1995-05-23 Budget Work Session
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET WORK SESSION, MAY 23, 1995
BOOK 24
706
ASSEMBLY
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners held a Budget
Work Session on Tuesday, May 23, 1995, at 7:00 P.M. in Room 501 of
the New Hanover County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut
Street, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Members present were: Commissioners Sandra Barone; WilliamA.
Caster; William E. Sisson, Jr.; vice-Chairman E. L. Mathews, Jr.;
Chairman Robert G. Greer; County Manager, Allen 0' Neal; County
Attorney, Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F.
Harrell.
Chairman Greer called the meeting to order.
Discussion of For.mat for Future Budgets
Commissioner Caster commented on the present format of the
budget and requested the Budget Director to include the adopted
budget for the previous fiscal year as part of the proposed budget
for the next fiscal year in order to better compare figures.
Budget Director, Cam Griffin, responded she would be glad to
make the requested change.
Discussion of Proposed School Budget
Commissioner Sisson expressed concern about the following
issues and reported he had written two letters to the members of
the Board of Education with no response.
(1) Deficiency of school books and supplies ln the classroom.
(2) Hazardous conditions in chemistry labs.
(3) Removal of two classrooms from an elementary school that were
to be paid by bond proceeds because the bids received were too
high.
(4) One teacher for the academically and gifted program in the
elementary schools with 57 students and no teacher's aide to
assist with the paperwork.
(5) No follow-up in the middle schools for the academically and
gifted program.
(6) The total lack of maintenance and repair to the schools with
many roofs leaking in the classrooms while school is ln
seSSlon.
Commissioner Sisson advised the Board he was uncomfortable
voting on the proposed budget until the Board of Education had
prepared some type of plan to address these concerns.
vice-Chairman Mathews strongly objected to the County
appropriating funds for maintenance and repairs with no evidence
that past funds had been spent for this purpose. He recommended
withholding funds for a specific maintenance project until a
request was presented showing the location of the project, the cost
of the project, and dates for beginning and completing the project.
County Manager 0' Neal reported the Commissioners would receive
a written report from the members of Staff that recently visited
the schools. There was concern about the conditions of the
bathrooms and handicapped accessibility. He noted one point of
encouragement was inclusion of monies in the maintenance line items
in the proposed school budget.
Chairman Greer expressed concern for the school administering
the "new" three and four-year old Pre-Kindergarten Program, which
would negatively impact private day care centers, when funds were
not available to operate the current school programs. Commissioner
Barone agreed and reported the new Pre-kindergarten Program will be
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET WORK SESSION, MAY 23, 1995
BOOK 24
707
funded through Chapter 1 funding, which is currently being used for
the Reading Room Program to tutor children with reading problems.
She strongly objected to the elimination of the reading program,
which is badly needed and has proven to be successful.
A lengthy discussion followed on the problems being incurred
by the schools. Commissioner Caster expressed concern for these
problems, but questioned the level of involvement by the County
Commissioners in the appropriation and use of funds by the Board of
Education, which is the elected body that should assume these
responsibilities.
A lengthy discussion was held on the use of bond proceeds.
Commissioner Sisson recommended holding up the sale of bonds unless
the proceeds were being used for the projects as outlined in the
bond issue that was presented to the general public.
Deputy County Manager, Andrew J. Atkinson, reported bond
proceeds were being spent by the Board of Education in accordance
with the amounts allocated to each school as listed in the bond
order.
Commissioner Sisson responded this was not the case at one
school where staff had been informed that two new classrooms would
be constructed as well as a school cafeteria extension. Months
later, staff was informed that only the extension to the school
cafeteria would be constructed. He, again, expressed concern for
this type of change by the school administration.
Deputy County Manager Atkinson advised that a consultant was
not hired by the Board of Education in an effort to save money when
determining the amount of funds needed for capital proj ects;
therefore, rough estimates were used. For example, the pine
Valley School project was to include walkways; however, when the
estimate was received, the figure far exceeded the anticipated
cost. Unfortunately, this type of situation could occur on other
projects.
Commissioner Sisson commented on having no desire to
constantly argue with the Board of Education and reported some form
of responsibility must be taken to address the lack of maintenance
and spending of bond proceeds. He recommended withholding approval
of the Capital Outlay section of the school budget until an
accounting of last year's expenditures had been received.
Discussion was held on school maintenance being contracted
through the Property Management Department. County Manager O'Neal
expressed concern for conflict areas that could arise and pointed
out the County could be blamed for maintenance problems that have
been neglected for the past 20 years.
After further discussion, it was agreed to delay a decision on
the funding at this time.
Concern for Continued Annual Growth in the County Budget
Commissioner Barone complimented the County Manager, Budget
Director and Staff for an excellent job in preparing the proposed
budget in accordance with the directions provided by the Board of
County Commissioners. However, she expressed concern for the Board
accepting the same budget format year after year with no attempt to
reduce the number of departments or downsize government. She
explained she had been elected to reduce the size of government,
and, in her opinion, she had not fulfilled her commitment to the
taxpayers as an elected official, which had become quite
frustrating.
County Manager O'Neal responded that many accomplishments had
been made toward operating a more efficient government through
automation in the County departments, particularly in the
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET WORK SESSION, MAY 23, 1995
BOOK 24
708
Department of Social Services. He advised these improvements would
represent a savings within the next few years.
Discussion of Proposed Budget Request for Cape Fear Community
College
Discussion was held on the proposed budget request for Cape
Fear Community College. Commissioner Barone requested a breakdown
of the funding request.
Budget Director Griffin presented the following breakdown of
County funding:
$510,000
$365,000
$ 87,000
$ 44,500
Personnel
Contracted Services
Postage & Telephones
Maintenance & Repairs
Further discussion was held on the use of County funds.
County Manager O'Neal reported counties are basically responsible
for providing the infrastructure system for community colleges.
Chairman Greer expressed concern for a 29% increase in the
budget for Cape Fear Community College and reported if the schools
and community college continue to present increased budgets
annually, he feels sooner or later a line will have to be drawn and
all agencies will have to remain at a certain funding level.
County Manager O'Neal reported if the budget increases for the
schools, Cape Fear Community College, and the WASTEC Facility were
removed, the proposed FY 1995-96 increase for the general county
government would be only 3.4%, which is less than inflation.
Discussion of the WASTEC Facility
County Manager O'Neal reported until flow control is addressed
by Congress and the major hauler in the county returns garbage to
WASTEC, there will be a revenue shortfall at the incinerator.
Commissioner Caster expressed concern for people voting on a
bond issue with the promise that incineration would work and
generate enough revenue to cover the cost of operation. Now, 15
years later, the taxpayers are being told the tax rate will
increase 3.5 cents to cover the shortfall.
Chairman Greer advised that WASTEC was the responsibility of
the County, and the debt service would have to be paid by the
County.
RECOMMENDED CHANGES FOR PROPOSED FY 1995-96 BUDGET
The Board directed Staff to make the following changes:
Veterans Council: Appropriate a total funding contribution of
$35,000 for hiring a Veterans Service Officer at a cost of $29,285
with the remaining funds to be used for operating expenses. Delete
the $5,000 allocated for building renovations. The auditing fee lS
to be waived; however, the Internal Auditor will provide an
accounting on the expenditure of funds.
Sheriff's Department: After a lengthy discussion on the need to
hire additional dispatchers to adequately monitor the 911 Center,
the Board decided to reduce one dispatcher position with the
understanding that if the Sheriff is not satisfied with this
decision, the position would be reconsidered.
The following positions were recommended:
Five (5) dispatcher positions
One (1) detective position
One (1) Environmental Deputy
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET WORK SESSION, MAY 23, 1995
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Discussion was held on the poor condition of the vehicle
currently being used by the Environmental Deputy. The County
Manager was requested to discuss this matter with the Sheriff.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS): The Board agreed to eliminate
the request for a fourth shift at EMS. This will negate the need
to hire 17 new employees at a savings of $617,627.
Discussion was held on the EMS shifts and first responder
system. Chairman Greer reported if consolidation should occur, he
felt EMS could work out some type of first responder arrangement
with the Fire Department.
Commissioner Sisson agreed and reported currently Wrightsville
Beach was using a first responder system of this type.
Department of Social Services (DSS): The Board agreed to eliminate
the six support enforcement positions and authorized staff to work
toward privatization of child support collections through a
contractual arrangement.
Budget Director Griffin reported if the SlX support positions
are eliminated at DSS, the $250,000 of revenue earned by the
support enforcement division would be eliminated. She explained
that no additional county funds would be allocated to make up for
the possible reduction in revenue.
After further discussion, Staff was instructed to work toward
privatization of child support collections through a contractual
arrangement that would allow the percentage of collections to pay
for the service.
Funding Request for Coastal Horizons: Authorized a one-time
funding allocation to Coastal Horizons in the amount of $18,692 to
bring the FY 1995-96 contribution equal to the FY 1994-95
contribution.
Discussion of Proposed 2% Merit Increase and 3% Market Adjustment
to the Pay Plan: After discussion of the pay plan and the proposed
increase, Staff was requested to change verbiage in the budget to
reflect the amount of funds appropriated for the proposed market
adjustment and the merit increase in lieu of percentages.
Discussion of Budget Request for the Southeastern Center:
Discussion was held on the increased budget request by the
Southeastern Center in the amount of $82,500 over last year's
budget. A majority of the additional funds will be used to upgrade
the pay scale and give salary increases to employees who have not
received an increase for a number of years. Further discussion was
held on contributions from the other counties. The Board was
advised that contributions were received from Pender County in the
amount of $3,240 and $23,400 from Brunswick County.
Discussion of Budget Request for the Health Department: Discussion
was held on no additional funds being requested by the Board of
Health for additional Animal Control Officers. Commissioner Sisson
recommended a review of additional positions because of the
manpower shortage on weekends.
After discussion of the problem being with irresponsible pet
owners, the Chairman was requested to approach the Board of Health
about raising animal control fines.
Chairman Greer reported he would be glad to discuss this
matter with the Board of Health.
Further discussion was held on the 11% increase in the Health
Department Budget. Chairman Greer reported he felt the County was
mislead about the transfer of the Home Health Care Division to New
Hanover Regional Medical Center. The County was required to pay an
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
BUDGET WORK SESSION, MAY 23, 1995
BOOK 24
710
additional $30,000 in benefits for County employees transferred to
the hospital, plus a $300,000 loss of revenue was experienced ln
the Health Department due to the transfer.
County Manager 0' Neal reported the Commissioners were informed
about the revenue shortfall. Chairman Greer disagreed and
requested the County Manager and Clerk to check the minutes to see
if the revenue shortfall was reported during a regular meeting of
the Board.
Discussion of the Budget for the Fire Service District
Commissioner Sisson commented on the need for developers to
pay for the installation of fire hydrants in subdivisions and
reported $100,000 had to be budgeted this year to pay for hydrants.
Assistant County Manager, Dave Weaver, reported developers
were required to install fire hydrants in new subdivisions where
there was a community water system with sufficient water flow to
support the hydrants. In old subdivisions, there is no requirement
for placement of fire hydrants.
ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Greer adjourned the meeting at 10:20 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Lucie F. Harrell
Clerk to the Board