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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-09,10,14-2024 Budget Retreat 2024 Budget Sessions IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Budget Work Sessions May 9, 10, & 14, 2024 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met for Budget Work Sessions on May 9, 10, and 14, 2024, at 9am at the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Annex. Board Members Present Chair Melissa Neader Vice Chair Bert Connolly Scottie Brown Brad Stroud, Sr. Board Members Participating Remotely Gene Houpe Staff present: County Manager Beth Mull, Deputy County Manager Susan Robertson, Assistant County Manager Rodney Harris, Assistant Finance Director Caroline Taylor, Budget Analyst Daisy Lopez, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. Call to Order: Chair Neader called the meeting to order. Invocation: By Chair Neader. Schedule A General Fund – The unassigned fund balance as of June 30, 2023, was $104,267,664. Estimated revenue as of June 30, 2024, is $329,261,150. Estimated expenditures as of June 30, 2024 is $286,290,700. There is $1,575,000 assigned in the fund balance for the estimated true-up for School Capital; and $30 million assigned for Results of Space Needs Assessment. The estimated fund balance as of June 30, 2024, is $94,232,653 (29.28%) and the recommended FY25 budget is $321,820,000. Commissioner Houpe asked when the Space Needs Assessment will be done. Mull said the process will begin after July 1. The results will likely be ready towards the end of the next fiscal year. Commissioner Houpe asked if it would be better to fund just the analysis next fiscal year. He asked that they break it out what State facilities we are required to provide today that the State was providing funding for in years past. Mull suggested keeping the funds for the results as it is going to be a heavy lift financially. There are multiple departments out of space. Mull said we will begin saving funds for the next several FY budgets. The plan is to incrementally set aside funds to implement the results of the study based on priority of the need. Commissioner Stroud asked how many operating months would the fund balance cover? Mull said 3.4 months. 2024 Budget Sessions Schedule B Personnel Positions – County Manager Beth Mull went through the personnel positions.  1 new position in Administration (part-time to full-time)  Transfer the safety officer to Safety. Safety is a new proposed new budget.  1 HR generalist  1 Reappraisal Coordinator in Tax Assessor  Transfer GIS Specialist from IT to GIS/Mapping  12 new positions for the apprenticeship program  1 new librarian  1 Recreation, Fitness, and Pool Specialist  15 new positions in DSS  16 new paramedics in EMS (8 are full year and 8 are half year); 24 were added in FY24 for the 3rd Man Program.  2 new positions in ECOM (911 radio specialist and SSD dispatcher) The last implementation of the Winborn Study.  2 new animal control officers  5 Deputy Sheriffs, 4 Detention Officers, 4 Detention Deputies  Register of Deeds – currently has two full-time positions that have been there for a while and is used for passports. Those positions have not been filled and the office is not currently doing passports. Register of Deeds Renee Holland is talking about starting the passport process with part-time staff. The recommendation is to move the two full-time positions to two part-time positions. The Board discussed the Register of Deeds’ request to implement passports with two part-time positions. Schedule C Schedule of Capital Outlay Requests – Mull went through the requests that were cut. Schedule D General Fund Expenditures by Service Type – Taylor went through the general fund expenditures by function. Schedule E General Fund Departments by Revenue Source – Taylor went through general fund departments by revenue source. Schedule F – General Fund Expenditures FY25 changes by Expenditure Type – Taylor went through general fund FY25 expenditure changes by expenditure type. Schedule G – General Fund Estimated Property Valuations – Taylor went over general fund estimated property valuations. Schedule H – Schedule of Tax Rates & Valuations – Taylor went over the schedule of tax rates and valuations. The FY tax rate remains at .50 cents. 2024 Budget Sessions Mull said the County is pay-go which means paying cash for projects. Commissioner Houpe asked Mull and County Attorney Lisa Valdez about the potential legislation regarding school funding (HB960). Mull said the bill is in conjunction with the school voucher. The bill is likely to pass because it is not a party-line bill. The Board asked Mull to request an update on HB960 from the legislators. Departmental Budgets (The Board consented to each budget unless noted otherwise) General Governmental Departments County Commissioners – there is an increase in insurance and bonds, and a reduction in advertising. Total of a 5% increase. Administration – increase in insurance and bonds, part-time administrative assistant position to full-time. Total of a 17% increase. Human Resources – 13% increase. Safety – New department budget line item as it is being pulled out of HR & Wellness. Elections – the department has an over 2% decrease. Replacement of voting equipment over the next two years. Finance – the overall 15% increase includes Opengov, which is a new software that will allow for the electronic bid process., Tax Assessor – An overall 4% increase Tax Collector – An overall 4% increase Mapping – over 23% increase includes the GIS position transfer from IT Information Technology Services – A 13% increase. Register of Deeds – A 15% increase includes two part-time positions with staggered hours to provide full-time passport services. Facility Services – A 17% increase includes a road sign post-puller. Buildings – 11% increase includes contracted security for the public defender’s office. Vehicle Services – A 36% increase mostly related to the fleet program Courts - A 32% increase includes facility assessment recommendations and jury selection software. Budget also includes funds being set aside for appliance replacement. Legal – 100% increase; same budget and same amount but last year had a carry-over. Economic Development – A 1% decrease includes the County’s share of an airport grant. 2024 Budget Sessions Mull noted the schools have decided to not move forward with the EdgeFactor Program. The Board discussed the Institute of Digital Engineering. There is one more year of the three-year commitment. The program started with Corvid however it has taken its own role as a separate non-profit organization. Mull said they do a lot of interesting projects with hospitals and computer modeling. General Governmental – A 92% increase. Most of which is salary and benefits including the proposed 3% salary scale adjustment for all full-time and part-time permanent employees and funding for the implementation of the pay and classification study. Mull said the consultant responsible for the market study is currently looking at job descriptions. Once other entities issue their respective increase in July, the consultant will be able to use those most current salaries to perform the market study piece. The plan is to implement the results of the study in January. Chair Neader asked if employees know to ‘hold tight’ until then? Mull said the department directors were made aware and asked to share with staff. Vice Chair Connolly suggested a 5% salary scale adjustment. Commissioner Stroud agreed. He said Troutman is talking about a 4% increase and a 3% merit increase. The County has made great strides and should continue to do so. Commissioner Stroud thinks the County may lose employees if only a 3% increase is given. Mull said merit helps with compression and pay scale adjustment accelerates compression. Commissioner Stroud suggested 3% and 2%. Vice Chair Connolly asked about longevity. Mull said the consultant will also look at recommending something for longevity. Vice Chair Connolly asked if that would help with compression. Taylor said it will in the long run. The Board discussed possible combinations to get to the 5% and consented to 3% salary scale adjustment and 2% merit on July 1, 2024. Merit is not tied to performance reviews. Special Appropriation – 14% increase Mull noted the County received three new requests: the Dove House, Foundations of Hope Ministries, and Piedmont Mediation. These entities were encouraged to reach out to United Way. Debt – A 12.5% decrease because there are no new issuances. This debt service does not include schools. Commissioner Brown expressed interest in paying off the Public Safety Center. Robertson said the interest rate is lower than the current rate. 2024 Budget Sessions Mull noted that the County refinanced debt when interest rates plummeted. Capital Improvement – A 41.5% decrease. Includes capital reserve and CIP. Taylor went through the CIP:  Government Center Renovations  ADA  LED Lighting  Core Switch  Antivirus Update  Rubrik Backup Upgrade  Island Management Console  Netscout Network Analysis/Monitoring Tool  Airport (grant matches)  Replace Backup System (ECOM)  Voice Dispatch System (ECOM)  Replace voting machines (over 2 years)  Replace carpet with LVT on 2nd & 3rd floors of Building Standards  Replace carpet in meeting rooms at Cooperative Extension  Replace the generator at Health Department in Statesville (replacement will be portable)  Replace roof at Library (Statesville)  Carolina Thread Trail (adjusted to $500,000)  $5 million towards the Fairgrounds project Education CIP  New high school  New elementary school  Classrooms at Lakeshore Middle School  Central Office  MCC Bond Issuance Facility Improvement Plan  Renovations at Building Standards  Transfer Switch at Government Center  Roof repairs at Government Center South  Ceiling at the Library  Sanding and refinishing floors at Recreation Center 2024 Budget Sessions  Pool shades at the Recreation Center  Restroom renovations at Stumpy Creek The Board agreed by consensus to look at shade options at the pool after Parks & Recreation hears back from pending grant applications. The Board agreed by consensus to remove the painting of the Library ceiling. Vice Chair Connolly asked about building a facility for the County’s trailers. Mull said there is space at Trinity Volunteer Fire Department for EM and Fire Services trailers. Vice Chair said the Health Department and Sheriff’s Office have trailers. Mull said that can be a part of the Space Needs Analysis. Transfers – An 11% decrease in transfers. Opioid Settlement – The county will receive funds for 18 years and there is no time limit on allocating. JCPC – No changes to the 2-year funding plan. Health Insurance – Very minimal increase. A slight change to the Wellness Incentives to encourage employees to participate in the program. 5 out of 5: $600 4 out of 5: $300 3 out of 5: $100 Schools Vice Chair Connolly said ISS is short around $1.9 million for next year. Connolly gave an update on a meeting with Adam Steele regarding ESSER money. The school system combed through all they have and there is still a shortage. Mull asked if that was above and beyond the County’s appropriation. Robertson asked if that was in current expense. Vice Chair Connolly said yes. Mull asked how much Mooresville Graded is short. Vice Chair Connolly said Mooresville Graded has not mentioned a shortage. Robertson said the same would need to be given to both school systems along with an equal share to Mitchell Community College. Vice Chair Connolly asked about the County not billing ISS for SROs this coming year. 2024 Budget Sessions Mull said that she and Dr. James discussed this before. The school system hired positions knowing the money was going to expire. Mull asked why it is the County’s responsibility to bridge the gap. Vice Chair Connolly noted that there have been several similar conversations. Mull asked what about ISS fund balance that they were saving. Commissioner Brown is not inclined to give ISS more funding at this time. The Harmony Elementary School project still is not complete. Vice Chair Connolly added that ISS will need approximately $200,000 to make sports (football) happen. If Parks and Recreation is not going to oversee sports, then someone must do it. He asked about ISS elementary and middle schools facility usage fees. Mull said they don’t charge the non-profit athletic associations to use school fields, but everyone needs to have the same fee schedule. Mull provided the County’s proposed fee schedule to ISS but has not heard back. Commissioner Stroud said according to Dr. James, the ISS usage fee would have little to no impact on elementary or middle schools. Vice Chair Connolly said ISS has significantly more students than MGSD, including students with challenges that require more money. Mull said if the Board increases ISS operational funding and deviates from the funding formula, they would also need to increase funding for the other education entities. Property and Liability Insurance Fund – A 13% increase due to vehicle accidents. Workers Compensations Insurance Fund – There were no changes. Development Services Building Standards – increased insurance and bonds; 8% increase. The Board discussed the City of Statesville beginning the process of conducting their own inspections. Valdez asked if the City needed anything from Wilkinson. Wilkinson does not think so. Mull said the City has been upfront about wanting to move forward. Wilkinson heard that the City hopes to begin its own inspections in 2025. Mull noted that she received an email from City Manager Ron Smith requesting a joint board meeting to discuss growth. Commissioner Brown said the Board met with the Town of Mooresville. 2024 Budget Sessions Chair Neader said growth is a major topic and citizens are asking the Commissioners for help. There should be a method to make improvements to areas already in the municipality before expanding and annexing in other areas. Planning – A 5% increase includes an increase in legal notices. The department is also requesting the following change in their fee schedule:  Major plan review increased from $175 to $275 per acre or fraction of an acre. Planning Director Matthew Todd gave an update on the Farmland Preservation Board. He expects the FBD to soon make a formal request to identify funding for purchasing of development rights program. Todd is working with Laura Eagle in the Tax Office on how much is recovered each year in that look back. The Board discussed the purchasing of development rights program. Mull gave an update on CRTPO dues which have increased from $19,000 to $49,000. Todd said CRTPO formula has changed dues and Iredell received a harder hit. Unfortunately, the municipality's dues are dropping. Central Permitting – Overall 6.5% decrease. Cooperative Extension – Overall 9.9% increase. Vice Chair Connolly suggested setting aside funds for 4H program scholarships and/or to lease a van for transportation. Robertson said Nancy Keith has reached out to Randy Marion regarding using a van this summer and will follow up with the Board after she hears back. Friday, May 10, 2024 Chair Neader called the recessed meeting back to order. Commissioner Stroud led the invocation. Iredell-Statesville Schools – Dr. Jeff James, Tim Ivey, and Adam Steele Dr. Jeff James said, “Thank you for having us. We do draw the largest portion of the local budget. We do appreciate that. There are always a lot of things that go around in the County. We live and breathe by data. More than less, we are finding ourselves to actually present that data. Monday night whatever happened at the City Council…when the city manager calls me Tuesday morning it is probably not a good thing. We are working on true numbers. As you all know, there was a class-size law set about four years ago. I have to sign an affidavit on class size for K-3. You can’t go by the old numbers using square footage. You have to have a certain size classroom to put 18-20 kids in it. Tim is currently working on that. What was mentioned at the City Council meeting I can tell you is nowhere near our capacity. North Iredell High School was at 67%. If you add the other 250 ASEC students that number is not at 67%. That is what happens when people get a hold of numbers that do not know the rest of the story. There is always context when looking 2024 Budget Sessions at numbers. We are working on that. We will get the numbers to you. The Board of Education will look at it before we do an article on the actual capacity by school.” “Some of you remember that Melissa Wike was our CFO. At the time, the State was talking about raising the minimum wage. This impacted you all just like it did us. We had two scenarios when we met with Beth, General Mallory, Gene, and Martin. We had to look at the impact of that. Our local budget that you give us to upkeep the buildings, maintenance and custodians. Those individuals were making an average of $11.66 per hour. When the State went to $15 per hour and insurance also increased. We are up to over $8,000 per employee on insurance starting next year. Retirement went up. We were about 48-50% increase. We knew that so when we talked to the commissioners and Beth, we said we need to build fund balance because we know we are going to have to draw down when this impacts us. You guys typically average around 4 1/2% and salaries went up 50%. It is pretty simple math. There is no way giving 4% is going to catch that. It is no fault of you all. Those people deserve $15 per hour. They worked many years in poverty. That sort of put us in a tailspin. We knew it so we have been drawing down some fund balance over time. The other thing is low taxes. I love the fact that we have low taxes but let me tell you how it impacts us and you. Iredell’s median income is higher than the State by $5,000. While it is great to live in a county that you can get a job that pays very well. We just got a report from the State on teachers leaving the profession. The highest number ever seen was last year. It was over 10,000. The problem with that number is if I have a full-time substitute in that job we didn’t count it as open. That number is really about 15,000. Charlotte Meck has 51% of teacher not highly qualified. I can assure you that Bill Gates spent millions of dollars to prove one thing; the biggest impact on students education is a teacher in the classroom. If you have a highly qualified and good teacher it makes a difference. If I get just a warm body to put in the classroom all I am doing is babysitting. Some of those warm bodies are better than teachers but that is not the norm. What happened with that is we are in a county with an average median income of $73,000 and we are paying $40,000 for teachers we see a huge shift of people not even considering the teaching profession. No fault locally. The state had a $1.1 million surplus. Some states have applied that to the teaching profession to try and stop some of the turnover.” Dr. James said, “I worked in industry for 22 years and do have several degrees and some knowledge and we are going to see a time that parents are going to stay at home because schools are not going to be running because we don’t have enough people to run a school. That will impact the economy. I ran a Fortune 500 company. You can run a zero-tax rate but if you cannot find qualified help you are out of business. We are the economic driver in this county. We train the blue-collar workforce. About 22% of our kids go on to a 4-year university. I won't tell you the number that succeeds. It is not that good. Trade school and two-year degree students are making more than some teachers. We train welders. Mooresville Graded and Iredell-Statesville combined had a total of 6,000 industry certifications. Those are true certified mechanics or welders.” Dr. James said, “The growth in this county is full circle. There is no one component that is more important than the other. You see that as trying to run county government. It only takes one domino to stop the system from working. I say we are an investment not a cost. Because we are the economic driver, again, low tax rates can be a blessing but it is also a curse. The 2024 Budget Sessions infrastructure, demand for services, everyone wants more services but less taxes. At some point, there is not an equal Librium and that is where we are.” Dr. James said, “It is not because of local funding. Because we are at .50 cent the state drops us out of two other buckets of money we can pull down. We are about $1,700 less per student than districts that have closer…the average is about .63-.65 cent per 100 on taxes. The closer you are to that number the more pools of money you can apply for at the state level so we are penalized. The low tax rate penalizes us in several ways. If you look at our overall funding compared to relative counties our size, we are about $1,700 less; multiply that by 21,000 students and it is a chunk of change that we could use. The biggest aggravation for us in education is we know what works but can’t afford it. Union County does high-impact tutoring and that is a significant amount of their budget. They get a lot more money per pupil than we do. That goes into additional services that can close educational gaps. Most of the public does not understand that when we get money it is earmarked from the federal government on what we can spend it on. ESSER was designed to close the educational gap. It was not designed to do a bunch of other things. There are some districts that hired a lot of additional people. We want to protect the local budget so here is what we do. The state gives allotments. For example, if Brad has 30 years of experience as a teacher and Bert has one the State doesn’t care. If we’re smart, we can put Brad on the state budget because he is a lot more expensive than Bert. If we have to we can Bert on the local budget. Adam is constantly trying to shift the lowest paid employees to local and the highest to state or federal. That gives us additional dollars to spend locally.” Dr. James said, “During ESSER, we were going to hire 24 teacher assistants part-time at$20-$22 per hour. We hired one IT technician. We didn’t continue those. There is a rumor out there that we hired all these nurses. We didn’t. We moved the nurses to local budget…no, we moved the nurses to ESSER because if you are nurse and work for us you have to have all these degrees that typically is not required for other entities. That makes our nurses with benefits about$85,000 - $95,000. We don’t want those in the local budget because it eats it up so we moved them to ESSER which is an allowable move because of COVID. We had a grant and hired 24 nurses. The grant ran out so we, through attrition, have gone back to 18 nurses which is exactly what we had before Covid. We had 22 TAs and I guarantee we didn’t hire all 22. You cannot find people to work. We do have the technician. We also reduced the system analyst we didn’t replace. We knew we were coming to this point. Four years ago when I got here we reduced 11-13 central office positions. We never replaced those and that is reoccurring savings. That was about $1.3 million before raises and benefit increases. There are two other directors that are leaving and will not be replaced. We will be at about 15 overhead positions that we reduced for a reoccurring savings of $2 million. We burn the midnight oil and that is fine. It’s about the kids at the end of the day. The other thing we did about three or four years ago, the Board and all of us understood we need a SRO in every school. We didn’t have that at that time so my first year I worked with you guys, the Board, and the Sheriff’s Office to have a SRO in every school. In fact, we have four K9s. We’ve added extra security and major upgrades through the schools.” 2024 Budget Sessions Dr. James said, “The other night, Mr. Sloan asked me if he gave me a nickel would that go to the teachers in the classroom. And the answer is sadly no because there is such a distrust in the government and public education we would have to hire three people to make sure I spent that nickel appropriately. We are audited more than any entity that I have ever worked for. Tim can tell you about ESSER. They showed up and asked to see how the money was spent. We had to prove what we spent and that was a day or two audit. We had to go through everything we spent ESSER on and show that we spent it as intended. We have an auditor who spends about two to three weeks with us. If you look at it, we run about a $330-335 million budget and we have no comments on our budget and that means we are spending the money as intended. We do not waste a penny. You guys get the same thing. We are blowing money or spending it frivolously but we’re not. At some point, if we are going to have quality services (Fire, EMS, education) it costs. It is not free. We had about $7 million that we had reduce from our budget. We’ve done a pretty good job of it. Anything you can do for us would be a help because we are down to…we probably need more than what you’re looking at giving us, but then we have to decide if it is an SRO that we let go, counselor, or teaching position. We are down to the place where we don’t have people in the local budget except for those who maintain buildings and maintenance. We have to make some hard decisions. It is not that we’ve not been good stewards of the money. When we took that leap of about 50%for minimum wage it affected all of us. It affected the County too because you probably had people who weren’t at minimum wage. That is the biggest hurdle we’ve had to jump. If the State does it again it will put the local paid employees further in the hole. That said, Adam has some numbers. Iredell County’s growth almost twice the State’s. While growth is great, I think Beth has said that. There are also problems that come with growth and you can’t ignore them because eventually, the problems are going to overcome the benefit of being a county that is growing by leaps and bounds.” ISS Chief Financial Officer Adam Steele said, “Why is Iredell in the situation we are? I’ve been privileged for the past year to serve as the southeastern Association of School Business Officials President. I was able to attend the ASMO International Conference in Maryland. In one of the classes it was told that each district needed to document everything paid out in ESSER. I came back and put everything we paid on ESSER, if we moved a position, if we hired a position. I made the executive cabinet go through it and say what was the impact to that kid. What was the impact to the district? Did it work? Was the goal met? The last box is how are we going to pay for it. Because there is no money left over. We added a lot of services. We did a lot of tutoring to close the gap. Dr. James mentioned teacher assistants. We did a number of professional development for principals and teachers. We were able to reduce class size, but we knew they were going away. I had to do a report every quarter to the State to show that those positions were ending. We had to put it in their contract that the position was ending. We did add some part-time TAs and they knew they were ending. We reduced class size but knew the class size would have to go back up once ESSER funds ended. We did that and that brings us to this presentation. We have to be open and think big picture. We have to be mindful that this is an “I got you’ moment. We have to be solution- oriented and creative in our schools and district.” Steele said, “With ESSER we were able to pay bonuses. We were able to save a tremendous amount of money on capital. We were able to refresh our computers at the tune of $16 million. 2024 Budget Sessions That was money we were able to save out of capital money. We know going forward when we do a refresh that has to go in capital. Tim and I have already discussed that. The tutorial service has been huge. There is a tutoring program at North Middle and the sixth graders are outdoing Oakwood IB. Those services worked but we know we don’t have that money and it has to go away. Consulting services; we brought in a lot of people to look at ways we were doing things. Summer school; the state didn’t give us money for summer school so we had to use ESSER money. We are still doing to the K-3 reading. We were able to give the schools additional supplies. Recruitment and retention services; that is not going away but we have reduced how much we are going to pay in recruitment bonuses.” Tim Ivey said, “A portion of it was on the bipolarization. When ESSER was provided at first, it had categories and some of them were to make sure that the buildings were acceptable with their air quality. We had 23 buildings that we ended up putting bipolarization in. It also dealt with connectivity. Because at the time of the stay at home order there were a lot of communities that could not connect and digital learning became the norm. We were able to do a refresh of all the devices and make sure every child was able to connect. We were able to go in and change some of the infrastructure along with our E-rate funds to make sure all the schools were up to date. Since we have gone through this, we haven’t had any internet disruptions. Before that, it was a pretty regular occurrence and it was due to old equipment. We also had to go through a very extensive audit. We had to justify why we spent the money and provide evidence on how it was impactful to the definition of the PRC code. If it said your air quality had to be improved then you had to prove it was improved. I have been through lots of different audits and this was a very strenuous audit. From that round of ESSER audits, we were found to have no findings. The school system did a very good job. I think that we did provide ourselves with a great opportunity on the capital funds because we now have two more years before we have to consider a refresh. Because we were able to buy devices that had services attached to them to get them updated those computers are actually lasting longer. We may be able to push another year out. We are considering whether we do a five- year refresh or start with single classes. As technology changes, you are also seeing that we able to think differently. At one point, the school system was Macbooks then moved to Dells and now we are considering Chromebooks because of the cloud ability to run programs. I think it has given us the ability to think ahead as before we were being very reactive.” Steele said, “We did move 25 nurses into ESSER. Melissa Wike did that. Two nurse extenders at our largest schools are going away; Lake Norman and South Iredell. We are going back to 18 nurses; 22 part-time assistants were added at the most at-risk cools; community liaison; I mentioned the teaching positions. We didn’t hire those positions but through attrition we knew had to get to pre-pandemic. We were running class-size at a middle school around 24-25. We never did that in my previous district, we were 30-25 kids in a middle school classroom. One technology position that we have been able to absorb through retirements; program specialist; that has been able to move to another grant. Those are some additional services that we added through ESSER that either the school has to pick them up or we as a district has to figure out where to pay…use state money, look at state grants.” 2024 Budget Sessions Steele said, “In the current year we are going to spend $1.5 million out of fund balance. We knew that. We knew going in based on talking to Beth in November that based on the CPI index we knew we were going to get close to $2 million if the CPI stayed there. Truthfully, ISS needs $7 million. I am requesting 14%. That is not different than anyone else. I was at a regional meeting and 10 out of 14 districts in that meeting were requesting 10% or more. It is not anything that anyone else is requesting. That leaves us $5 million short. We knew that. We had to get into the weeds. Where are we going to find $5 million? We have to cut because we can’t expect the County to come in and give us $5 million just because. We added a teacher attendance supplement as an incentive to get our teacher supplement up. We are reducing that by about $1 million. We added a planning period stiped with ESSER. We can’t find subs. We are not looking at reducing 15 assistant principals. The State gives us one month of assistant principal per 98 students. Example: Statesville High has 900 students, truthfully you don’t want to run any high school with one assistant principal. We’ve got to reduce…that is one way we are looking at. We have to reduce our bus fleet to improve efficiency. My son rides a bus and there are 20 kids on there. In the northern end of the County, it is hard to fill up a bus. There is an extra month of employment. Dr. James mentioned reducing two director positions. We knew going in that those are things we have to do. These are numbers we’ve thrown around. The bus department is already reducing busses.” Ivey said, “They have already taken 10 busses off the road and looking at doing 10 more. ESSER offered us the opportunity to start thinking forward ahead of time and to start making improvement processes throughout departments to be better stewards. The transportation department has done a phenomenal job of reducing busses and look at ways to consolidate routes. They moved to community stops for certain programs. They are utilizing their funding and getting their efficiency levels up. They were at around 87% including Mooresville busses. Now, they are looking at 90%. It really has helped us think differently.” Dr. James said, “Like we said earlier, there is a cost in services. For the IB middle schools, we were doing door-to-door. Those are the only choice programs we were getting that. Services had to be cut and parents were not happy. We did community stops.” Dr. James said, “The fund balance…we, like you guys, need to keep about three-five months’ worth of fund balance on hand in case there is a catastrophe or something unexpected happens. That’s about $6 million. We have a threshold we don’t want to go below. We have about $9 million in fund balance now. The prior board elected to move $4 million out of the general fund to put into capital to clean up some capital things we had sort of been kicking the can down the road. Some of the elementary schools…we’ve taken that money and Tim is taking other money through here and there to try and get things improved or upgraded. I am proud to say through the help of our legislators we have some athletic facility dollars and have been able to significantly upgrade North Iredell and West Iredell. We are hoping that will continue. For those taxpayers wondering why we have a fund balance, you want us to have a fund balance. Again, four months of operating cash…you don’t want to go below that because if something happens you are in trouble.” 2024 Budget Sessions Steele said, “Our fund balance is sitting at $9.6 million, which is healthy. We broke even last year. We added the first year I was here, and Melissa Wike was able to add with the help of ESSER to get that up there.” Steele said, “I can remember the phone call with Dr. James when he told me that we would need to increase bus pay. Mooresville and Charlotte Mecklenburg went up to $17.62. It was like we have to increase again. If we didn’t meet that need, we already had bus drivers going down the road. Minimum bus pay is almost $18 per hour, and we still can’t find enough. That is some of the reasons we are where we are. They went from $11.66 pre-pandemic to $18 per hour. They had a huge increase. Not saying they’re not worth it but that is a part of the reason we’re where we are.” Steele said, “This is how we are going to save money. These are things that get us where we are. We are at a total cost savings of $3.7 million. We did not have to put in a lot of money in exceptional children. What has happened is that the population has increased, so the cost of those services are expensive. You cannot find teachers or teacher assistants for those classrooms. That causes us to contract those services and that is not cheap. When you’re paying $50-70 per hour. We are at a point with EC that we have spent all of our Medicaid money. They are at a minimum. We are in the process of trying to hire or find people. It is cheaper for us…we are looking for another million just for EC. That is not something other districts aren’t dealing with.” Dr. James, “About seven years ago, when the opioid crisis struck, the statistics are that about 2 out of 5 live births are cognitively impacted by drug use. What we are seeing is an explosion of students that are severe. In a severe classroom, the state gives us a teacher and a TA. We have parents want one-on-one but I get $13,000 for the student. An employee with state benefits is going to be $50,000 even if they are a TA. How does that work? The bottom line is they have rights, as they should, and the state is not funding the needs of the students. We are getting further and further behind. The parents have every right to sue and when they do we get in litigation and the money that went to the children now goes to lawyers. Somewhere in our state, we have to get our legislators to understand we have significant problems locally that they need to listen to. They are all going to hit at the same time, and we are going to have a perfect storm. I am afraid it is going to affect us economically. We cannot serve children who have significant behavior issues. We had seven kids in first grade in diapers. Teachers did not go to school to learn how to change diapers. They went to school to teach kids how to read. We have 4,000 students…when you talk about nurses…a nurse caseload is 110 students a day. That will not happen. We have 4,000 chronically ill children with health plans. We are seeing more chronic illnesses in our buildings. A teacher’s constant concern is which kids have health impairments that require monitoring. Politicians always say that we need to get back to basics. Teachers would love to get back to basics. You can’t get back to basics when kids are walking in impacted by drug use and poverty. Kids don’t walk in ready to learn. We need nurses. I just came from Celeste yesterday and Kintegra health was there. Last year, they did $180,000 in dental work that the kids would not have gotten otherwise. All of these services are providing health to the community. As a taxpayer, do I want these services to go away or lessen them? I have to balance them. I appreciate low taxes, but it is impacting our ability now to service Iredell County citizens.” 2024 Budget Sessions Dr. James said, “Dr. Gardner and I were in a state meeting three weeks ago. The state looks at it as if you raise taxes one cent how much does that bring in? If it is millions of dollars the State will mark through ISS because locally you can raise it. They go to the other 40 counties that can raise it a penny and get $10,000. That is what our state officials are thinking. Beth knows it. We are getting penalized for growth. That’s unfortunate but that’s the County we live in and how we are looked at from the State.” Steele said, “We have to maintain the services and classroom. We are short of every bit of $1.3 million if not more with the EC funding. As a citizen of this county, I see people everyday…I get it. I do want to advocate as the CFO for ISS. We are going to do our best. We’ve broke even, we’ve added to fund balance, spent fund balance but we’ve not misused funds. I will do even to advocate and present the information to Dr. James and our board so they can make a decision. At the end of the day, it is ultimately their decision but we are going to do our best to protect the classroom and kids to get them educated and productive citizens.” Chair Neader said, “That is current expense. Do you keep capital budget separate?” Ivey said, “Yes. The capital budget is based on a percentage of sales tax. We are going to procced with that amount this year and there is the true up that comes in later. We make our budget plan off that. This is just the current expense.” Chair Neader, “Do you know the balance in your capital budget?” Ivey said, “We have projects that are reoccurring so we still have funding left over from the sale of Mount Mourne and things but all of that money is earmarked for projects. We don’t have any available capital that is not being spent based on identified needs. We’re not currently asking for any additional money in the capital budget. The big elephant in the room coming up…we all know we have a high school that needs to be built. We know it will be a challenge for our county so we are trying to be good stewards.” Dr. James said, “We keep up with 4.3 million square feet. If you divide the capital budget we are actually keeping up with facilities at $2.25 per foot. The national average is $7. We are pinching the penny like you guys are. I can understand any taxpayer being upset if we squandered money. I have lived here all my life. We have always pinched a penny and done what we should with taxpayer money. The problem is we are growing to the point that the services demand exceeds what our current tax revenues are. Everyone around us is a half-cent more in sales tax. Does that matter? Yes, it does. It doesn’t seem to matter when we go to all the counties around us and spend that half cent. I haven’t heard any fuss about paying a half cent more in sales tax. That all cost us. Alot of people say it is a progressive tax, but we have to look at revenue for providing services or we are going to get behind. There are 116 school systems in the state. Cherokee Nation is 116 in funded. If you look at our overall funding, not what you guys give us, but look at federal, state, and local we are 112 out of 116. If you put all of them together. We lose out on lots of money for being a Tier III county. That impacts us. Beth can work constantly to get our per-pupil funding up but if the state keeps reducing theirs, we are at the same point. We are not moving forward. Academically, we are in the top 10-15%. We try to improve everyday, but we are going to a point 2024 Budget Sessions where we cannot provide adequate services and we are going to start getting behind academically because we don’t have money for the high-impact tutoring that other counties are doing. A leading senate member actually made the comment that it is not the State’s business to be in education. I am pretty sure they might want to read the NC Constitution. There is no greater accountability than the education system in county government. We have to account for every penny. There are a lot of entities that don’t. I think we’ve proven as a county and school system that we are very frugal with taxpayer money. We are at a point where the revenues are way behind the services demanded.” Commissioner Stroud asked, “What is the monthly operating expenses?” Steele said, “Around $2.5 – 3 million and we are sitting at $9.5 million in fund balance.” Chair Neader said, “Recently, at Lake Norman Elementary School I ran into some parents and asked when the gym is going to be ready.” Ivey said, “When our Board voted to move funds over to do some of those projects, some was earmarked to consolidate some of Central Services because of one of the buildings having some health concerns. That project will be finished in eight months and some of those employees have been moved. They are all kind of connected to each other because there was one pot of money to do multiple projects, and Lake Norman Elementary was one of them. The issue with that is the watershed. We have gotten approval back for the retention pond and we had the architect take the retention ponds and architectural part and combine them together. We had a civil engineer that was working on that, to begin with and unfortunately, he passed away. We ended up combining the project so we could send it out for one bid. They are in the final design phase of that then we will get that for bid. The plan is to have it out for bid in December or January.” Chair Neader said, “At one time you were providing us with an update on projects.” Ivey said, “I can send you that.” Chair Neader said, “That always helps. We know the dollars have been allocated but we don’t know the status. Monthly, we receive an update on the County’s projects so we will know what phase it is.” Ivey said, “I will be happy to pass that along to my predecessor. They can make it a live document so you can see it in live time. You all would need to be on google.” Chair Neader said, “Manager Mull, would that be helpful?” Mull said, “Yes. I can include the update with the County’s monthly update.” Chair Neader said, “Is this something we need to wait until June for?” Ivey said, “No, we already have that up and running. I will want to make sure whoever is replacing me so I can get it to be something that is sustainable.” Dr. James said, “When the Board approves personnel changes on Monday night, you will know who that person is. They will start working with Tim on the transition.” 2024 Budget Sessions Chair Neader said, “Also, do you keep principals updated on projects?” Ivey said, “We do. Sometimes they get really busy or not sending out that communication.” Chair Neader said, “I think they need to be updated because it is essentially their project. I didn’t see the principal that day. Only parents.” Ivey said, “She has been working with the architect.” Commissioner Houpe said, “We need to stay on top of any proposed legislation. I think you guys are already working on mapping. At some point, we have to start looking at land for future growth. I don’t expect you guys to do that today but we need to get involved in some meetings and look at all the factors. I know there are a lot of challenges but we have to be more proactive to get ahead of some of this growth we know is coming. On the high school, I know you are waiting on a third bid to come in. It is not legal without a third bid. Are you guys able to get these bidders to break it out into phases to at least where we can get started on the capacity piece? Update us on that.” Ivey said, “The bids for the high school are not due back until May 21. At that time you’re required to have three bidders. The way that the bid was issued it has all of the auxiliary services broken out meaning that once you select a lowest bidder you can go into potential negotiations with them and talk about possibly deduct some of these or look at phases. It is set up for that conversation to happen but we did not bid it with whole parts as alternates. The reason being is that is a balanced site. When it was designed…believe it or not that is a cost savings; to have a balance site. We don’t have to bring in dirt we are just moving dirt around the site. Because it is a balance site you can’t necessarily say we are only going to build X. You still have to grade and do lots of other work to get the building where it is. There are some misconceptions like you build the school and leave off this whole thing, and take the estimate and cut it. That is not necessarily true because the infrastructure has to run through the property. It is a complex not a building. There are some misunderstandings about that but not everybody builds a complex everyday or a project this size. We did try to set it up when the bids come back that if they are approved and we have three, and you guys can work through that. Do you pull this portion off? How do we manage through this? Maybe we could al a carte it?” Mull said, “Tim, I may have told the Board wrong because my understanding was the first bid day was in April, but you understood you were only going to get two because one pulled out. So, you readvertised, and the next bid date is in May and at the point if you get two you can open because you readvertised.” Ivey said, “That is not accurate. What happen was we had an original anticipated time that we were going to have it bid out and the companies came and said…there are only so many companies that are going to do a project this big. You can tell when they are going to bid on it because they pick up the bid packets. They picked up the bid packets and they communicated back to the architect and said your date is the same date as a project in SC so we are opting not to…we’re telling you right now we are not putting in a bid. We knew we would not have enough bids at that 2024 Budget Sessions point and time. So, we moved the date based on when this other bid date was to try to accommodate…” Mull asked, “So, you didn’t bid it out then?” Ivey said, “It was not advertised to be due then. The date that we’ve had has been May 21. No, we moved it back one time and we extended it because of that. We did not actually get bids in. We were told before the bid date was due that we were not going to have enough.” Mull said, “You didn’t get bids in and then readvertise and if you get two you can open then. You just pushed the first bid date out.” Ivey said, “That’s right.” Taylor said, “If we only get two bids then we will put it out to bid again and the second round you will be able to open.” Ivey said, “That is correct. Unless one of those companies submit a no bid; which counts as a bid. If at that point and time we can explore that as an option. If they give us a written thing that says we will not bid, I think you can look at that with the procurement guidelines.” Commissioner Houpe said, “Tim, is it legal to provide a waiver if you can’t get three bids and is there a way around it if you cannot get three bids?” Ivey said, “That is when you do the second round. If you have one round and advertise, and don’t receive two bids then you extend the deadline and you still don’t receive two bids you have completed the obligation through the procurement guidelines.” Vice Chair Connolly said, “Adam, you are short $1.239 million total?” Steele said, “Yes.” Vice Chair Connolly said, “Dr. James, I know we talked about the sports.” Dr. James said, “Trying to get everyone on the same page. I understand my board does not want principals to do anything in addition to run their campus. We have Bobby Deal who does it for the County. The other night, Tim presented a fee structure change because they have not been adjusted in many years and we are way off market rates. This generated questions from the youth leagues. According to policy, the 501(3)(c) are not charged. You guys were giving us some money but we talked about doing was…I asked for an increase in that budget because we were asked to take football. I think we are okay with that and it really doesn’t put it on the principals. Bobby Deal already has a structure in place but we need two part-time people. We are looking at about $25 per hour. The two individuals we would hire, if we come to an agreement and do a MOU for three years, would have the bylaws for football and control everything. The biggest thing I do have to get involved in if something happens on our property. If we put two individuals in they would work at night for practices and games to make sure there is security for games. We would charge for security and cleanup. What the County has done is pay for all the other fees so we don’t charge the youth leagues. If we can come to an arrangement and you all tell me what we can do.” 2024 Budget Sessions Vice Chair Connolly asked, “What kind of price tag are we looking at?” Dr. James said, “I would like $200,000. With that would be three employees. You guys do give us $85,000. We are giving up a lot of revenue streams with our facilities. That would give us an additional $30,000 – 40,000 towards the maintenance of the fields. I believe the City has already taken all sports except football.” Vice Chair Connolly said, “You need an additional $115,000 to the $85,000 that we already giving.” Dr. James said, “Yes. Once we do that we will do an MOU and I will post the positions. I have already told some individuals that have called me that it would be at night and Saturday. It is a non-traditional type of job.” Commissioner Houpe said, “I think it also makes more sense for you guys to handle that because you have the facilities. Bert and I have talked. We are going to pay directly or indirectly. We can be proactive and try to get the kids into athletics otherwise our jail is going to be full.” Dr. James said, “At the end of the day, we all want to help our community most effectively and efficiently as possible.” Mull said, “So, you guys are going to coordinate and run the youth football league.” Dr. James said, “Yes. They will come to these individuals. They will set the guidelines, rules, and what is required. If they don’t comply with it then they will not be playing. That helps because we control the field. We have had to charge some youth leagues because the facilities use lays out what our expectations are but finally we had to send a bill. The goal is not to have the school’s Athletic Director Bryan Paslay involved. I talked to Bobby as length at trying to make this work for the County. I think we are there.” Vice Chair Connolly said, “What are the thoughts of the Board? We are doing the scholarships.” Dr. James said, “We have to have the scholarships because there are some kids who cannot afford to pay $90 for football. I think equal access is what we all want.” Vice Chair Connolly asked Commissioner Houpe is good with the additional $115,000 to make youth football league work. Commissioner Houpe said yes. The Board agreed by consensus to amend the amount for the MOU from $85,000 to $200,000. Vice Chair said, “Would you all be willing to help us with the FF&E piece of the high school?” Dr. James said, “Absolutely, but right now we are decreasing the fund balance. We would have had $14 million but we took…the task force had a list of projects and Harmony Elementary kept getting pushed to the back. We thought the gym floor was going to come in at $1.3 million 2024 Budget Sessions but the bids come in at $800,000. The gym is getting new restrooms and hopefully ADA compliant. We took the sale of Mount Mourne and $4 million out of the General Fund to catch up some projects like Lake Norman Elementary. The retention pond is almost as much as the gym.” Dr. James said, “We do have the bids back for Weathers Creek High School and we are going to call an emergency meeting to accept the lowest price bid so we can get this thing going. It would be nice in that same day or within a day for you all to meet and decide what you’re going to do. If you all decide to approve it and need it broken down in phases then we will have to negotiate with the lowest bidder to break things out in phases.” Ivey said, “We will need to work through that. You’re saying you accept the lowest bidder but then ask for deducts. What we’ve told our board is that on May 28 we would have bids vetted to present to them. I’ve asked if they’d consider a called meeting but they have not approved that yet. I have recommended to Dr. James that we have another separate meeting with you guys to either discuss the bids or have an update on where we are. I want to make sure that is on your radar. That is the timeline we are hoping to go through. I know we need to try to have the bids submitted by the middle of June as far as financials. We are trying to meet that timeline as best as we can. We also know every three years they update electrical and because of the design and with holding on to potential grants that we were never a recipient of, we are getting to the point where we need to move forward or maybe look at some redesign cost on electrical, if it goes to much longer.” Mull said, “In this upcoming FY budget, there is the $80 million bond and we are borrowing $40 million for a total of $120 million.” Ivey said, “We have been very open with you guys on what we anticipate the cost to be. We are trying to make sure everyone knows the best we can. We’ve seen some surprising moves towards the other way. We’ve seen a lot of our projects coming in a little lower. Maybe things are stabilizing. That is one of the advantages of making the bid available to those big companies who build these type of complexes because they are able to buy things in bulk. What we anticipate their bids to be are coming in about what we have shared with you guys.” Mull said, “What are the latest numbers?” Ivey said, “Based off the square footage and the amount of what we are seeing it was $150- 155 million and that is what we anticipate but you also have the changing prices. I do think we have set it up for the possibility of breaking out portions of it or putting them on different timelines that may help you fund over different years. I don’t know how all that will work because this is the first time we were to all do something like this.” Vice Chair Connolly said, “What is the latest number on FF&E?” Ivey said, “I don’t have those numbers but I can have Scott Hager send those to you. The school was designed with less classrooms because the teachers roam so you should have lower FF&E if we would have built a traditional school.” 2024 Budget Sessions Dr. James said, “Teachers have a common planning area. The rooms will be used every period of the day. That is a cost savings.” Ivey said, “The school is also designed that your major mechanical run on top of each other so even though it is two stories…we did it to be cost savings. It is set up to be a very energy- efficient and 50-year low-maintenance building. Even though we may end up spending a little more on the front end we are not looking at a situation like we saw in the past where after 10 years a school needs major work.” The Board thanked ISS for the presentation. Human Services Health Department – An overall 8.2% increase. The department requested 8 reclassifications however those are not recommended. The increase includes one replacement vehicle. Commissioner Houpe asked for more information regarding the reclassifications to get ahead of the curve. The Board asked Freeman to come back to Tuesday’s meeting with additional information. Chair Neader asked for any changes over the past year. Health Director Jane Hinson said the department is fully staffed. The biggest changes have been the legislative changes to Environmental Health over the last year. Hinson gave an update on the Mobile Health Unit. Freeman explained the different types of septic systems that neighborhoods are using. The Board expressed appreciation to Hinson for her dedicated service to the County as her retirement date is in August. The Board did not consent to the Health Department Budget pending more information on the Environmental Health Reclassifications. Contracted Mental Health – No changes however they are requesting to spend $60,594 of their fund balance. Social Services – An overall 16.2% increase. 35 new position requests however it is recommended to cut 18 positions and reduce 4 positions to six months. Commissioner Houpe said it would be helpful to know the state reimbursement rate of the position. Yvette Smith and Donna Rufty gave an update on staffing. They feel comfortable with delaying some of the positions as the production is good. Part of that is because of the opportunity to work remotely. Veterans – An overall 13.8% increase. 2024 Budget Sessions Library – The main library has a 6.5% overall increase. Harmony – a 7.9% increase and Troutman a 6.7% increase. The contract with the Town of Mooresville Library expires May 2025 and staff is in the process of updating that by looking at different proposals. Julie Moore gave an update on the Smithsonian Exhibit currently being held at the Main Library. Parks & Recreation – An overall 30.2% increase. The department requested 2 new positions for Jennings Park and since Jennings Park will not be online it is recommended to wait until the park is complete. There are increases in supplies, Camp Iredell, and athletic equipment. There were also some reclassification requests and those will be looked at during the pay and classification study. Mull said staff looked at fees very intensely including what other jurisdictions charge. The goal is to become more uniform. Mull noted that she has not seen ISS fees however she hopes that are close. Assistant Director Ryan Brill presented proposed fees. Commissioner Houpe asked how the proposed fees line up with jurisdictions that have similar parks. Mull stated the proposed fees puts the County in line with what the municipalities in the County are charging. Staff looked at Mooresville, Troutman, and Statesville. Vice Chair Connolly asked about the word “random” in the current fees. Mull said some youth leagues would buy equipment. Vice Chair Connolly asked about the proposed fees for non-profits. Mull said the non-profits currently pay for field prep. However, Jennings is turf. It is proposed to start charging the non-profits a small field use fee because Jennings Park is a huge investment and those entities paid for field prep in the past. The money they were paying for field prep will now help recoup some of the cost of turf. She noted that if the entity collects gate fees or runs concessions they can opt to cost-share instead of paying for field usage. Vice Chair Connolly said ISS is not going to charge non-profits. Mull said she has not seen the ISS fees. Chair Neader said improvements are being made to the fairgrounds and non-profits use that facility. Commissioner Houpe asked if it is necessary to address the fees for Jennings Park now. Mull said yes. Jennings Park will likely have a couple of months in the upcoming budget. 2024 Budget Sessions Commissioner Stroud suggested charging the private/travel leagues more than the non- profits. Vice Chair Connolly asked to table to proposed fees until Tuesday. Recreation Center – a 48.4% increase. Includes one new position – who will be monitoring equipment, pool, and gym. The employee will first aid, CPR, and lifeguard training. Register of Deeds - Renee Holland presented more information on the two part-time passport positions that were tabled from Monday's meeting. There are currently two full-time positions approved and she is transitioning those two full-time positions to part-time positions that will provide these services at the Statesville Office. The Commissioners consented on the two part- time passport positions. Transportation Fund ICATS – The department has an overall .06% decrease. Robertson asked, “Do you have your details, Brad?” Johnson said, “I don’t believe that is going to be a requirement after a conversation with the State. The reason for that is the Urban-Rural…Statesville no longer being urban. That was urban money so the State identified that and is going to help make up the difference with some state rural dollars.” Robertson asked, “Can you get that to Daisy so we can make the changes in the budget before it's adopted?” Johnson said, “I can try. I don’t know yet what it will be or what line item it will be coming from. They just said they were really trying to help us with that.” Robertson said, “There were 42 reclassification requests; 39 of which are driver positions, computer replacements, three bus stop shelters, and one replacement LTV. We did go in and make a few changes. We reduced the vehicle propane and vehicle fuel lines based on historical spending. We are going to go ahead and reclassify the driver positions, but the other positions we are holding for the Pay & Classification Study. Rodney, Brad, and I attended a meeting with Statesville this week and I came away from there with a hopeful feeling that they are going to start picking up some things like bus shelters and signs. Hopefully, some cash support for ICATS. I think they have a better understanding now of what all is provided.” Chair Neader said, “I am glad to hear that. Remind me again about the reclassifications, you’re going to go ahead with the drivers?” Robertson said, “Yes.” Commissioner Stroud said, “If not we can’t compete.” Johnson said, “My only complaint with that is that now our drivers will be making more than the office staff who are supervising them. I currently have a position in the office that would 2024 Budget Sessions usually feed into the office from the drivers because it is a good understanding, but now it will be a pay cut to come into the office for the administrative position.” Mull asked, “Who supervises the drivers?” Johnson said, “Well, in our request we asked for Molly to be…” Mull asked, “Currently, who supervises the drivers, not in the reclassification request but right now?” Johnson said, “Currently that position is vacant. So, I am.” Mull said, “The drivers are not making more than you, correct? Johnson said, “No.” Mull said, “And, the drivers are not making more than the vacant position…the grade of the vacant position.” Johnson said, “I don’t know for a hundred percent.” Mull said, “The reclassification request is to reclassify Molly, but Molly is not currently the supervisor of the drivers, correct?” Johnson said, “We asked…” Mull asked, “Yes, or no? Does Molly supervise the drivers? Johnson said, “We were told we could not do an organizational change until the budget cycle. We have been without an operations manager since August. It is a tag team. Molly assigns them the work.” Mull asked, “Does Molly supervise the drivers?” Commissioner Stroud said, “Currently.” Johnson said, “I guess it depends on what you consider supervision.” Mull asked, “Who is supposed to supervise the drivers? The operations manager, which is a vacant position, correct?” Johnson said, “Correct.” Mull said, “The drivers don’t make more than that position. This reclass of the drivers will not make more than that position, correct?” Johnson said, “I have it here. I think that two of them will be making more than the operations manager…well, it will be the same grade.” Mull said, “That operations manager position is currently vacant, and you are supervising in that absence.” 2024 Budget Sessions Johnson said, “Correct. We cannot fill that position because of the pay rate it is at. We have had positions that have been vacant for an extended period of time and when you are not competitive with being able to hire someone, we aren’t even getting applicants.” Mull said, “But currently, the drivers are not making more than the supervisor.” Commissioner Houpe said, “How far off were we in the last market study in the positions he is talking about that he can’t fill? You and I talked about this the other day. This department…the County pays $125,000 per year and the rest of his entire budget is funded state or federally, right?” Mull said, “The County contributes money towards the dialysis, and we also provide support through administrative, finance, human resources, safety, and vehicle services. As far as the contribution the County does, we pay for that dialysis transportation, and I think in this upcoming year’s budget it is $250,000.” Commissioner Houpe said, “We don’t get to bill Medicaid or Medicare for that. Do we pay all of that without any reimbursement?” Johnson said, “No. It is applied towards a grant. It is a 50% local match.” Commissioner Houpe said, “Beth and I talked the other day, and the drivers…Dr. James mentioned this morning about the challenges they’ve had. For years, we’ve had the problem of seesawing back and forth about raising salaries to attract and keep people. We have got to talk about the pros and cons of this department being an authority or an enterprise fund. From my perspective, for him to hire quality people our role in it for the most part is to approve the funding but the majority of it is paid by the state or federal government. So, it doesn’t come out of county taxpayer pockets. I don’t understand why we are fighting him on giving him salary increases so he can recruit and retain. That’s why I asked about the last market study. How far off are we to be competitive to where you can recruit and retain drivers and office staff? That is our goal in every department.” Mull said, “We did talk about this yesterday. We are just starting to look at the possibility of ICATS being a transportation authority. We don’t have all the information to be able to have an educated conversation today. I did misspeak. Currently, in this year’s budget, the County funding is $225,000 and next year is $325,000. As far as the drivers, we heard this morning and that is why we are recommending to move forward with the reclass them now because you heard this morning about the school’s challenge with bus drivers. We understand that is a challenge. We recommended to move forward with that now and the rest of the department will be included in the pay and classification study.” Commissioner Houpe asked, “How many other people are we talking about? It makes sense.” Mull said, “The drivers are not making more than their supervisor. Even with the reclass, drivers will not make more than their supervisor.” 2024 Budget Sessions Commissioner Houpe said, “I get that. He hasn’t filled that position in the past because of the lack of pay, I am assuming. Why not go ahead and do all his reclasses and let the market study tell us if we did enough? The part that we would be increasing is not coming out of our budget.” Commissioner Stroud said, “39 of 42 are drivers. I am 100% behind in making the change on the drivers beginning July 1. The rest of the day and yesterday we have sat here and told everyone they will have to wait until January.” Robertson said, “Correct.” Commissioner Stroud said, “Every job is different. Every job is important, but every job is not the same, I get it. I understand the frustration, but I have a hard time looking at three and saying yes when we have looked at all these other departments and said no.” Commissioner Houpe said, “You are missing the point. Their budget does not come out of county tax dollars other than the $325,000. Yesterday and today, we have approved some reclassifications and not to wait. There are some we are moving forward with. I don’t remember if any of them are supervisors.” Robertson said, “The $325,000 requested for next FY is in the budget. In addition to that, the County provides indirect services to ICATS including finance, human resources, purchasing, vehicle services, and facility services. We don’t charge the indirect cost to ICATS for what is provided from the other departments.” Commissioner Houpe said, “We should. That is a great point. We’ve done that for years. If we can charge them, do it because it's coming from the state or federal government.” Mull said, “If that mindset is applicable then you would treat Solid Waste the same because they run based on fees. You would treat SSD the same way because they run based on fees. They're all included. They receive county benefits, paychecks, and insurance. The sticker of this whole thing is our pay plan, even though we’ve divided it up into three different pay plans to try and lump those that are similar together, if you change one it impacts everybody else. We don’t have just one departmental issue. We have 26 departmental issues with pay and that is why we are hiring a consultant to do a pay and classification to adjust whatever needs to happen in the pay plan and make sure it does not throw one group off the end of the cliff. It needs to be done in conjunction and justified and defended. We hear you on the drivers and recommending to go ahead and do the drivers now. But with the staff in the office, there is comparable staff in other departments and their pay is similar. If you do something for one department then it is going to negatively impact other departments. That is why we are recommending to do the pay and class study altogether. We’re having this issue in more departments than ICATS.” Commissioner Houpe said, “We will just agree to disagree. Most of that I agree with you on. All positions are important but not all are equal. He has a challenge of getting drivers. Bert has people in the jail who deal with hectic situations. We are trying to find things we can advocate for and approve things that can maybe be paid for by the state and federal government. I get your fair argument. I try to advocate where I can.” 2024 Budget Sessions Commissioner Stroud said, “I am one hundred percent of everybody but there are some folks that are already doing the job. Brady Freeman’s positions a while ago. Yesterday, when Michael Heindl was here and we are paying mechanics $45,000 a year but can go to Randy Marion and make $60,000 a year but we tabled his. I cannot pick out Molly Davenport in a lineup but if you put her on a voice recorder I would know her. I have had numerous phone conversations with Molly. I think she is a great employee and probably well deserving of an increase, but I am having a hard time looking at one group that falls into a particular category and saying no then saying yes to someone else in that same type of role. I don’t think it is right or fair. There are three roads in life; right, fair, and just, and rarely do they intersect. We’re approving 39 of 42. I think that is a huge win for the people. The drivers and administrative will also be looked at in the study. He is going to have three people who ask what about me. They’re not in the same group. I get his grief. I say we move forward as submitted (39) and then the other three wait for the study.” Commissioner Houpe said, “That is fine. It was a question of why would we not go ahead and do it because we approved some of the reclassifications in management in other departments.” Mull said, “When they were true reclassifications. This is not a true reclassification. This is adjusting their grade because the driver’s grade is changing which is a pay study.” Johnson said, “We requested our organizational chart to change because…” Mull said, “Other departments have asked for the same thing and we are sending it through the pay study so they can look at the job description and assign the appropriate grade. The issue you’re having was you needed to hire drivers and you have competition with the schools. We understand and acknowledge that so we’re going ahead and approving that now with the understanding the other piece is coming with the study.” Commissioner Houpe said, “I agree with everything everyone said. I am trying to advocate where I can, especially for places that funding comes from other resources. Some of the other reclasses were a supervisor and director. We have made exceptions to not send everything to the study.” Commissioner Stroud said, “The Environmental Health piece had people already serving in that next level and reached that criteria to do so. That’s why we are pushing the pay study. That’s why yesterday we voted for a higher pay raise than was recommended. The drivers will get two bites at the apple.” Commissioner Brown said, “Bradley, one thing you may not be aware of is yesterday we voted for a 3% raise and 2% merit.” Commissioner Stroud said, “The merit isn’t tied to your performance. If you are employed prior to July 1, you will get it. This is in addition to the pay study. Bradley, I get it especially in a department where you feel you’re a family.” Johnson said, “That is not what it is at all. Our thing is…the reason we are asking for the reclassification of everyone is because our organizational structure needs to change. I don’t have time to supervise every one of the drivers right now. We have federal grants now. Instead of just 2024 Budget Sessions having federal and state, the City of Statesville is now in a small urban. Now instead of having just two different types of grants, we have three. I have 16 or 17 grants that are open right now. It’s not that finance doesn’t do their job but we are the ones who administer those. All of the reporting and audit. The salary study does not work because there is no other county department that does what we do. I was talking to Rodney who came from Cabarrus. Cabarrus only does the rural section. They don’t do anything in the urbanized section. They’re making the merger and both sides didn’t realize how much additional work it is. That’s the thing. When I came, we weren’t getting any urbanized money. We’ve doubled the workload and now we’re getting ready to triple the workload.” Commissioner Stroud said, “As we are doing it is your job to explain to them why you’re different and how much more you do than other counties.” Johnson said, “At the end of the day, that is what they compare. The director here…” Commissioner Stroud said, “Identify and show the differences.” Harris said, “That is the conversation Brad and I had last week about the salary study. There is an art and a science to it. You’re going to get the data but you also have to take into account the context. Any study that is done by a consultant that knows what they’re doing will take into account both of those things. We will make sure that feedback is incorporated into the work that they do.” Commissioner Stroud said, “To have never met Molly Davenport, I would put a gold star by her name. Please tell her. She is a rockstar and does you a great job every day. Before you came along, she was a rockstar. But, I have a problem saying yes to Molly and no to all the others that I believe are potentially just as well deserving.” Johnson said, “In our request, we compared our department to other county departments. We’re the only county department that does not have an assistant director. Every assistant director in the County is a higher pay grade than what mine is.” Mull said, “That is the whole reason for the pay and classification study.” Johnson said, “You want to have equality between the departments. The last two times in the pay study they said our department was too compressed. There wasn’t enough gap between the top and bottom, but nothing happens. All it does is compress us even more. Yes, two drivers will be making more than what Molly is or a higher grade.” Mull said, “Molly is not their supervisor.” Johnson said, “Then how do we do an organizational structure change? We asked for this and we’re told we can only do it during the budget cycle but then I get an email from HR that they did one midyear. That’s what I don’t understand. We’ve asked to try and change our organizational structure. But it can’t be done unless we go through the budget cycle.” Mull said, “You are using the argument that the drivers are making more than…” Commissioner Houpe said, “Let’s do this. Work with him and make sure the information they brought up and let them meet with you and the consultant to make sure they understand the 2024 Budget Sessions differences in the information and the comparisons. You all run different scenarios in job titles and etc. I appreciate him advocating for his department.” Chair Neader said, “I don’t feel that we can make a decision based on conversations in this room. I don’t think we’re on the same page. I think we are too far apart. I feel the majority of the board is comfortable with how it is presented, however I think staff may need more information.” Commissioner Stroud said, “I think there needs to be, along with Brad and staff and Rodney’s help, identification of how uniquely different the department is even if we have to go outside of NC. I can’t believe out of the US we are the only ones.” Commissioner Houpe said, “The recommendation is to move forward with the 39 reclassifications and let the market study deal with the rest.” Mull said, “The recommendation is to reclassify the drivers now and then other staff members will be a part of the pay and class study.” Commissioner Houpe said, “The other recommendations are staying.” Mull said, “Yes.” Solid Waste – 13.9% increase. The budget adds to the fund balance. Robertson said Mooresville Transfer Station has outgrown its life. Commissioner Houpe asked if there was an issue with out-of-county waste coming to the landfill. Solid Waste Director Teddy Boller said staff is still using the same screening process as before. Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Call to Order by Chair Melissa Neader Invocation by: Commissioner Brown Mooresville Graded Schools Dr. Jason Gardner gave an update on the school system. They are one of 15 city school districts in the state and serve around 6,000 students with 9 schools that feed one high school. A large portion of the district’s ESSER funds was used to fill in the learning gap after the pandemic. Dr. Gardner went through unique opportunities for their students such as the Student Advisory Group. Which has proven to be beneficial. The school system is continually looking for more bus drivers and invested $1 million to help retain bus drivers and custodians. They remain in the state’s top 25 for teacher supplements. The Board asked Dr. Gardner about future capital needs. 2024 Budget Sessions Dr. Gardner said the school system is being proactive and looking for land for future needs. He said 500 students can be added to Mooresville High School with an expansion. Commissioner Brown complimented Mooresville Graded Schools on the Selma Burke Middle School project. Mitchell Community College – Dr. Tim Brewer gave an update on the Public Safety Training Facility. The college acquired 30 acres on Third Creek Road from the City of Statesville. Dr. Brewer anticipates the project to be approved by the State Board this week. Once it is approved, the college can begin the design and planning process. Dr. Brewer also presented renderings of the Mooresville Campus Master Plan. MCC has acquired property in downtown Mooresville to expand its presence in southern Iredell County. Mooresville Graded Schools and Mitchell Community College are collaborating to offer more opportunities for students. Public Safety Departments Sheriff’s Office – Sheriff Darren Campbell gave an update on crime numbers. There continues to be a crime reduction. The office remains at 1 deputy per 1,000. Sheriff Campbell gave an update on the Flock System. Currently, the State does not allow the camera system on roads with state rights of way. The City of Statesville uses the system on city roads, but the Sheriff’s Office does not have access. The Board asked Valdez to research if there is anything that the Board can do to allow the Sheriff to have access to the City’s cameras. Sheriff Campbell requested a total of 8 new positions with 4 to be filled in July and will work with Mull to fill the remaining in January 2025. He also requested to reclassify two ACE deputies to sergeant and two deputies to detectives. He said they requested robots that can be deployed into a home, etc. without jeopardizing the safety of officers. Sheriff Campbell expressed appreciation to the Board for the continued support of the office. He said recruiting and retention is imperative. The Board discussed recent incidents in the County where the bearcat was used and shared their commitment to keeping the officers safe. Vice Chair Connolly gave an update on the Board’s discussion on what steps they can take to keep the officers safe. Connolly presented a tactical unit called “The Rook”. The Rook is a stacked deck full of safety features like NIJ Level IV armor, gun portholes, and custom-installed bullet-proof glass. The Board agreed by consensus for staff to bring a budget amendment to the May 21, 2024 meeting in the amount of $739,830 to purchase The Rook. The Board discussed a recent scenario where ECOM requested a volunteer fire department to stage but instead, the department reported on the scene. 2024 Budget Sessions The Board consented to the five new positions and four reclassifications as requested by Sheriff Campbell. The four reclassifications will be done in July as opposed to being held and reviewed as part of the pay and classification study. They will also be reviewed in the market study. Jail Sheriff Campbell said the budget has a 12% increase which includes eight new positions with four position to be filled in January. Commissioner Houpe asked about on-call compensation. Mull explained that the on-call pay is different than the pay and classification study. On- call is a way to compensate the employees who are scheduled on a rotating basis to be available to take calls. They are paid during the period they are scheduled to be on pay. Animal Services – A 24% overall increase. The request includes two new positions. The department has seen a 42% increase in calls. ECOM – A 15% increase. Two SSC dispatchers (one is a transfer and one is new). EMS – A 6% increase. Mull noted that 2 ambulances and associated equipment were cut as those were added in the current fiscal year. EMS Specialty Services – A 34% decrease. Fire Funding Taylor said the tax revenue increased to $709,000. Mull said that based on the Board’s direction, the fire funding stayed the same. Each department receives a 10% increase. Staff funding changed to include FICA. Mull added that during the Fall/Winter Retreat the Board seemed to want a better understanding of the departments’ budgets. Instead of blanket equipment requests, staff will go out and get quotes on hoses, turnout gear, etc. in bulk to get the lowest price possible. Mull proposed that for next year’s Winter Retreat, staff ask for a report of each department’s expenditures. Most departments use QuickBooks making an easy process for the department, and it will show where the taxpayer dollars are going. Commissioner Houpe asked if the departments can show staffing as a separate line item. Cool Spring Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andy Webster said QuickBooks can do that. Commissioner Stroud suggested having a standardized chart of accounts in QuickBooks for the departments. Vice Chair Connolly liked the idea of having accountability. 2024 Budget Sessions Chair Neader thanked the staff for their assistance in this matter. Mull said there was a discussion about asking the departments to submit a budget on how they plan to spend the money appropriated. She asked if the Board would like that in addition to the QuickBooks report. Commissioner Brown asked if the County has that right. Mull said yes. Vice Chair Connolly would like to have the departments submit both. Chair Neader asked when Greene will request the QuickBooks. Greene said from July 1-December 31. That will be in line for the board’s winter retreat in January. Mull asked if the Board would like a projected budget from the departments. Vice Chair Connolly said yes. Greene said there may be a couple of departments that will be hesitant but would eventually submit. The Board is good at asking for both the projected budget and the QuickBooks report. Commissioner Houpe asked about implementing a reasonable threshold for answered calls since the departments are funded for staffing. Greene is actively tracking answered calls for service. Mull said there was a threshold in the contract and it was removed. Commissioner Houpe asked if that was for all calls or just fire calls. Mull said there was a threshold for fire and medical calls and it was removed. Greene said it was removed because there was such a disagreement between the south and north departments. Therefore, the contract went to the national standard which is response times not percentage of calls. Commissioner Houpe said the Board’s expectations can be different moving forward. Some departments are picking up slack from other departments. Chair Neader said the QuickBooks report will come in handy for the accountability piece. The Board discussed the staging process. Some departments do not stage when asked to by ECOM. Greene said the Fire Marshall’s office is developing some command boards and incident command classes. The problem lies within the process. Rescue Funding 2024 Budget Sessions Taylor said the Board directed staff to stick with the current formula. The salary funding was increased to include FICA. During the non-reval years, the operational budget is given a 3% increase; 1% increases the funding for all the departments and 2% goes to the standalone departments. Vice Chair Connolly asked if Iredell Rescue was able to get the plumbing issue resolved. Greene said they are working on it. The waterline coming into the building is leaking. This is separate from the sewer situation. They will need to break up the concrete to remedy the situation. Mull noted that she was asked if there was funding in the rescue budget for the City of Statesville and her response was no. She said this request will likely come back at some point. Greene said as it stands now Statesville is running with Iredell Rescue on rescue calls. Commissioner Houpe asked if the request is to help purchase equipment if they answer calls or reimburse staffing. Mull said the request was to be funded the same way Mooresville is for rescue. Greene said they would not be adding equipment or staffing. It would be an offset for current expenditures. Mull said the City also requested there be no decrease in Iredell Rescue’s funding. Fire Marshal Departmental Budget – An overall 5% increase. The department requested a new position however it was not recommended. Greene is working on some changes including reclassifying one position so two staff members are dedicated to the education piece. Emergency Management: Overall 7% increase. Health (recap from Friday, May 10) Brady Freeman proposed a tiered system that allows EH specialists, program specialists, and technicians to move up one salary scale grade based on experience and demonstrated knowledge of the job. He explained this is important to retain the technical succession knowledge that exists in the division and decrease staff stresses on workload. The change will also increase efficiency for permitting and inspection turnaround times for applicants. There was discussion that the request closely mirrors longevity pay, which is what the consultant has been asked to review as part of the Pay and Classification Study. Upon discussion, the Board agreed to have the pay and classification study address the needs of the department. Parks & Recreation – Ryan Brill and Stacy McGlamery Mull said this was a continuation of Friday’s discussion regarding the department’s fees. 2024 Budget Sessions Brill presented some modifications and other municipalities’ fees including Statesville and Mooresville. Brill went through the proposed fees for the Recreation Center. Proposed changes are in red. Prices in blue are clarifications from the earlier presentation. The field prep fees were removed for non-profit agencies. Chair Neader asked if the fields are monopolized. Brill said yes. The fields continuously stay booked. Staff brainstormed ideas to make more revenue off the fields by subsidizing what the department is currently not making. Brill proposed the following schedule: 3 practice days per week for Non-profits 2 practice days per week for For-profits 3 weekends per month for Non-profits 1 weekend per month, which could be more if non-profits have not reserved fields with a 45-day notice, which would allow the department to do its programming or special events (for- profit) as opposed to the fields going unused. Brill noted the two practice days if the fields are not reserved within 45 days. Brill said currently, fields are reserved up to six months in advance. Commissioner Stroud said the Board wants to ensure that the local teams have a chance to play on the fields but also attract other agencies. He added that he was pleased with what was presented. He thanked Brill and McGlamery for their work in making things equitable. Commissioner Stroud suggested a 60-day notice. Brill said that is doable. Commissioner Houpe asked about the importance of setting the fees for Jennings Park now. Mull said Jennings Park is set to open in May or June 2025. Brill said setting the fees now will allow staff to market the park. Staff are currently creating a welcome packet for the park. The Board discussed allowing groups from Iredell County to have priority of the fields and charging out-of-county groups more for usage. Brill said some tournaments involve multi-county groups. Mull said counties do not typically charge resident/non-resident fee. It would be difficult to do because some teams have players from different counties. 2024 Budget Sessions The Board consented to the Recreation Center's proposed fees as outlined below. STUMPY CREEK PARK Baseball Rental: (Stumpy Creek Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour New fee matches current rate charged in Rec Center budget; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $25.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $200.00 per day based on 8 hr day EXTRA AMENITIES: Baseball Field Light Use $20.00 per hour if requested Picnic shelter $15.00 per hour field prep fees would no longer be charged Picnic shelter $100.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged Baseball field prep $25.00 per field Soccer Rental: (Stumpy Creek Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $25.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $200.00 per day based on 8 hr day EXTRA AMENITIES: Soccer Field Light Use $20.00 per hour if requested Picnic shelter $15.00 per hour Picnic shelter $100.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged Soccer field prep $25.00 per hour ADDITIONAL TOURMANMENT FEES: Merchandise Sale Fee $100.00 per tournament all non-food vendors related to tournament Concession / food truck fees $10.00 per hour when not provided by ICPRD 2024 Budget Sessions Concession / food truck fees $50.00 per day when not provided by ICPRD JENNINGS PARK Baseball Rental: Weekday: (Jennings Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour New fee matches current rate charged in Rec Center budget; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $35.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $200.00 per day based on 8 hr day Baseball Rental: Weekend (Jennings Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour New fee matches current rate charged in Rec Center budget; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $40.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $250.00 per day based on 8 hr day EXTRA AMENITIES: Baseball Field Light Use $20.00 per hour if requested Baseball field prep $25.00 per field Soccer Rental: Weekday (Jennings Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour New fee matches current rate charged in Rec Center budget; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $35.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $200.00 per day based on 8 hr day Soccer Rental: Weekend (Jennings Park) -Non-Profit Agencies $10.00 per hour New fee matches current rate charged in Rec Center budget; field prep fees would no longer be charged -For-Profit Agencies / Public $40.00 per hour -Non-Profit Agencies $80.00 per day based on 8 hr day; field prep fees would no longer be charged 2024 Budget Sessions -For-Profit Agencies / Public $250.00 per day based on 8 hr day EXTRA AMENITIES: Soccer Field Light Use $20.00 per hour if requested Soccer field prep $25.00 per hour ADDITIONAL TOURNAMENT FEES: JENNINGS Merchandise Sale Fee $100.00 per tournament Flat rate; all non-food vendors related to tournament. Rotary picnic shelter $15.00 per hour Rotary picnic shelter $100.00 per day Concession sales 20% of gross sales when not provided by ICPRD Concession sales - deposit $100.00 refundable Camps Camp Iredell $150.00 per week Specialty Camps $180.00 per week Camp Iredell Adventures $190.00 per week Spring Break Camp $150.00 per week School Day Out $30.00 per day Event Sponsorships Champion $600.00 per event Supporting $400.00 per event Contributing $200.00 per event Food Trucks/Vendor Fee Standard Rental $10.00 per hour County Special Events $50.00 per event Chair Neader thanked everyone for productive work sessions. Motion by Commissioner Brown to adjourn at 3:10 pm. _July 16, 2024_____ __ ____ Date Approved Beth M. Mull, County Manager Minutes were initiated by Amy B. Anderson and completed by Beth M. Mull.