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Adjourned Meeting
November 27, 2001
6:00 p.m.
Meeting Convened. An Adjourned Meeting of the York County
Board of Supervisors was called to order at 6:09 p.m., Tuesday, November
27, 2001, in the Library of Grafton High/Middle School, by Chairman
James S. Burgett.
Attendance. The following members of the Board of
Supervisors were present: Walter C. Zaremba, Sheila S. Noll, Donald E.
Wiggins, James S. Burgett, and Thomas G. Shepperd.
Also in attendance were James O. McReynolds, County Administrator;
and James E. Barnett, County Attorney.
JOINT MEETING WITH THE YORK COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
School Board Members Present: Page Minter, Chairman; Barbara
Haywood; Barrent M. Henry; Mark Medford; and Don Felling.
Also present were Dr. Steven R. Staples, Superintendent of
Schools; Richard M. Hixson, Deputy Superintendent of Operations; and Dr.
Valerie A. Taylor, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.
DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSROOM DEMONSTRATION (Not on Agenda)
Dr. Staples spoke of the Distance Learning Program whereby a
teacher can teach from one facility to students located in another
facility which allows the opening of programs at one school to other
schools.
The Board of Supervisors and School Board then adjourned to a
nearby classroom to watch a demonstration of the Distance Learning
Program.
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
Mr. Hixson and Anne B. Smith, Director of Community Services, made
a presentation concerning the provision of grounds maintenance services
to school facilities. The County and Schools grounds maintenance
operations and personnel were combined many years ago in order to
provide more intense and complex grounds maintenance services for the
County's facilities and schools. Photographs were displayed showing the
two Boards a comparison between how the school facilities looked in 1980
and how they look today. Information was provided to the Board members
on the different classifications of grounds facilities, and it was noted
that each classification requires a different protocol.
Mr. Hixson spoke of the study that was completed on the grounds
maintenance functions in terms of whether or not to privatize the
operations, and conclusions included:
· There was a better understanding of the challenges facing the
grounds maintenance services and the quality of the services provided.
· The two Boards showed wisdom in eliminating the duplication of
resources by combining the County and Schools grounds maintenance
functions.
· The collaboration of the two staffs has been highly beneficial
over the years.
· There is no single customer for grounds
maintenance-privatization would not address the political aspects of
handling the different needs of the many different customers being
served.
Mr. Hixson indicated when a rewrite of the grounds maintenance
agreement is forwarded to the two boards, there will be a couple of
specific elements included such as
· a number of detailed specific criteria for different types of
grounds maintenance.
· all expenses occurring for grounds maintenance on a school site
will be included in the line item for grounds maintenance so that the
total cost of maintaining a particular campus is known.
· Only the superintendent's designee will be the point of contact
between the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor and the School Division.
· Multi-year implementation.
· Snow removal and capital maintenance will be placed in the
County's CIP.
Discussion followed concerning the proposed cost of a new grounds
maintenance agreement, the level of services to be provided by a new
agreement, the use of volunteers and parent involvement in the grounds
maintenance process, and an evaluation process for the school sites as
to need priorities.
Meeting Recessed. At 7:20 p.m. Chairman Burgett declared a short
recess.
Meeting Reconvened. At 7:30 p.m. the meeting was reconvened
in open session by order of the Chair.
FY2003 BUDGET OUTLOOK
Mr. Dennis Jarrett, School Division Director of Finance, made a
presentation on the revenue outlook for the School Division in FY2003.
The revenue assumptions included an enrollment projection of 11,960
students and an impact aid projection of $600,000 based on the FY2002
proposed Federal budget. He then discussed State revenue, stating that
it was the beginning of a new biennium. The composite index will change,
and State tax collections are less than projected for the first four
months of FY2002. He then discussed the JLARC study on the Standards of
Quality (SOQ), stating the key findings show that the State is not fully
funding the SOQs and the Standards of Learning (SOL) are not budget
neutral. Mr. Jarrett noted the three major concerns of the JLARC are
teacher salaries, non-SOQ funding, and funding for administrative
personnel.
Mr. McReynolds then briefed the two boards on the FY2003 County
revenue projections. In terms of local revenue, staff is expecting
property taxes to increase 8 to 9 percent; no increase is expected for
other local taxes. All other local revenues are not expected to rise. On
the State side, the County should see a level amount for shared expenses
from the Compensation Board to the 2002 budget, and categorical aid and
grants should also remain level. Transfers for activities such as
grounds maintenance and law enforcement should increase 2 to 3 percent,
and other State revenue will show only a minor increase over the 2002
budget. Mr. McReynolds noted that compared to the FY2002 budget, only
moderate growth is expected. Concerns include the strength of the
economy and State funding of current programs. Overall, the County can
expect a $4.5 million to $5 million increase over last year. He then
discussed the employee compensation system, explaining that a
benchmarking system is used for the non-licensed (non-teaching)
employees, both County and School Division, through a comparison of pay
scales in market areas to maintain competitiveness of the County's pay
plan. Based on the benchmarking study, a 2.75 percent market adjustment
would be recommended for FY2003 non-licensed County and School
personnel.
Mr. Jarrett then briefed the Boards on the licensed personnel
(teaching) salary scale, noting that the scale was based on the work of
the 1995 Compensation Committee. He explained the compensation lanes,
indicating they were based on education level obtained, and that the
goal of the Committee was for the personnel to be in the top third of
the local market. He noted the County model maintains a pay plan which
places starting salaries for positions near the middle of state-wide
market area pay scales. The recommendation for licensed employee
compensation in FY2003 would be $505,000 for the step increases and a
3.3 percent market adjustment which equates to $1.22 million.
Mr. McReynolds addressed the estimated County funding requirements
and issues for Fiscal Year 2003, which include:
· Contribution to
Schools
$1,700,000
· Employee
compensation
1,200,000
· New
Programs/Personnel
450,000
·
Capital/Debt
200,000
·
Shared/Regional
250,000
· Communications
Upgrade
225,000
· Economic
Development
200,000
·
Other
250,000
TOTAL
$4,475,000
Mr. McReynolds then addressed the School's estimated requirements
for employee compensation, noting that the issues currently identified
totaled nearly $3 million; and given that estimated new revenues
currently identified totaled $2.3 million, there exists an estimated
funding gap of approximately $700,000. He stated that he and Mr. Jarrett
would continue to monitor state and federal revenues and keep the Boards
posted.
Meeting Adjourned. At 9:09 p.m. Chairman Burgett declared the
meeting adjourned to 8:00 a.m., Monday, December 3, 2001, in the
restaurant of the Duke of York Motel, for the purpose of conducting a
work session with York County's legislators.
_____________________________
_______________________________
James O. McReynolds, Clerk
James S. Burgett, Chairman
York County Board of Supervisors
York County Board of Supervisors
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