost their jobs and health insurance. She said that the Health Department could not serve these additional residents without being able to maintain an already slim operating budget and begin to replace old and broken equipment. Finally, the News Health Information System developed in partnership with State and local public health will be implemented across the State this fiscal year. This system will replace the system that the State currently uses for patient billing and information gathering. The Health Department has been able to use State funding to purchase additional computers for exam rooms, but it needs to complete the acquisition of units for the remaining units and laptops for the home visiting staff. Betsy Tilley has been a native of this area all of her life. She is retired from the OCS. As a senior citizen, she said that she read that Governor Easley has proposed a 1.2% increase for the retirees of North Carolina. She retired in 1994 and everywhere you turn there is a price increase. There is no way that she can afford to pay Orange County taxes as proposed. She said that other counties have a lower tax rate than Orange County and she does not understand why it takes so much for Orange County to provide the same services as surrounding counties. She said that there was so much talk about the lottery being a blessing and helping education, but she keeps hearing requests for more money for education. She asked the County Commissioners to not raise taxes as much as has been suggested. She said that people are leaving Orange County for Alamance County and other counties because they cannot afford to live here. She said that senior citizens are taking a beating everywhere they turn. Wayne Tilley said that he has been a resident of Orange County for 75 years. He would like to spend the rest of his life here, but does not know if he can afford to. He does not understand why Orange County has to pay so much more in property taxes than its neighbors do, and if that is not excessive spending then he does not know what it is. He retired in 1991 and his retirement has not increased in all of that time. He said that his investments are going downhill and not uphill. He said that the County could not afford to keep funding everything that all the people want. He is pleading with the Board of County Commissioners to consider people like himself who have limited income and want to live in Orange County. He said that he does not see any relief in sight. Gayanne Chambliss said that she does not envy the Board's situation because it is a lean time for everyone. She can appreciate what the Tilleys just spoke about. She wonders how everything can be fit into the finite amount of money. She is here to advocate for the Volunteer Coordinator position for the CERT program. She got involved with this program after Katrina because she was involved in relief there for about a year. She said that Orange