By Susan Dickson, Staff Writer
With continuing concerns about dwindling revenues, the Orange County Board of Commissioners took a hard look at the county’s funding of nonprofit agencies at a budget work session last week.
County officials are anticipating major budget shortfalls this year, as commissioners have requested a budget that includes no property-tax increase and sales-tax revenue is down. Recent budget projections show a potential $13.4 million deficit.
The county has received funding applications from 56 different nonprofit organizations, which total more than $1.4 million – equaling nearly one cent on the county property-tax rate. The request represents an increase of about $370,000 over the previous budget’s allocation.
“As we go forward, we’re going to have to develop a narrower focus,†County Manager Franklin Clifton said. “We had roughly a $3 million decline in sales tax, so everybody has to suck it up and understand reality.â€
Board members said they wanted to focus on the agencies that provided safety-net services to county residents.
“We should always be in tune to human needs,†board chair Valerie Foushee said. “It would seem to me that those organizations that work to promote the health, safety and welfare of the county’s residents are the ones where we should look first.â€
Commissioner Mike Nelson agreed.
“Organizations that serve the people, that provide food to people who are hungry, mental health programs to people who need those services … those are the programs in these times that I want to make sure are protected,†he said. “I would have a hard time voting for a budget that left money in here for historic preservation but cut money for a mental health group.â€
Staff said they are closely examining the requests of each organization, including each agency’s funding sources.
“Every dollar at this point in time is on the line,†Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey said.
Clifton encouraged the board to consider how much of each agency’s budget is funded by local government and whether or not organizations receive donations.
“If you’re going to serve the public, then the public needs to support you…. If the public won’t write them a check, then I become a little concerned about the government – county government or any government – writing the check,†Clifton said. “Each of these agencies ought to be raising money somehow.â€
However, he added, he understood the difficult position of the board.
“When times are good, it’s easy to add somebody to the list. When times are bad, it’s pretty difficult to take somebody off the list,†Clifton said.
Budget shortfall
The board also heard an update on the county’s $183 million budget, including the nearly $13.4 million shortfall. The budget includes a few increases this year – $1.4 million to fund Emergency Medical Services improvements, $1.5 million for new capital equipment and vehicles and a $1.75 million increase in expenses for both county school systems – which could potentially be deferred to help close the deficit.
Clifton has asked departments to cut 15 percent across the board, but other cuts will still be needed in order to balance the budget.
Earlier this month, the board voted to eliminate 21 vacant county positions and warned of more potential staff reductions in coming months. The eliminated positions, which will provide about $450,000 in savings this fiscal year and nearly $1.3 million in savings for fiscal year 2011, span various county departments.
According to Clifton, the county will likely reduce staffing from 908 to about 825 positions, for approximately $5 million in total savings. The county offered early-retirement incentives to certain staff members last year and has extended that offer to about 110 more this year.
Also this week, the commissioners took their first look at the proposed master plan for the future New Hope Park at Blackwood Farm. Plans for the future park, to be located on 152 acres near the intersection of New Hope Church Road and N.C. 86 between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, include an amphitheatre, community gardens, a learning center, nature trails, picnic shelters, an agricultural demonstration area, fishing areas, playgrounds, a historic farmstead and a parks operation base. The county’s Lands Legacy Program acquired the property from the Blackwood family in late 2001.
While there is no funding to construct or open the project, the county’s 2009-19 Capital Investment Plan anticipates funding for park construction in 2013-16.