April 27
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PERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS APRIL 27, 2009
MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT
Johnny Myrl Lunsford Heidi York, County Manager
Jimmy B. Clayton
Kyle W. Puryear Brenda B. Reaves, Clerk to the Board
B. Ray Jeffers
Samuel R. Kennington Amy Wehrenberg, Finance Director
The Board of Commissioners for the County of Person, North Carolina, met in
joint session with the Board of Education on Monday, April 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in the
Gallery Room at the Person County Public Library.
Margaret Bradsher, Person County School Board Member led the group in
invocation.
Person County Schools Superintendent, Dr. Larry Cartner welcomed both boards and
their respective staff members to this opportunity to share information and learn about
each boards’ perspectives and challenges and commented on the good working
relationship between the Superintendent’s and County Manager’s office noting they are
meeting at least once a month as well as the Finance Officers are meeting regularly.
County Manager, Heidi York thanked everyone for their attendance noting she
and Dr. Cartner crafted the agenda with the intention to facilitate meaningful discussion
between the two boards and share information around budgetary issues. Ms. York
thanked the School Board and Dr. Cartner for their budget submission at the requested
5% cut from the allocation of last year. Ms. York stated all school capital funding
requests are presently included in the Person County Capital Improvement Plan that is
being considered by the Board of Commissioners.
Statement from the Chairs:
Gordon Powell, Chairman, Board of Education as well as the Chairman of the
Board of County Commissioners. Johnny Myrl Lunsford gave the group brief statements
welcoming the joint meeting opportunity to discuss issues very important to the citizens,
especially the children of Person County. Both Chairs noted education as a top priority.
Chairman Lunsford called the Board of County Commissioners meeting to order
at 6:33 p.m.
Open Dialogue Between the Boards Facilitated by Chairs of Both Boards:
The group discussed and clarified information outlined in the questions submitted
and answered by other governing boards.
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Both boards agreed to explore other ADM funding purposes, i.e. technology, in
addition allocating to school debt.
Overview of the Person County Schools’ Budget Request:
Dr. Larry Cartner, Superintendent presented the Person County School Current Expense
& Capital Budget Request for 2009-2010. Associate Superintendent, Dave Bennett,
Assistant Superintendents Maggie Whitt and Sandra Davis as well as School Finance &
Business Officer, Julie Masten presented and explained the school revenue sources other
than advalorem taxes and budgets for personnel, human resources, K-5 instructional, 6-
12 instructional, technology, NC Wise, media, testing and accountability, student support,
operational, maintenance, custodial and bus garage.
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Q & A as submitted to the Superintendent & Manager:
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Questions for Joint Meeting of 4.27.09
Submitted by Person County Board of Education
Answers Provided by Board of Commissioners and County Manager
1. We are no longer an agricultural/manufacturing based community. What is your
vision for education in Person County? What do you expect of our school system?
Give specific examples; lower dropout rate, increase graduation rate, increase
teacher retention, industry involvement with schools to insure job ready students,
internships, improved alternative school option, prepared for job market or post
secondary schools etc.
2. What questions do you have of prospective industry representatives regarding their
involvement in our school system? What expectations do you have of new industry
participation in PreK-12 activities and curriculum development in Person County?
3. What is the position of commissioners regarding involvement in educational needs
of our county concerning new terms such as “green collar” jobs that require new
programs and closer involvement with post secondary institutions?
4. What viable formulas could be explored for school funding in Person County?
What are some obstacles to developing/using a formula for school funding?
The Board of Education could bring forward some research on potential formulas that
other counties are currently using and a proposal that the Board of Commissioners could
consider implementing.
(Heidi York)
5. Considering the fact that ADM funding comes from the state and doesn’t cost the
county anything, what is a feasible method of allocating a portion of these funds to
school system on an annual basis?
The cost to the County is the amount of debt paid for past financings done on the schools
behalf for school construction, roofing, paving, and most recently, the bus garage. In the
current FY09, the County’s debt for schools alone totaled $3.05M. In FY10, the
County’s debt will be $2.98M. Commissioners have the option to use ADM monies to
pledge against school debt, OR they can choose to fund additional school capital. In the
past, schools have indicated to Commissioners during budget time if there were any
eligible projects that ADM monies would fund. To my knowledge, the last time the BOE
made a request from the Commissioners to fund some capital using these funds was in
1998, the year before we did the $10M school construction financing in 1999 and the
$10M we did in 2000. Since then, we have used the proceeds in the ADM fund to pay
the school debt without a request from the BOE indicating that they had any eligible
projects for ADM use. I think the misunderstanding stems from a new administration on
both sides and a lack of known procedures in how and when to make this request. I
would suggest that procedures be put in place, whether it is to be part of their budget
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request, or at a separate time. I believe this would result in better communication and
understanding between the two Boards on the anticipated and desired use of these funds.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
6. What is the commission’s position on fair distribution of employees, work load,
employee compensation, etc. for all county employees?
7. List all county building leases, i.e. social services building, tax office, etc. and terms
of lease (length of lease, costs, re-negation agreements, maintenance costs, move in
costs. etc. What factors determine whether to lease or buy/build a facility?
During 1990 the County entered into an operating lease for land on the corner of N.
Madison Blvd. and Walker Street (location of old Byrd’s building currently occupied by
Person Industries) which requires monthly payments of $542 and expires May, 2025.
On April 15, 1996 the County entered into an operating lease for land and a building
located at 26 Court Street in Roxboro, NC. The lease expires on April 30, 2016 and
required monthly payments of $300 through April 30, 2001. Beginning on May 1, 1997
and each succeeding May 1, the base rent of $300 per month was to be adjusted by the
percentage increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index. Beginning May 1, 2001
and every fifth year thereafter, the County shall pay an increased annual base rental equal
to the then fair market rental as determined by two appraisers, one appointed by the
County and one by the Lessor. According to this provision of the lease, and after a
protracted period of negotiations, the monthly rental increased to $1,132 retroactive to
May 2001. The County is also responsible for paying the Lessor’s ad valorem property
taxes on the property. The County agreed to make certain renovations to the property in
the amount of $125,063 which were completed during the year ended June 30, 1996.
On December 16, 2004, the County entered into an operating lease for the land and a
building (former Wal-mart) located on South Madison Boulevard in Roxboro, NC. The
lease expires on August 1, 2025, twenty years from the commencement date of August 1,
2005. The monthly payments for the first five years are $77,144.37 and are scheduled to
increase in 5 year increments until the end of the lease term. The monthly payments are
spread between the three departments that occupy them as follows, Department of Social
Services $37,646.45, Health Department $24,609.06, and Mental Health $14,888.86.
The County is not responsible for paying any taxes on this lease, nor any repairs or
maintenance to the building or lots.
On October 10, 2008, the County entered into an operating lease for land and a building
located at the corner of South Main Street and Abbitt Avenue in Roxboro, N.C (known as
the old Maxway building). The lease expires on March 9, 2023 and requires monthly
payments of $10,154. The Parties may renegotiate this lease at the end of its term.
Determining whether to lease or buy a facility is at the Commissioners discretion as to
which one would be the better future investment. Many factors can influence this
decision such as eligible reimbursement costs by the State when leasing a building,
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maintenance, utility, and other impact costs if buying, advantages/disadvantages of
location, property tax, and weighing these various items against an adjustable lease
payment in the future. Each case would have to be weighed in possibly different ways
since each situation is unique depending on the intended use of the building.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
8. The school board continues to seek an open/congenial relationship between
respective boards. How do you believe we can deepen this relationship for the
benefit of all?
The Board of Commissioners continues to desire an open and congenial relationship
between the two boards as well. This joint meeting as well as the opportunity for the full
Boards to discuss budget needs and challenges together is a good step towards that goal.
Direct communication between the boards rather than through the media or other avenues
will go a long way in deepening the relationships. We are committed to meeting together
during the year and sharing information between the two boards.
(Heidi York)
9. Provide list all projects for years 2004 - 2009 and corresponding costs which were
not on counties approved budget.
All budget amendments and their costs are reflected in the MD&A and the Supplemental
Statement in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Person County for each
FY.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
10. List newly created county positions by year from 2004 to present; list, if any,
reduction in county workforce for the same time period.
11. What is considered appropriate use of county fund balance as well as separate
contingency funds? List fund balance and contingency fund balances.
G.S.159-13 clearly lays out the guidelines for what you cannot appropriate from fund
balance or contingency. This statute is specific to the restrictions much more so than the
allowances. Fund balance is typically an area where Boards are encouraged to budget for
one-time purchases only (ie. capital) versus recurring expenses (ie. operating). However,
in times of economic downturns, there has been a history of counties using fund balance
to balance the budget when no other resources could be attained at Board’s discretions.
Counties typically amend fund balance for new unanticipated revenues or anything that
comes up during the fiscal year that requires budgetary action for which there is no other
supporting stream of funds. Examples are significant emergency repairs, capital projects,
unanticipated expenditures that exceed appropriations, carry-forward encumbrances, etc.
Contingency is used to budget for items that are both anticipated and unanticipated.
Some examples of the anticipated are items that we expect to pay but don’t receive an
accurate estimate for until later in the year such as unemployment insurance, auto
insurance, information technology, etc. Once known, these costs are distributed to the
appropriate department(s) using a budget amendment. Undesignated contingency is a
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set-aside amount for those smaller emergencies that occur from time to time that are
unanticipated. The only restriction for contingency is in G.S. 159-13(3) that states a
limitation of not exceeding 5% of the total of all other appropriations in the same fund
with the exception of public assistance programs. Fund balance appropriations are listed
in each Annual Budget report for the County. The uses and actual costs are included in
the County’s CAFR (can now be accessed via web at Person County’s website,
www.personcounty.net) in the MD&A section under the budgetary highlights and in our
permanent detail that we keep from year to year.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
12. List total county debt, including school capital debt, and projected payoff dates for
all debt.
I do not currently have the County’s debt split out. I do have the schools debt portion as
it’s presented below: (Amy Wehrenberg)
General
Obligation
Bonds-
Principal
General
Obligation
Bonds-
Interest
Year
Ending
June 30
2004
Refunding
Bonds
2006
Inst. Fin. Sch
2007
Inst. Fin. Sch
2008
Refinancing
2004
Refunding
Bonds
2006
Inst. Fin. Sch
2007
Inst. Fin. Sch
2008
Refinancing
Total Debt
Payment
2009 230,000.00 109,305.00 325,700.00 1,881,000.00 7,475.00 85,742.51 95,903.03 316,230.44 3,051,355.99
2010 - 124,920.00 423,410.00 1,885,500.00 - 81,373.06 82,780.78 385,636.50 2,983,620.35
2011 - 124,920.00 423,410.00 1,885,500.00 - 76,551.16 66,902.91 318,701.25 2,895,985.32
2012 - 140,535.00 586,260.00 1,678,500.00 - 71,771.35 49,631.33 253,603.13 2,780,300.80
2013 - 140,535.00 488,550.00 1,849,500.00 - 66,154.32 28,434.61 192,498.75 2,765,672.68
2014 - 140,535.00 390,840.00 2,029,500.00 - 60,729.67 11,022.50 125,244.00 2,757,871.17
2015 - 140,535.00 - 2,007,000.00 - 55,305.02 - 50,720.63 2,253,560.64
2016 - 156,150.00 - - - 49,862.20 - - 206,012.20
2017 - 156,150.00 - - - 43,702.71 - - 199,852.71
2018 - 265,455.00 - - - 36,623.41 - - 302,078.41
2019 - 249,840.00 - - - 26,527.12 - - 276,367.12
2020 - 249,840.00 - - - 16,922.93 - - 266,762.93
2021 - 249,840.00 - - - 7,239.47 - - 257,079.47
2022 - - - - - - - - -
Installment Purchase Agreements
Principal
Installment Purchase Agreements
Interest
13. How many full time employees did the county have on its payroll for
2005 – 2006 364
2006 – 2007 385
2007 – 2008 372
2008 – 2009 408
14. What was the number of administrative positions, directors, other professional staff,
administrative assistants, office personnel at all the county offices for the following
years and what was their salary?
2005 - 2006
2006 – 2007
2007– 2008
2008– 2009
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15. How much did has Person County been reimbursed from the State of North
Carolina on the county Medicaid budget as of April 15, 2009?
$243,282.55—The Medicaid Relief Swap only impacted ADM Fund receipts in 2007-08.
The Medicaid hold harmless payment is now based on actual performance minus actual
Medicaid savings versus actual foregone sales taxes and is calculated on a cash basis. In
addition, counties are required to continue to hold the ADM funds harmless for the loss in
Article 42 sales tax receipts which will be less under the point of delivery allocation
change in October 2009. We won’t actually see the effect of this until January 2010. For
further information on Medicaid hold harmless, please refer to the Memo dated March
31, 2009 from Rebecca Troutman on the NCACC website, http://www.ncacc.org/links-
budget.html.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
16. How much did the County spend on upgrading technology for each of following
years?
2005 – 2006 $250,000
2006 – 2007 $83,595
2007 – 2008 $217,500
2008 – 2009 $88,689 spent to date
17. What amount of your fund balance was left over from last year?
At June 30, 2008: $19,235,135
($6,607,330 of this total is reserved, $12,627,805 is unreserved)
18. The county publishes percentages of money spent on education for grades k-12.
How much of that money included in this percentage is actually pass through money
which comes from the State of North Carolina and is directed to be used for
education?
I do not see where we separate the Grades K-12 out, but I know that we show a % of the
General Fund in the budget ordinance for Education in general. This would include the
pass-throughs and the amount that is appropriated for PCC. The amount that is showing
in the budget ordinance for 2008-09 for Education is $10,983,897 at 19.8%. The
breakdown is as follows:
9,381,135 Current and Capital Expense for Schools 16.8%
1,082,062 Current Expense, Small Business Incubator, and Capital Expense for
PCC 2%
520,700 Pass thru funds for Schools (Terrell Sch Fd & Lottery funds) 1%
(Amy Wehrenberg)
19. How much of the school debt is paid by state funds and how much is paid by local
funds?
In FY 2008: $1,820,446.78 in state funds and $1,009,905.22 in local funds. The total
debt service for schools in FY 2008 was $2,830,352. The state funds come from the set-
aside portion of sales tax in Articles 40 and 42 to be used by counties to meet their
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statutory obligations regarding the debt for school construction and maintenance. The
remaining portion is supplemented by the County. In FY 2009, this ratio will likely
switch, and more of these funds will be supplied by the County and less by the State since
the sales tax is projected to be much lower.
(Amy Wehrenberg)
Funding Formula Discussion:
Members of both boards agreed to allow the Superintendent, the County Manager
and their respective Finance Officers to meet and work on a funding formula that is
mutually acceptable.
Both governing boards agreed to have follow up meetings to create a shared
vision on education for Person County as well as continue discussions on other items not
a part of the budgetary process.
Commissioner Kennington stated NC Public School Forum Report, Dept of
Public Instruction Profile, NC Governors Report Card and NC Association of County
Commissioners, NC School Board Association report different figures for per pupil
expenditures. Commissioner Kennington noted that in the 2008 local school funding as
noted from the NC Public School Forum Report, Person County ranks 38th out of 100 in
actual effort and 48th in relative effort.
Items of Agreement:
Heidi York, County Manager summarized the following items are listed for action
and follow up:
• Explore the use of ADM funds for other items than school debt,
• Administration from both boards are to meet and review other system’s funding
formula and recommend a proposed funding formula to both boards, and
• Set up a joint follow up meeting to discuss items other than a budget including a
shared vision on education
Dr. Larry Cartner, Superintendent agreed with the items of agreement Ms. York
noted.
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ADJOURNMENT:
A motion was made by Commissioner Kennington, seconded by Commissioner
Puryear, and carried to adjourn the meeting at 8:21p.m.
_____________________________ ______________________________
Brenda B. Reaves Johnny Myrl Lunsford
Clerk to the Board Chairman