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Budget Work Session

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Work session Budget and appropriationsHealth and human servicesHousing and affordabilityTax rate and revaluationCivil rights and nondiscriminationDrugs and addictionFees and utility ratesFire and EMSGrants and outside fundingHomelessness and shelterPublic facilities

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

A budget work session on four things: the twelve fire district tax rates, countywide revenue changes, countywide employee compensation, and the recommended budgets of the human services departments - aging, child support, civil rights and civic life, health, housing, libraries and the opioid settlement fund. Fire chiefs attend to make their own case. No public comment is taken at a work session.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The fire chiefs were asked what happens if their tax rate increases are not approved, and answered plainly. One department would cut staff, which is the only place it can cut, and said the resulting rise in homeowners' insurance would cost residents more than the tax increase would. Fire chiefs explained why: the insurance industry rating that sets premiums depends on how close a property is to a station, how many firefighters turn out, their training, the equipment on the trucks and response times. Orange County's districts rate 3, 4 and 5 on a scale where 1 is best, and the county does not have the tax base to reach 1.

The wage numbers behind the requests were specific. One department pays $14 to $17 an hour and wants to reach $18 to $22, describing a wage war across the Triangle. Another, which runs full-time paid staff and is legally a private corporation obliged to pay general industry wages, starts firefighters at $35,000 against competitors at $45,000 to $50,000 who ask for far fewer certifications. Its last insurance evaluation told it to field twenty people a day. Without the tax increase, its chief said, the vacant posts stay vacant and nobody gets a raise. One district reported expenses up 50 percent over four years.

The longest board discussion was about the longtime homeowner assistance programme, which matters more in a revaluation year. Staff had modelled changing the eligibility rule from five years in the home to ten. Commissioners rejected it: one said people who might apply need consistency in the rules, another that tightening it would cut out people who still have a need and that some help to a larger group is better. The chair asked for a budget amendment at $225,000 on the reasoning that more people will apply this year, and asked that the resulting scenario, which may mean a slight rate increase, be posted on the budget amendment website for the public to see. A penny on the tax rate is worth $3.3 million.

The fair housing programme is coming back to the county from the federal housing department, which has been running it. The civil rights office must process eight cases and hire an investigator before it can restart intake and investigations, and the investigator will need fair housing investigations and intake training. Commissioners pressed on who oversees it, how many staff, and what legal training is required.

Other detail: the health director wants a consultant to assess whether more staff and exam rooms would let the department serve more people, but the chair has an amendment to hold the expansion while she looks at all departments, and staff confirmed Medicaid money can only be spent where it originated. New dental patients wait 30 to 45 days because only part-time hygienists could be hired. Emergency housing expects to serve 13 to 15 people a year at $4,500 a month. Most unawarded housing vouchers are special purpose vouchers for veterans awaiting referrals from the Durham VA. The aging department's falling participation numbers reflect better counting rather than fewer people: the Seymour Center sees about 400 a day and the Passmore Center about 300, and the new sign-in kiosks cannot display instructions in Mandarin or Spanish. Opioid settlement money is frontloaded, so restoring a coordinator post at about $90,000 a year would bring the county subsidy forward to around 2030 or 2031.

The chair closed by reminding the board that budget amendments were due 28 May at 8 PM, so the public could read them before the second hearing. The meeting adjourned at 8:22 PM.

How the votes went

One vote, to adjourn, carried unanimously. A work session takes no decisions.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

No members of the public spoke.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (10)

Budget action · 9Procedural · 1
  1. 1 Discussion Regarding Outside Agencies Funding for FY 2025-26
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsGrants and outside funding
  2. 2 FY 2025-26 Fire Districts' Tax Rates
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsFees and utility ratesFire and EMSTax rate and revaluation
    Chiefs from the fire districts told the board what happens without the requested rate increases: staff cuts, unfilled posts and no raises, with a knock-on rise in the insurance rating that sets homeowners' premiums. One chief said the insurance increase would exceed the tax increase. County districts rate 3, 4 and 5 against a best of 1, which the county's tax base cannot reach. Wages run $14 to $17 an hour in one district against a target of $18 to $22, and a $35,000 starting salary in another against $45,000 to $50,000 elsewhere. One district reported expenses up 50 percent over four years.
  3. 3 Countywide Revenue Changes and Employee Compensation
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsTax rate and revaluation
    A penny on the county tax rate is worth $3.3 million. Commissioners discussed the longtime homeowner assistance programme and declined to raise the eligibility threshold from five years to ten, on the grounds that applicants need consistent rules and that tightening it would exclude people still in need. The chair proposed a $225,000 amendment for a revaluation year and asked that the scenario be published on the budget amendment website.
  4. 4 Human Services: Aging
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsHealth and human services
    Falling participation figures reflect better record keeping rather than fewer people. The Seymour Center sees about 400 people a day and the Passmore Center about 300. New sign-in kiosks meant to produce an unduplicated count cannot display instructions in Mandarin or Spanish. Families can borrow medical equipment for visiting relatives.
  5. 5 Human Services: Health Department
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsHealth and human servicesPublic facilities
    A proposed healthcare expansion in the ten-year capital plan is on hold under a chair's amendment while all departments are reviewed. Staff want a consultant to assess whether more staff and exam rooms would let the department serve more people. Medicaid money can only be spent on the programmes it came from. New dental patients wait 30 to 45 days because only part-time hygienists could be hired; existing patients are worked in daily.
  6. 6 Human Services: Housing Department
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsHealth and human servicesHomelessness and shelterHousing and affordability
    Emergency housing expects to serve 13 to 15 people a year at $4,500 a month. HOME funding will rise rather than fall next year. Most unawarded vouchers are special purpose vouchers for veterans awaiting referrals from the Durham VA; the rest are at their cap.
  7. 7 Human Services: Civil Rights & Civic Life
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsCivil rights and nondiscriminationHealth and human servicesHousing and affordability
    The fair housing programme returns to the county from the federal housing department, which has been running it. The office must process eight cases and hire an investigator, who will need fair housing investigations and intake training, before it can restart intake and case investigations. A county attorney is assigned to the department.
  8. 8 Human Services: Child Support Services, Library Services, Alliance Health, Non-Departmental
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsHealth and human services
    Juvenile admissions and length of stay are down for reasons staff could not explain. A grant previously removed has been reinstated and will come back as a budget amendment. Contracted psychiatry positions at the university were reallocated within this budget without losing services.
  9. 9 Opioid Settlement Fund
    Budget action Budget and appropriationsDrugs and addiction
    The settlement schedule is frontloaded, which delays the point at which programmes need a county subsidy. Restoring a coordinator contract at about $90,000 a year would bring the break-even point forward to roughly 2030 or 2031. The money runs over eighteen years rather than ten, and staff confirmed there is a plan to train for continuing services after it ends.
  10. 10 Adjournment
    Procedural Budget and appropriations
    The chair reminded the board that budget amendments were due 28 May at 8 PM so the public could read them before the second hearing.
    Adjourned 8:22 PM

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