061096June 10, 1996
The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met in special budget session at 6:00 p.m. in the
Commissioners Meeting Room, 725 McDowell Road, Asheboro, NC. Commissioners Kemp, Frye, Holmes,
Davis, and Comer were present.
Chairman Kemp announced that any department heads satisfied with their budgets as proposed by the
Manager and having no other comments to make were free to leave.
Library
Richard Wells, Library Director, discussed his request for automation of their card catalog system
($400,000), which was not funded in the Manager's proposed budget. He said that even though his budget is
the same as the beginning of last year, it is $25,000 short because of the addition of one position and the
increased hours for another position which occurred during the year. In order to fund this additional salary, he
cut $25,000 from the Town Library Grants line item. He asked for an additional $25,000 in order to fund the
town libraries as usual. Mr. Wells also noted that a $10,000 gift from Goodyear last year was used to lease
copiers. He still has the expense for the copiers, but no funds were budgeted for them. He said he is hoping
additional state revenues will come in to cover this expense.
Health
MiMi Cooper, Health Director, explained the animal control program budget. It includes 3 deputies for
field work, a shelter manager, and 3 shelter attendants. She also noted that for the second year she had
requested an additional secretary for Environmental Health that was not funded.
Planning and Zoning
Hal Johnson, Director of Planning and Zoning, reported that work on ordinance revisions and land use
planning will be completed by fall. He noted that the recent adoption of a junked vehicle ordinance has caused
17 of 38 identified illegal sites to be cleaned up voluntarily by the owners. Funds in Court Fees & Code
Enforcement will be used to bring the other sites into compliance.
Computer Services
Annette Lineberry, Computer Services Director, explained her request for a new computer ($215,000),
which was not funded. She said current computers are 6 years old and at capacity. Without a new computer,
there will be some constraints on GIS, which uses a lot of memory.
Elections
Maria Bliss, Elections Supervisor, described the computerized filing system, GIS program, and voter
registration program developed and implemented in her office by the Computer Services staff. She praised the
Computer Services and Maintenance staff for the enormous help they have been to her department.
Maintenance
Lee Groce, Maintenance Supervisor, gave an overview of the street sign maintenance program for the past
year, which included the placing and replacing of 954 blades. Although this number is 200+ more than the
previous year, average down time for a sign decreased from 8-12 weeks to 4-5 weeks. Mr. Groce said he is
buying sign -making equipment, which should be much cheaper and faster than contracting it out. He also
pointed out that more work will be required of his staff as the County continues to add more buildings, and he
indicated that he doesn't think they will have enough time to do all that is required of them without more staff.
Aging Services
Candie Rudzinski, Senior Adults Association Director and County Aging Coordinator, introduced Russ
Keeney, Transportation Coordinator, who reviewed the Transportation Development Plan (TDP). The TDP
was developed through grant funds in 1994, and the County designated the Senior Adults Association as the
TDP lead agency. The RCATS (Randolph Coordinated Agency Transportation System) Committee was
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formed, and it worked for a year developing the TDP. The State pays 3/4 of Mr. Keeney's salary. Mr. Keeney
reported that they will soon change from a $4 -per -trip charge to a per -mile system. In 1995 they made about
48,000 trips; in 1996, the estimate about 60,000. Mr. Keeney said that Social Services will be participating in
RCATS for the first time in July with their Medicaid clients. After some initial financial aid from the County,
this program is expected to become self-sufficient through its contracts.
Mrs. Rudzinski explained the County Funding Plan for the Home and Community Care Block Grant, which
no longer requires a public hearing before Commissioners approve it. The Plan includes $355,212 of Block
Grant funding, $4,625 for Randolph County DSS local match, and $49,827 for USDA Subsidy, for a total of
$409,664.
On motion of Frye, seconded by Holmes, the Board unanimously approved the 1996-97 Home and
Community Care Block Grant -County Funding Plan.
Tax
Billy Chilton, Tax Assessor, announced that as of today, the Tax Department's collection rate broke the
98% barrier, for the first time ever. He noted that the two in-house auditors recently discovered $100 million in
business property not listed.
Register of Deeds
Ann Shaw, Register of Deeds, thanked David Townsend and Bill McDaniel for their work in renovating the
Shaw Building. She explained that her capital outlay request is for equipment to merge her computer imaging
and indexing, which will be paid for through a 3 -year installment loan, if funded.
Adiournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
Phil Kemp, Chairman
Harold Holmes
Martha Comer
Darrell L. Frye
Robert Davis
Alice D. Dawson, Clerk to the Board