060914June 9, 2014
The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met at 4:06 p.m. for a special budget session
in the 1909 Randolph County Historic Courthouse Meeting Room, 145 Worth Street, Asheboro,
NC Commissioners Holmes, Frye, Haywood, and Lanier were present. Commissioner Kemp
entered later where noted.
Communities in Schools (CIS)
Sandi Norman, Communities in Schools Executive Director, reported on CIS activities and
successes during the past year, saying that 12,879 students received services provided by CIS,
which is 56.9% of the school population. She said some of the services they provide are
Backpack Pals, mentoring, intervention, Reality Store, middle school attendance initiatives in
five schools, Choice Bus, book distributions and field trip scholarships. She said they are in their
second year of the READS program (all 10 schools), which is the research grant with Harvard
University that focuses on preventing summer reading loss, particularly in 3rd and 4th grade. The
number of students receiving ten books during this summer will be 782 (439 last summer). CIS
hosted 467 families during family nights, where the entire family was fed dinner and given tips
for how to help their children with reading over the summer. Each family received a $10
Walmart card and was entered for a drawing to win a $50 Walmart card.
Ms. Norman said that programs don't change people, relationships do, and all of the board
members and volunteers are an important part of that. She said that 657 volunteers put in 6,313
hours last year and the return on that kind of investment is significant. Ms. Norman said if you
add all the funding they receive and consider every $1.00 they are given, there is a $3.55 return
on investment.
Ms. Norman said that last year 169 students dropped out of school and that it is an economic
impact to the community when they do. She stated that Communities in Schools is not just an
investment, but a necessity and asked the Board to consider their full request of $75,000 instead
of only the $70,000 in the proposed budget.
Randolph Vocational Industries (RVI) (formerly Innovative Solutions of the Triad and
Sheltered Workshop)
Michael Ayers said that they have asked for $20,000 this year and realizes that only $15,000
has been included in the proposed budget. He said they appreciate the generosity of the County
for what they've given each year in order to help keep people working.
Randolph Arts Guild
Diane Villa, incoming President of the Arts Guild Board, provided a PowerPoint
presentation on who they are, what they do, how they do it and why they do it. They are
requesting the same amount as last year: $20,000. She said County funding is vital to the Arts
Guild's ability to leverage other grant sources. The Arts Guild operates on a $320,000 budget,
thus the County allotment accounts for 6% of their budget. She thanked the Commissioners for
their support.
YMCA
Patrick O'Hara, director of the Randolph -Asheboro YMCA, stated that the YMCA is now
averaging over 20,000 Randolph County residents/visitors a month at the facility who participate
in activities and games. Mr. O'Hara said that programs, activities and services are provided for
children, adults, families, and seniors daily. He said that 2,311 seniors participate in activities to
enhance their quality of life and physical well-being. People have attended classes and lectures
regarding exercising, fall prevention, CPR certification and many others.
Mr. O'Hara said that the YMCA also provides locker rooms, showers and an indoor
swimming pool for practice, regular season swim meets and a regional swim meet for five
Randolph County and Asheboro High School swim teams (over 110 student -athletes). The
schools do pay a fee to use the facility. He said they have offered father/daughter proms, after
prom parties for two high schools, RCC computer workshops for seniors, Special Olympics
swimming event, practice facilities for Senior Games, and lock -ins for Boy Scout and 4-H
groups.
Fran Knapp, YMCA volunteer, spoke in favor of everything the facility has done for citizens
of Randolph County. She stated that it is also a vital part of why people often relocate to the
County. Ms. Knapp said that it is critical to receive County funding and asked the board to
consider their capital request of $50,000 in order to meet current and future needs to make this
the best YMCA for citizens.
Family Crisis Center
Lisa Bock, Chair of the Randolph County Family Crisis Center Board, presented a
PowerPoint presentation with quotes from children and adults who had received assistance at the
Center. She said the amount requested helps provide critical positions for their agency that allow
them to meet N.C. General Statutes requirements for the Center. She said that their mission is to
serve people who are in crisis from domestic and family violence, sexual assault and rape, while
working to eliminate these issues from our community. She thanked the Board for being a
partner and asked the Board to approve their requested $41,000 to continue to fulfill their
mission.
Randolph Family Healthcare at MERLE
Teresa Shackleford, CEO, thanked the Board for the line of credit they extended to them in
2011. The $215,000 received from the County was used to pay the IRS the entire outstanding
balance of payroll taxes on August 31, 2012, and reduced the outstanding aged payables balance
to less than the target amount. They have continued to keep their payables within 60 days with
all vendors and/or have made payment arrangements to satisfy outstanding payables within the
current fiscal year period.
Ms. Shackleford said they have taken the following significant actions for improvements:
• Re -financed their mortgage and lowered the interest rate from 8.5% to 4.75%.
• Reduced capital lease obligations/expenses from $145,677 in 2012 to $31,255 in 2014.
• Seeking grant opportunities to fund future equipment needs, rather than long-term capital
lease options.
• Began use of an electronic medical records system and billing system, which reduced
costs of billing collections.
• Increased revenues by 16.5% and decreased expenses by 8.5%.
• Hired a full-time, permanent dentist/dental director; two part-time, permanent physicians;
one part-time, permanent medical director/physician.
• Satisfied all outstanding "conditions" that were attached to the federal grant.
• Received a "clean" audit report for the year ending 8/31/13.
Ms. Shackleford said they still have obstacles to face. They do not generate enough revenue
necessary to cover current expenses plus the "old" debt. She asked the Board to consider
forgiveness of the $215,000 loan they were given.
County Manager Richard Wells asked Ms. Shackleford if the Board were to decide to
forgive the loan, did she think they would be back next year to ask for additional funds. Ms.
Shackleford responded that they are at a breakeven point with revenues and expenses balancing,
but couldn't pay off the loan when it comes due in August. She stated she doesn't think MERCE
would ask for additional funding the next year.
Central Boys and Girls Club (CBGC)
Elbert Lassiter, representing the CBGC, and Thomas Falgout, President of the Club,
thanked the Board for their years of support. CBGC currently serves about 223 children who
come from low-income homes. He said most kids that are part of the program lack opportunity,
which hinders them the most. The club tries to expose them to more than they would be able to if
the Club was not there.
Mr. Lassiter said that they have a new director that the kids like and with all the uncertainty
surrounding the building, there has been no change of service to the kids. He said they have been
making rent payments to the new East Side Homes board for the use of the facility.
Westside Fire Department
Recil Williamson, Chief of Westside Fire Department, stated that their treasurer and CPA
had a misunderstanding of what type of audit was needed by the County. They have hired a new
CPA and will provide the audit as soon as it is received.
Mr. Williamson stated that expenses for the department continue to rise. They will continue
to apply for grants to help with equipment replacement. He said that their insurance rating had
improved from a nine to a six after hiring some staff with the funds from a grant. He stated that
they need to maintain the service to the citizens, but can no longer borrow from savings to meet
the budget.
They are requesting 11.5 cents/$100 valuation, which is above the revenue neutral rate of 10.3
cents.
Eastside Fire Department
Derrick Clouston, Assistant Chief of Eastside Fire Department, said they are requesting an
increase from nine cents to eleven cents. He stated they would be losing $32,761,000 in revenue
due to the revaluation, but the proposed revenue neutral rate of 9.22 cents would make up the
loss. However, the revenue neutral rate would not help them get caught up on things they have
been putting off, which are now becoming critical. Such items include increasing fuel costs and
workers comp insurance, etc. He presented comparisons of all the County fire departments and
their service areas, call volume and budget versus tax revenues.
Mr. Clouston said it is getting harder to recruit and retain fire fighters. He said they want to
continue to make a return on investment to the citizens by maintaining their current ISO rating so
that homeowners reap lower fire insurance premiums. Eastside would like to be able to start a
capital reserve fund and is requesting their tax rate to be set at 11 cents/$100 valuation.
Randleman — Sophia Fire District
Nick Holcomb, Randleman City Manager, spoke on behalf of the newly merged fire service
district and Randleman Fire Chief Marty Leonard and Sophia Fire Chief Harris Brown. Mr.
Holcomb said the district is requesting a rate of 12 cents/$100 valuation, instead of the revenue
neutral rate of 10.32 cents in the proposed budget, in order to staff the Sophia station with seven
full-time and two part-time employees, which would lead to quicker response times and lower
insurance ratings. Some items will need to be replaced to meet OSHA standards at the Sophia
station. Randleman currently has twelve full-time fire fighters that are employed by the City of
Randleman.
Southwest Fire Department
DeAnna Hurley -Chamberlain, Treasurer of New Hope Fire Department (Southwest Fire
District), requested a tax rate of twelve cents for the upcoming fiscal year. She said the
department was established in 1976 by private donations and individual labor. She said they
have not asked for an increase since 1989. This increase would allow them to comply with local,
state and federal requirements and standards to maintain the quality of service to the citizens as
well as the expenses of the department. Ms. Hurley -Chamberlain said that the department has
provided a financial statement compilation performed by a CPA since its inception in 1976 and
has submitted an audit. She said the audit implementation costs them 6% ($5,600) of their total
budget. Ms. Hurley -Chamberlain said another reason for the requested increase in tax rate is due
to the increased cost of their insurance coverage prescribed in the new fire department contract
with the County. She said the requested 12 cents/$100 valuation will not cover all their expenses
but would help cover the audit and the insurance requirements the County requires.
Recess
At 5:35 p.m., the Board recessed.
Meeting Resumed
At 6:30 p.m., the Board returned to regular session. Commissioner Kemp entered the meeting.
Proposed Budget Public Hearing
At 6:30 p.m., the Chairman opened the public hearing and invited citizens to speak
concerning the proposed budget.
County Attorney Ben Morgan read aloud the rules for the public hearing, which included a
five-minute per speaker limit.
Janet Pate spoke in reference to the 23 new positions included in the proposed budget. She
said she didn't understand how positions were not cut instead of being added, when the County
has outsourced some EMS services; the Tax & Tag program, which has the State collecting
taxes, and the NCFAST was supposed to streamline procedures for DSS. Ms. Pate opposed the
hiring of a grant writer to apply for grants, which takes more money from taxpayers. She
opposed the revenue neutral requested increase to the Archdale -Trinity school supplemental tax
because she said it is being used other than to create competitive teacher pay. Ms. Pate said that
the citizens were not allowed to vote on the school debt that the County has incurred and feels
that school construction should be the citizens' decision. In conclusion, she asked the Board to
be easy on the taxpayers.
Lynn Small said that he was surprised by the large increase in the proposed tax rate. He
stated that he did not want any funds coming out of the County budget to pay for State cuts
handed down to the County. He said the only way to hold our legislatures accountable is to let
the public see what the State cuts mean to programs in the County. Mr. Small said he agrees with
accessible EMS service to the entire County, but asked why it was not provided instead of taking
two million dollars out of the already low fund balance to construct the Balfour school a few
years ago. He said that while new school buildings are nice, they do not result in improved
academic performance and the voters were not allowed to consent to the construction projects.
He said the County Schools relied on the lottery to pay for school construction projects, but State
government has made changes to the formula and used the money for their own budget. He
asked the Board to hold the Randleman -Sophia Fire Department to obtaining a better rating so
that insurance costs are reduced to their citizens. Mr. Small said that although the tax-deferred
farm program is not regulated by the County, he pointed out the lost County revenues for the
properties in this program and feels it is being woefully abused in many cases.
Mr. Small asked that the Board consider what property tax increase is fair and justified for the
citizens of Randolph who actually pay property taxes on their property with no legal way to
avoid them.
Faye Cox responded to Mr. Small stating that farmers are an important asset. If there was not
a farm -deferred tax program, people wouldn't have food to eat.
Ms. Cox stated that she feels the fund balance needs to be left alone and the borrowing
stopped, but at the same time, not to over -tax the people. She said she understands the revenue
neutral adjustment and that most will not see an increase in their property tax, but asked that no
additional increase be set and suggested cuts to offset the expenses as an individual would do
with his own budget.
At 6:52 p.m., hearing no further comments on the proposed budget, Chairman Holmes closed
the public hearing.
Adjournment
At 6:53 p.m., on motion by Frye, seconded by Lanier, the Board adjourned.
J. Harold Holmes, Chairman Darrell L. Frye
Phil Kemp
Arnold Lanier
Stan Haywood
Amanda Varner, Deputy Clerk to the Board