Budget Public Hearing and Work Session

Meeting recap

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

Thirteen people spoke, and most of them came about the schools. Four were students, three of them eighth graders at Culbreth and Smith middle schools, who told the board that Chapel Hill-Carrboro's cuts had ended the Latin programme and that their teacher was leaving for a private school. A parent said the district is $2 million short on continuation, that it had already spent down $15 million of fund balance on the understanding the county would be the backstop, and that continuation as recommended means 100 fewer full-time positions. The president of the district's PTA council spoke for 18 PTAs asking the board to fund continuation in full and part of the expansion budget.

One speaker took the other side. She asked the board to postpone school capital funding, said the county already spends 39.4 percent on schools on top of the district tax against an international benchmark of 15 to 20 percent, and proposed a public school funding task force. She said housing and social services cannot be put off for education.

Four speakers connected the budget to the revaluation. A volunteer with the home repair fund, speaking for the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition, said the waiting list runs two years, that keeping a house in repair costs a tenth of building new affordable housing, and that older homes in historically Black neighbourhoods are overvalued while newer and larger ones nearby are undervalued. The executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, which runs the county's only year-round shelter, its only free hot meals and permanent supportive housing for 21 households, said housing and food have to stay the top priorities.

The board then worked through appointments to the Advisory Board on Aging, the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, the ABC Board, the Animal Services Advisory Board and the Board of Adjustment, all by consensus. On the aging board a commissioner asked whether a Hillsborough member up for a one-year extension might instead serve ex officio to free the seat for other applicants; staff said the policy allows it and undertook to find out what it would mean for her role.

How the votes went

Opening and closing the hearing and adjournment were unanimous. The appointments were settled by consensus rather than recorded votes.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

13 members of the public spoke.

1. A parent asked the board to fill the gap left by the state, saying the district is $2 million short on continuation, has spent down $15 million of fund balance, and faces a reduction of 100 full-time positions.
2. A rising high school student said her Latin teacher at Culbreth is leaving because the programme was cut, and asked the board to fund the schools well enough to keep such programmes.
3. An eighth grader at Culbreth Middle School said the board has funded continuation before and the school board still had to cut, including Latin, and that friends are moving to private schools.
4. An eighth grader at Smith Middle School said the expansion budget includes needs and not just wants, and described what a teaching assistant had meant to him in elementary school.
5. An eighth grader at Culbreth Middle School said her Latin teacher has been let go and asked the board to increase school funding so no further cuts follow.
6. A volunteer with the home repair fund, speaking for the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition, said the repair list runs two years, repairs cost a tenth of new affordable housing, and the revaluation overvalues older homes in historically Black neighbourhoods while undervaluing newer ones.
7. The president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro PTA council spoke for 18 PTAs asking the board to fund continuation in full and part of the expansion budget.
8. A former educator asked the board to postpone school capital funding, said the county already spends 39.4 percent on schools on top of the district tax, and proposed a public school funding task force.
9. A parent with children at Culbreth and Rashkis said her eighth grader has had no math teacher all year and asked the board to fully fund continuation and try to fund expansion.
10. A resident said state legislators are the reason for the school funding gap, encouraged people to serve in emergency services, and asked how a state-supported programme for girls aged 9 to 12 sits with the county's non-discrimination policy on sex and gender.
11. A resident asked the board to fully fund continuation and expansion for both districts, noting half the student body lives in low-income households and the county is responsible for the one meal many children eat.
12. A member of the Orange County Affordable Housing Coalition said tax increases do not fall equally, that older homes in historically Black areas are overvalued against newer ones nearby, and that home repair funds keep people in their homes.
13. The executive director of the Inter-Faith Council said it runs the county's only year-round shelter, its only free hot meals and permanent supportive housing for 21 households, and asked that housing and food remain the top priorities.

Thirteen speakers. Most asked the board to fund the Chapel Hill-Carrboro continuation budget in full, several of them students describing the loss of the Latin programme. One asked the board to postpone school capital instead. Four tied the budget to the 2025 revaluation and to home repair funding.

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