* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:04] WELCOME [ A. Board of Supervisors & WCPS Joint Budget Work Session ] EVENING EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THE, UH, JOINT MEETING OF THE SCHOOL BOARD AND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO ONCE AGAIN HAVE A BUDGET DISCUSSION, UM, ON THE SCHOOL'S BUDGET. AND JUST WANNA WELCOME EVERYBODY THAT'S HERE IN THE AUDIENCE AND GLAD YOU CAME. THIS WON'T BE A QUESTION, ANSWER OR PUBLIC COMMENT. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, BUT I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE HERE. AND, UM, I'LL TURN THIS OVER TO, UM, DR. BALLINGER AND MR. BALLANTINE TO GO OVER THE BUDGET WITH US. OKAY. UM, MR. BROWNHEIM, DO YOU WANNA GO OVER THE REVENUE SHEET, PLEASE? I CAN DO THAT. THE, UH, FIRST SINGLE PAGE THAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU IS THE REVENUE PROJECTION FOR NEXT YEAR FOR OUR OPERATING BUDGET. UM, IT'S PROBABLY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE TALKED TO YOU ABOUT THE LAST TIME. THE LEFT SIDE IS THE, UH, STATE REVENUE, AND I HAVE A NEW COLUMN. WELL, THE, THE COLUMN THAT'S, UH, ON THE VERY RIGHT, UH, IN THE MIDDLE THERE IS THE CONFERENCE BUDGET. SO I'VE GOTTEN A TEMPLATE FROM THE STATE AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PUT IN ACTUAL NUMBERS THAT THE STATE GAVE US. INSTEAD OF, UM, NUMBERS THAT WE SORT OF HAD TO TAKE FROM THE STATE BUDGET AND, AND DERIVE OUR, OUR PORTION OUT OF IT, IT DIDN'T CHANGE BY MUCH. UM, IT MAYBE GAVE US ABOUT $43,000 MORE THAN WHAT WE HAD, UH, GLEANED FROM, FROM THE BUDGET ITSELF. UM, NOW THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THE STATE STILL HASN'T ADOPTED A BUDGET. I BELIEVE THEY'RE HAVING A SPECIAL SESSION SOMETIME AROUND THE 13TH OF THIS MONTH AND MAYBE HOPEFULLY WILL VOTE ON A BUDGET THE 15TH. SO, UH, ONCE THEY DO FINALIZE THEIR BUDGET, WE'LL GET THE EXACT NUMBERS THAT'LL GO IN THAT COLUMN FOR THE STATE. SO THOSE NUMBERS PROBABLY WILL CHANGE, HOPEFULLY NOT MUCH. AND IF THEY CHANGE, HOPEFULLY THEY'LL GET LARGER. BUT, UH, THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN. THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, UH, AGAIN, TRACKS WHAT OUR BUDGET WAS FOR FEDERAL MISCELLANEOUS, UH, TRANSFERS. AND THE PART THAT'S PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANT TO EACH OF YOU THIS EVENING, THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION. UM, WE TRACK IT FROM FISCAL 22, 23, UH, 24, WHICH IS THE CURRENT YEAR. AND WE BEGAN THE YEAR WITH ONE NUMBER. UH, AND THEN THE STATE APPROVED, UH, A BUDGET AT A SPECIAL SESSION, I BELIEVE IT WAS IN SEPTEMBER. AND SO WE HAD A REVISED BUDGET. AND THEN THE FINAL COLUMN IS THE PROPOSED BUDGET. AND IF YOU COME DOWN THAT COLUMN, UH, WHEN YOU GET ALMOST TO THE BOTTOM WHERE IT SAYS COUNTY APPROPRIATION, AFTER WE'VE DONE ADJUSTMENTS AND FINE TUNED SOME THINGS, THE AMOUNT OF THE INCREASE FOR THE COUNTY APPROPRIATION CURRENTLY WOULD SIT AT TO BALANCE THIS BUDGET. THE WAY, UH, THE SCHOOL BOARD HAS APPROVED THE BUDGET WOULD BE, UH, JUST UNDER 2.5 MILLION, $2,469,702. SO I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. ON THE REVENUE SIDE. I THINK THAT, UH, 2 MILLION 469 7 0 2 MAY BE A LITTLE, UH, UH, MAYBE LESS THAN WHEN I SPOKE WITH YOU LAST TIME. ANY QUESTIONS ON WHAT MR. VALENTINE'S TALKED ABOUT SO FAR? IN WHICH WAYS? IS IT LESS JUST BECAUSE OF THE ADDITIONAL FROM THE STATE? OR DID WERE THERE THINGS THAT WERE REMOVED? THERE WERE THINGS THAT WE, A ADJUST ADJUSTED IN THE BUDGET. UM, IT, THERE WAS, UH, THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND WE TOOK OUT ON A TESTING PROGRAM THAT WERE DEFERRING TO THE FOLLOWING YEAR. UH, I'M NOT SURE WHEN WE HAD THE NUMBERS LAST TIME THAT HAD BEEN TAKEN OUT. SO THAT WAS A BIG PART OF IT. SOME OF IT'S THE ADDITIONAL STATE REVENUE, WHICH, UM, THEREFORE WOULD REDUCE THE COUNTY SHARE TO BALANCE THE BUDGET. AND, UH, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT. IT DOES INCLUDE THE, UH, FOUR ADDITIONAL POSITIONS THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED IN ITS, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. SO WHEN, UM, UH, MADAM CHAIR, I'D LIKE TO ASK. SO, SO WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE BUDGET HERE MM-HMM, , YOU'RE GONNA GO OVER THE THINGS THAT, UH, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S AT 2.4, ALMOST TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS INCREASE. AND, UH, SO LIKE TO SEE WHAT, WHAT THE NEXUS, WHAT THE, WHAT, WHAT IS GENERATING THAT, WHAT IS, WHAT IS DRIVING THAT, WHAT'S DRIVING THAT? AND, AND ALSO THE, UH, I KNOW THAT, UH, I, I TALKED TO THE, UH, HR DIRECTOR, UH, THIS WAS LAST WEEK [00:05:01] WHEN I SAW DR. BALLINGER. UH, HE WAS NICE ENOUGH TO POINT ME IN THE DIRECTION OF A, UH, UM, OF A SITE THAT Y'ALL HAVE THAT SHOWED THE, UM, THE POSITIONS THAT YOU ARE, UH, REQUESTING. BUT I, I'D STILL LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY POSITIONS DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE THAT ARE, UH, THAT, THAT ARE FUNDED BUT NOT FILLED? SO, AND IS MR. LEE IN HERE? SO WE DID SEND A REPORT TODAY. THERE'S CURRENTLY, UM, I BELIEVE IT IS 16, NO, THERE'S 33 VACANCIES, BUT THOSE ARE ALSO PROJECTED VACANCIES FOR NEXT YEAR, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING. UM, AS FAR AS TO ANSWER A QUESTION AS FAR AS HOW MANY WERE VACANT FROM AUGUST TILL THE END OF THE YEAR, MM-HMM. , THERE'S FOUR. AT SOME POINT, ALL OF OUR VACANCIES HAVE EITHER BEEN FILLED OR SOMEBODY RESIGNED AND MOVED ON. IT STARTED OUT AS BEING A FIELD POSITION, THEN SOMEBODY LEFT, OR WE HIRED SOMEBODY MIDYEAR. SO THEN THE, UH, SO CURRENTLY YOU HAVE, SO, SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOUR ADVERTISING RIGHT NOW FOR 33 VACANCIES, UM, YEAH. AND THAT COULD CHANGE AT THIS NEXT BOARD MEETING. SURE. WHEN WE HAVE RESIGNATIONS AND THAT COULD JUMP UP OR THAT COULD GO DOWN BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING, YOU KNOW, SOME APPLICANTS AND WE'RE HIRING SOME POSITIONS. NOW, DO, DO YOU TYPICALLY HIRE, SAY LIKE, UH, YOUR, YOUR MID-YEAR, YOU'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THE END OF THE YEAR. WOULD YOU HIRE SOMEBODY AT THIS POINT OR WOULD YOU WAIT UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF NEXT YEAR? SO, YOU KNOW, ANYTIME IT'S A CLASSROOM TEACHER, WE WANNA GET SOMEBODY IN. SO, I MEAN, WE HAVEN'T STOPPED FROM NOT HIRING SOMEBODY AT THIS POINT IN TIME. OKAY. I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS A, IF THERE WAS A POINT THAT, UH, YOU GET UP TO AND YOU GO, OKAY, IT'S, IT'S APRIL WE BRING SOMEBODY ON, IT'S GONNA TAKE 'EM SOME TIME TO, TO, YOU KNOW, GET THEIR FEET ON THE GROUND BY THAT TIME YOU GOT TWO WEEKS LEFT IN SCHOOL. YEAH. NO, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T DO THAT, ANOTHER SCHOOL WILL, AND THEN THAT'S GONNA BE A VACANT POSITION NEXT YEAR. OH, OKAY. SO, SO YOU NEED TO GRAB 'EM WHILE YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY. ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. SO THE, SO YOU SAY THAT, BUT CURRENTLY YOU'RE ADVERTISING FOR 33 VACANCIES. YOU'VE GOT, UH, WHAT IS IT? SIX, YOU SAY THAT THERE ARE 16. 16 THAT ARE, ARE NOT ENCUMBERED RIGHT NOW. OH, THERE'S 33. 33 VACANCIES. 16 OF THEM ARE TEACHERS. 16 ARE TEACHERS. MM-HMM. . OKAY. AND HOW ABOUT THE OTHER 16? UH, THEY WOULD JUST BE VARIOUS POSITIONS. UM, WOULD THAT, WOULD THAT INCLUDE ANY OF THE, COULD BE COACHES, UH, LIKE A COACHING STIPEND THAT COULD BE A NURSE, THAT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE, THAT COULD BE BUS DRIVERS, UM, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS PO POSITIONS AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS. WOULD THAT INCLUDE ANY OF THE, UM, OH, WHAT DO YOU CALL 'EM? UM, UH, NOT ADMINISTRA, I GUESS ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS. YOU'VE GOT, WHAT IS IT, 38 ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS OR 38? UH, MY, I'D HAVE TO LOOK. I DON'T KNOW THAT NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. UM, RIGHT NOW, NO. SO WE WILL BE FILLING A PRINCIPAL'S POSITION. OKAY. WHICH IS AN ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION. OKAY. AT THE MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT. UM, THAT'S AT ONE OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. SO THEN THAT'S, THAT'S ONE OF THE POSITIONS THAT'S VACANT RIGHT NOW. UM, IT WOULD PROBABLY BE UP THERE. SO ALSO ANOTHER POSITION THAT WOULD BE OUT THERE THAT'S VACANT RIGHT NOW IS, UM, EVERYBODY'S AWARE THAT MR. SMITH WILL BE RETIRING AT THE END OF THIS YEAR. UH, SO HIS POSITION IS LISTED RIGHT NOW AS A VACANCY. OKAY. BUT HE IS FILLING THAT POSITION UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR. SO WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF LOOKING FOR HIS REPLACEMENT. OKAY. UM, ALSO EVERYBODY KNOWS, LIKE, UH, MR. UH, GRANT, UH, LEFT SOMETIME BACK IN, UM, OCTOBER. UH, MR. STEFANSKI HAS BEEN THE INTERIM, UH, CURRENTLY WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF FILLING THAT ROLE TOO, SO. OKAY. UH, BUT IT, IT WAS LISTED AS A VACANCY. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S BEEN TAKEN DOWN. I'D HAVE TO DEFER TO MR. LEE BACK THERE IF IT'S BEEN TAKEN DOWN OR NOT. BUT TYPICALLY ONCE WE CLOSE 'EM, WE'LL TAKE 'EM DOWN. OKAY. UM, BUT I KNOW THAT MR. SMITH'S POSITION WAS STILL OPEN, I THINK AS OF TODAY. OKAY. HE COUNTED 34 ADMINISTRATOR, 3, 4, 3 SCALES. OKAY. 34. ROB SAID HE COUNTED 34 ADMINISTRATORS ON THE SCALE. OKAY. ALRIGHT. I HAVE A QUESTION JUST TO, ON THE LOTTERY FUNDED PROGRAMS, ARE THOSE CATEGORIES THAT THE STATE DELEGATES, OR DO YOU GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE THOSE? WE REALLY DON'T GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE THOSE. UM, AND A LOT OF TIMES THOSE WILL BE WHAT ARE CONSIDERED STANDARD EQUALITY POSITIONS THAT THE STATE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FUNDING. BUT WHEN THE LOTTERY DOES WELL, THEN THEY CAN PULL SOME OF IT FROM, FROM THE TOP OF THE CHART THERE, THE STANDARDS OF QUALITY [00:10:01] AND THOSE PROGRAMS, AND FUND IT WITH LOTTERY, UM, PROCEEDS OR EXCESSES. SO, UM, THE LOTTERY FUNDS SOME SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AND THEN SOMETIMES LIKE FOR THE AT RISK, AND, UH, I'VE SEEN TEXTBOOKS DOWN THERE, UH, IN OTHER YEARS AND ALL, THEY'LL BOUNCE IT BACK AND FORTH DEPENDING ON THE STATE OF THE LOTTERY AND BASICALLY HOW MUCH MONEY THEY TOOK IN, IN A, IN A GIVEN PERIOD OF TIME. OH, OKAY. SO LOTTERY FUNDS ARE USED THROUGHOUT THAT LEFT HAND COLUMN THAT I THOUGHT MAYBE THAT THEY WERE DESIGNATED JUST IN THAT, UM, WELL, YEAH, THAT, THAT CATEGORY THERE, THAT TOTALS FOR THIS COMING YEAR, THE, UM, 3.2 MILLION MM-HMM. , THOSE ARE ALL LOTTERY FUNDS. UM, BUT SOME OF THE ITEMS SUCH AS YOU'LL SEE THE AT RISK MONEY THERE, THAT WOULD BE FUNDED AT OTHER TIMES UP IN ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WASN'T FUNDED WITH THE LOTTERY. BUT, UM, SINCE THE LOTTERY IS DONE, WELL, I GUESS THEY CAN FUND THAT THERE AND MEET THEIR REQUIREMENT TO FUND IT, AND THEN IN THE OTHER CATEGORIES CAN FUND THINGS TO A HIGHER LEVEL POSSIBLY. OH, OKAY. I JUST WONDER BECAUSE I, YOU KNOW, FOSTER CARE, I KINDA, I, I THOUGHT, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH FOSTER CARE? I, I, THAT ONE SURPRISED ME. UM, THAT'S THE OTHERS KIND MAKE SENSE FOR SCHOOL. THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION. UM, IT'S $29,000 AND I, I WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO CHECK ON THAT. OKAY. I, THAT'S A, YEAH, SO I CAN'T TELL YOU FOR INSTANCE, LIKE THE AT RISK THAT CAN BE USED THROUGHOUT ANY, ANY PART OF THE BUDGET. SO THAT CAN BE USED AT, UM, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE WITHIN YOUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OR, YOU KNOW, THAT'S JUST AT RISK STUDENTS THAT ARE TITLE ONE IDENTIFIED OR, UM, LOW SES UH, YOU KNOW, SO, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT STUDENTS IN POVERTY AND YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THAT NUMBER'S BASED OFF OF. AND SO YOU CAN PUSH THAT MONEY AND, AND FUND POSITIONS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE, UH, THROUGHOUT. BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT, FOR INSTANCE, LIKE YOUR K THREE PRIMARY, THAT MONEY HELPS TO FUND JUST K THREE CLASSES. NO, THAT MADE SENSE. ALL OF THEM MADE SENSE TO ME EXCEPT FOR FOSTER CARE, AND I JUST HAD TO ASK THE QUESTION. YEAH. AND THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. AND SO, OKAY. WELL, I, WE CAN LOOK AT THAT LATER ON, BUT, UM, AND I, I JUST WONDERED IF, 'CAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF TIMES FUNDING FROM THE STATE AND FEDERAL, THEY, THEY PUT IT AND YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT IN THAT AREA. YOU CAN'T USE IT FOR OTHER THINGS. SO THAT'S, I DIDN'T KNOW IF THESE WERE THEIRS, AND I JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS KIND OF ODD THAT THE STATE WOULD THROW IN FOSTER CARE IN THIS WHEN DSS DEALS WITH FOSTER CARE. SO THAT WAS WHERE MY QUESTION WAS COMING FROM. UM, ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? I DID, BEFORE WE MOVE ON PAST THE, UM, THE OPEN POSITIONS, WHAT ARE THE FOUR VACANT POSITIONS THAT WERE OPEN FOR THE 2324 SCHOOL YEAR? UM, I'D HAVE TO LOOK. ONE IS, UM, SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER. I BELIEVE ONE IS THE PSYCHOLOGIST, ONE IS THE, UM, THE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER. LET'S SEE IF I FIND THAT. YEAH, LIKE THE SIGN LANGUAGE INTER INTERPRETER, A PRE-K TEACHER, A SPANISH TEACHER, AND A SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST. OKAY. SO THAT'S FIVE. SO SPANISH TEACHER YOU SAID? AND A PRE-K TEACHER. SO I'VE GOT A SPED TEACHER, PSYCHOLOGIST SIGN LANGUAGE, SPANISH AND PRE-K I THOUGHT THE ONES THAT ARE LISTED ARE ASSIGNED LANGUAGE, A PRE-K SPANISH, AND SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST. PSYCHOLOGIST, AND NOT SPECIAL ED. SO, BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS A SPECIAL ED, BUT I, BUT I HAVE FOUND THE NUMBERS THERE. OKAY. UM, SO SOME OF THE SCHOOLS WHERE WE HAVE LONG-TERM SUBS PLACED, ARE WE NOT COUNTING THOSE VACANCIES? SO THESE WOULD'VE BEEN THOSE THAT ARE ADVERTISED ALL YEAR LONG. SO IF A T YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE STARTED THE YEAR WITH A LONG TERM SUB, THEN WE HIRED SOMEBODY AND THAT PERSON FILLED IT FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. OR IF SOMEBODY LEFT, YOU KNOW, YES, THAT'S A VACANCY, BUT THAT'S NOT A YEAR TO YEAR VACANCY. SO WE EITHER HAD SOMEBODY IN THAT POSITION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AT SOME POINT IN TIME. AND SO THAT'S NOT CONSIDERED ONE OF THE YEAR TO YEAR. THESE WERE FOUR POSITIONS THAT WERE VACANT IN AUGUST AND ARE STILL VACANT RIGHT NOW. [00:15:01] MR. BUTLER, MR. BUTLER HAD JUST ASKED WHAT WAS FROM MM-HMM. , LIKE THE WHOLE DURATION, BUT SO THERE'S LOTS OF OTHER ONES THAT ARE OPEN CORRECT. FLOATING THROUGH THE YEAR DEPEND ON. CORRECT. AND WE DO PUT SUBS IN THOSE, BUT, BUT IT'S NOT, IT WAS NOT, IT DID, NOT IT. SO THESE ARE POSITIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FILLED ALL YEAR LONG. ALL OF OUR OTHER VACANCIES AT SOME POINT HAD A PERSON IN IT. OKAY. DO WE HAVE A LIST OF THOSE THOUGH? BECAUSE THE, THE DISCREPANCY IN FUNDING FOR HAVING A FULL-TIME TEACHER IN A SPOT THAT IS RECEIVING BENEFITS AND, AND THOSE FORMS OF COMPENSATION IS VERY DIFFERENT EXPENDITURE WISE THAN HAVING A, AN ESS SUB IN THAT POSITION. OR HAVING TEACHERS WHO ARE HAVING TO USE THEIR LUNCH BREAKS TO COVER THESE CLASSES OR TEACH DOUBLE CLASSES IN AUDITORIUMS. BECAUSE WHILE YES, YOU DO PAY THOSE TEACHERS AN EXTRA LITTLE BIT OF MONEY, YOU'RE NOT THEN FUNDING A SECOND ANOTHER PERSON'S ENTIRE, UH, HEALTH INSURANCE AND BENEFITS PACKAGE ALONG WITH IT. SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT'S THAT'S THE INFORMATION THAT I'VE BEEN REQUESTING FOR WEEKS NOW THAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HAVE TONIGHT. OKAY. SO YOU'RE, DO YOU HAVE HAVE THE LIST THAT I'VE REQUESTED? NO, I DON'T HAVE, I DON'T HAVE THE LIST, MA'AM. OKAY. UM, HOW MUCH MONEY WAS BUDGETED FOR THESE FOUR POSITIONS THAT HAVE SAT VACANT? THE PSYCHOLOGIST SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER, SPANISH TEACHER, AND PRE-K. WHAT WOULD BE THE FUNDING THAT WAS ATTACHED AND GIVEN TO US FOR THAT LAST YEAR? IT'S BURIED IN THE SIDE. I MEAN, IF YOU FIGURE FOR A PSYCHOLOGIST, YOU, YOU FIGURE, I MEAN, THESE ARE JUST ROUND NUMBERS. UM, WELL, I'M JUST ASKING SPECIFICALLY HOW MUCH WAS BUDGETED BECAUSE I THINK THE PUBLIC ASSUMES THAT WHEN WE BUDGET FOR ITEMS MM-HMM. THAT WE ARE GONNA ACTUALLY PURCHASE THOSE ITEMS. AND SO THERE WERE DOLLAR FIGURES ATTACHED TO ALL OF THESE ITEMS WHEN WE ASKED THE COUNTY TO GIVE US MONEY FOR THESE ITEMS. SO THEN IF WE'RE NOT SPENDING THE MONEY ON THESE ITEMS, WE SHOULD KNOW EXACTLY HOW MUCH MONEY. WE DO NOT, WE HAVE NOT SPENT OF THAT. SO I'M JUST TRYING TO GET A DOLLAR FIGURE. I, IF WE WANT TO KNOW IT FOR THE BUDGET FOR THIS CURRENT YEAR, WHAT WE BUDGETED FOR THOSE, UM, I WOULD NEED TO GET WITH HR, FIND OUT MM-HMM. THE NAME OF THE PERSON THAT WAS IN THE POSITION LAST YEAR THAT CREATED THE VACANCY BECAUSE THAT PERSON'S SALARY IS WHAT WE WOULD'VE BUDGETED. MM-HMM. . AND I CAN GIVE YOU AN EXACT NUMBER, BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW. NO, I APPRECIATE THAT. AND I'M NOT, THIS ISN'T A GOTCHA MOMENT. I'VE BEEN ASKING THIS QUESTION IN EMAIL FORM AND IT'S BEEN SENT TO HR FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW, AND I, I KEEP WAITING TO GET THAT NUMBER BACK AND, AND I JUST DON'T GET A RESPONSE. SO, UM, SO THOSE FOUR, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW A SPECIFIC NUMBER AND THEN OF COURSE I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY, AND SPECIFICALLY, LIKE I ASKED FOR THE SPECIFIC LIST OF, WE HAVE NO, UH, LET'S SCIENCE TEACHER AT SAID SCHOOL. AND THAT IS BEING, THIS IS HOW MUCH WAS BUDGETED FOR IT, BUT IT IS BEING COVERED BY, AND WHETHER THAT'S A ESS SUB OR WHETHER THAT'S TEACHERS WHO ARE GIVING UP OF THEIR LUNCH BREAKS AND PLANNING PERIODS TO COVER THAT, WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THE ACTUALS FOR ALL OF THESE VACANCIES BECAUSE THAT DOES IT. WE CAN'T CRUNCH NUMBERS IF WE DON'T HAVE THEM. WELL, WE USE THOSE NUMBERS WHEN WE BUILD THE BUDGET OFF OF THE CURRENT PEOPLE IN THOSE POSITIONS, THEN IT SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM FOR YOU TO PROVIDE THEM TO ME. RIGHT. SO GET THIS WHEN I REQUESTED THEM, THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPER EASY TO PROVIDE TO ME. SO THEY SHOULD HAVE THOSE NUMBERS AS FAR AS AWESOME. I I JUST, THEY, YOU NEVER SENT THEM TO ME. SO I YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS, BUT THEN YOU'RE NOT SENDING 'EM TO ME. SO I, THERE'S A COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN HERE SOMEWHERE, IF I MAY, I'D LIKE TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS AS WELL. OKAY. MR. LEE, CAN YOU MAKE SURE THAT THOSE NUMBERS ARE PRODUCED? YES, SIR. WE WILL GET TOGETHER IN THE MORNING AND GET THAT PUT TOGETHER AND THEN, UM, SHARE IT WITH OUR BOARD AND WITH DR. DALEY SO HE CAN SHARE IT OUT WITH EACH OF YOU. IT, UH, WHAT I WILL DO IS, OR WHAT WE CAN DO IS I THINK LOOK AT THIS YEAR'S BUDGET AND SAY [00:20:01] WHAT THE VACANCIES WERE, THE BUDGET FORUM, WHAT THE COST TO COVER THOSE VACANCIES WITHOUT HAVING SOMEONE. AND THEN FOR, I, I CAN ALSO TELL YOU BA NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET IS BASED ON SOME VACANT POSITIONS AND WHAT WE ARE BUDGETING NEXT YEAR, UM, IN OUR BUDGET THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS EVENING FOR THOSE POSITIONS THAT CURRENTLY ARE VACANT, BUT WE HOPE TO FILL FOR NEXT YEAR. OKAY. AND THEN WHERE DOES THIS MONEY GO? SO LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THE FOUR THAT ARE SITTING VACANT. WHERE, WHERE DOES THAT MONEY GO? IS THAT ALL THAT MONEY STILL SITTING THERE IN THE POT? OR HAS IT BEEN MOVED TO DIFFERENT LINE LINE ITEMS TO COVER PLACES WHERE WE'VE GONE OVER? SO FOR INSTANCE, LIKE WITH THE PSYCHOLOGIST, I MEAN, I THINK WE, WE DIDN'T WE TRANSFER SOME OF THAT FOR A CONTRACT BECAUSE WE'RE HAVING TO PAY A CONTRACT THIS YEAR? WE DID, AND I BELIEVE WE'RE YES. YES. SO YOU'RE PAYING, IT ACTUALLY MOVED FROM THE SALARY LINE DOWN TO A CONTRACTED LINE, UM, IN THE BUDGET FOR THAT. OTHERS PROBABLY ARE COMING OUT OF THE SAME LINE IN THE BUDGET, BUT IT'S BECAUSE WE'RE PAYING A TEACHER TO TEACH A FOURTH BLOCK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. MM-HMM. . UM, OR IT MAY BE COMING OUT OF THE SUBSTITUTE BUDGET IF WE HAVE A LONG TERM SUB IN THERE, BUT THERE WOULD STILL BE MONEY LEFT OVER BECAUSE IT'S LESS EXPENSIVE TO HAVE YOUR TEACHERS TEACHING EXTRA. I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S LESS EXPENSIVE FOR US MONEY-WISE. IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE FOR THEM AS FAR AS THE WORK LEVEL ON THEIR, ON STRAIN ON THEIR BODIES. SO, UM, I THINK THE OTHER LIST THAT I WOULD LIKE WOULD BE, LIKE, I HAD REQUESTED THE LIST OF TEACHING VACANCIES THAT WAS MENTIONED. HOW WHEN YOU GET TO A CERTAIN POINT IN THE SCHOOL YEAR WHEN YOU JUST FINALLY THROW IN THE TOWEL AND SAY, OKAY, WELL WE'RE NOT GOING TO HIRE SOMEBODY. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW A LIST OF THOSE POSITIONS THAT WE'VE DECIDED, WELL, WE'RE JUST NOT GONNA HIRE THEM AT THIS POINT IN TIME. UM, AND I KNOW YOU SAID THAT THAT POINT IN TIME NEVER HAPPENS, THAT YOU SNATCH THEM UP, BUT I, I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THERE HAVE BEEN APPLICANTS WHO HAVE NOT GOTTEN RESPONSES AND THEY'RE QUALIFIED APPLICANTS. SO AT THIS POINT IT DOES LOOK LIKE WE ARE CHOOSING TO KEEP SOME OF THESE VACANCIES VACANT. NOT FROM MY DIRECTION. SO AWARE THAT, WOULD YOU LIKE AWARE TO INVESTIGATE, TO FIGURE OUT WHY THAT'S HAPPENING THEN, AT WHOSE DIRECTION THAT WOULD BE? I CAN LOOK INTO THAT AND SEE IF THAT IS OCCURRING. IT IS OCCURRING. WELL, I WILL LOOK AT THAT AND SEE IF IT IS OCCURRING. I THINK THAT THAT INFORMATION WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR US. YOU KNOW, UM, AND I'M SURE YOU'RE AT THIS POINT IN THE YEAR WORKING ON WHAT THAT CARRYOVER NUMBER IS GONNA BE. UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THIS BOARD HAS BEEN INTERESTED TO, TO HEAR WHERE, WHERE WE ARE WITH THE CARRYOVER, SO THAT THAT HELPS US FIGURE OUT THE REST OF OUR BUDGET. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS PART? UH, YEAH, I, I HAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT. UM, THE ABIL, THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES HERE, WHICH JUST SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN ATTENTION, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE ARE MORE CATEGORIES. UM, BUT THE SUBSTITUTE COST THING AND THE LEGAL COST ITEM ARE TWO PARTICULAR AREAS WHERE SUBSTANTIAL COST OVERRUNS OF UNABLE TO BE INCURRED. I MEAN, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OR TENS OF THOUSANDS IN THE CASE OF LEGAL, ALMOST A TWO X, ALMOST A THREE X NUMBER, UH, IN CASE OF SUBSTITUTES LOOK LIKE A BUDGET NUMBER OF 7 36. AND I THINK AN ACTUAL, I DON'T KNOW THE ACTUAL SO FAR, BUT IN THE 1.25, 1.3 MILLION, UM, THESE ARE BIG OVERRUNS. AND THE, THE, IT CREATES TO ME A REALLY A CRISIS IN CONFIDENCE OF, OF THE BUDGET. IF, IF THE NUMBER WAS BUDGETED AT 7 36 AND WE CAN PAY ONE AND A QUARTER MILLION, AND THEN AT THE END OF THE YEAR WE CAN END UP HAVING A MILLION DOLLAR SURPLUS, THEN THAT'S NOT VERY TIGHT. THAT'S, THAT IS, THAT'S PLENTY OF, THAT'S A LOT OF SLACK THERE. AND IT, BECAUSE I KNOW MR. BUTLER ASKED THIS QUESTION, MR. VALENTINE SAID HE WOULD GET THAT INFORMATION. MR. OSLAN IS ASKING FOR THAT INFORMATION NOW, AND IT'S WORTH SAYING WE'LL GET THAT INFORMATION TO YOU. UH, IT'S BECAUSE WE'RE SORT OF LEFT TO INDUCE OR DEDUCE, LIKE, WHERE'S THE MONEY COMING FROM? THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY. AND, UH, PAYROLL IS BY FOUR THE BIGGEST NUMBER, PAYROLL AND BENEFITS OF ANY ORGANIZATION. SO WITH THESE KINDS OF CROSSOVER RUNS, BEING ABLE TO [00:25:01] TO BE PAID, UM, AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR WE COME IN WITH A MILLION DOLLARS OF, OF SURPLUS. THAT'S JUST CREATING A SITUATION THAT SEEMS SO LOOSE. AND, AND FOR ME PERSONALLY, IT CREATES A BIT OF, OF A CONFIDENCE PROBLEM IN TERMS OF, OF HOW THE, THE BUDGET'S ASSEMBLED. AND I ALLUDED TO THE FACT ON THE DAY THE OTHER NIGHT THAT THE PROCESSES ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD. UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD, UH, UH, I THINK I ALLUDED TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS THE FIRST TIME, BUT IN THE COUNTY, ALL DEPARTMENTS CAME, ALL PRESENTED NEEDS, ALL ANSWERED QUESTIONS AND QUERIES, UM, ALL CAME BACK AND, AND WORKED WITH, WITH THE ADMINISTRATION HERE TO, TO BRING IT DOWN LEVEL. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I MADE A NOTICE OF, UH, IN OUR FIRST BUDGET, UH, JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING, THAT WE, WE ARE TIGHT. THIS IS A VERY DIFFICULT YEAR FINANCIALLY. UM, AND SO IN ESSENCE, I THINK THIS IS A SUPERINTENDENT'S BUDGET AND, AND IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THAT. BUT, BUT, UM, I, I, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK 1500 LINES OF, OF NUMBERS, UH, REALLY ADEQUATELY TELL THE STORY. IT'S A LOT OF DATA, BUT IT'S NOT A LOT OF INFORMATION. UM, SO IN REGARD TO WHAT MRS. STALINS IS JUST NOW REFERRING TO, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION. UM, AND THIS IS OUR SECOND JOINT MEETING AS AN ENTIRE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND OUR ENTIRE SCHOOL BOARD. AND WE'RE, WE'RE BEING TOLD WE'LL GET THAT TO YOU TOMORROW. UH, MELANIE, MR. ASLAN'S BEEN ASKING FOR IT. MR. BUTLER ASKED FOR IT, UH, ON THE 16TH. WE'RE ASKING FOR IT NOW. IT SEEMS LIKE A RELEVANT BIT OF INFORMATION. AND AGAIN, IT'S BECAUSE WE, WE WE'RE DEDUCING WE'RE INFERRING, WE'RE TRYING TO FIND WHERE COULD ALL THIS MONEY COME FROM TO, TO ADDRESS THESE OVERRUNS. AND WE DO EXPECT, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE EXPECTATION CAME FROM, BUT THAT THERE IS GONNA BE A SURPLUS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. AND IF I, IF I UNDERSTOOD OR SAW CORRECTLY, WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD COMING UP, THE 20 FY 2022 SURPLUS JUST BECAME KNOWN. IS THAT, IS THAT RIGHT? 22. SO THAT WAS FROM AN AUDIT THAT WAS RECEIVED LAST, LAST YEAR. YES, SIR. AND THEN AS WE WERE TALKING, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE HAD NOT REQUESTED. 'CAUSE TYPICALLY WE REQUEST THE, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING THAT IS, UM, A SURPLUS, WE DO REQUEST THAT FOR PROJECTS AND FOR OTHER THINGS. YEAH, YEAH. I UNDERSTAND. I WAS JUST SO AND SO THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE THOUGHT WE HAD SUBMITTED, BUT TURNS OUT WE DID NOT SUBMIT IT. OKAY. AND THEN THE 2023 SURPLUS, WHEN WOULD THAT NUMBER BE KNOWN? WHEN HE GETS THE AUDIT. OKAY. SO THE AUDITOR IS PROJECTED TO BE HERE ON THE 14TH OF MAY, SIR, TWO WEEKS FROM TONIGHT. OKAY. ALRIGHT. THAT, THAT'S ALL I HAVE ON THIS PARTICULAR SUBJECT. I THINK IT'S, THERE'S A, THERE'S A, A TRANSPARENCY CONCERN THAT IS, IS, IS BOTHERSOME TO ME. SO IF I CAN ADD SOMETHING TO THAT AS WELL, THAT WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH THE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SURPLUS, YOU KNOW, AND FINDING OUR ACTUALS AND WHERE WE ARE AS PERFORMANCE GOES, AND LOOKING AT THE, THE LINE ITEM SHEET HERE, I'M KIND OF, I'M JUST KIND OF LIKE A BOTTOM LINE KIND OF PERSON. AND SO I LOOKED DOWN HERE AND I SEE THE ORIGINAL FISCAL YEAR 23 BUDGET FOR $69 MILLION, BUT THEN YOU HAVE ACTUAL EXPENDITURES THAT'S 75 MILLION. SO THAT'S BY LOOKING AT THOSE TWO NUMBERS, YOU'VE OVERRAN BY $7.7 MILLION, WHICH I DON'T BELIEVE IS TRUE. NO, I DIDN'T THINK SO. SO I CAN SHARE MR, YOU KNOW, JAMESON'S, YOU KNOW, UM, THOUGHT AND, AND, AND, AND MS SELLS AS WELL THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE NUMBERS, THE, THE DATA, THE INFORMATION THAT WE'RE ASKING, IT'S GONNA HELP US DEEP DIVE IN THESE BOTTOM LINE NUMBERS. YOU KNOW, AT LEAST I COULD SPEAK FOR MYSELF ON, ON THAT, YOU KNOW, SO, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I, THAT, THAT MAKES MY CONFIDENCE LEVEL IN, IN, IN THE NUMBERS TO KINDA GO DOWN, UM, A BIT, UM, AS FAR AS HOW DO WE ASSESS THE BUDGET AND WHAT WE CAN AFFORD TO PROVIDE TO THE SCHOOL BOARD, BECAUSE IT'S REALLY GONNA COME DOWN TO HOW MUCH MONEY CAN WE AFFORD? YEAH. THAT, THAT NUMBER SHOWN THERE IS THE [00:30:01] ORIGINAL FISCAL YEAR 23 BUDGET. UM, THE BUDGET WAS INCREASED DURING THE YEAR WITH MONEY THAT WAS ADDED LATER. AND, UH, NO, WE DID NOT, UH, OVERSPEND THE BUDGET BY $6 MILLION OR WHATEVER THAT WOULD SHOW THERE. UM, SO DO YOU HAVE THAT NUMBER? OH, YES. NOT, NOT WITH YOU. NOT WITH YOU NOW. RIGHT NOW, BUT I CAN ADD IT TO THE CHART THERE. THAT WOULD BE REALLY VERY EASILY. RIGHT. AND, UH, I, I JUST WANTED TO SHOW THE ORIGINAL BUDGETS FOR THE THREE YEARS WE'RE LOOKING AT. SO IT'S NOT DISTORTED. WE'RE COMPARING APPLES TO APPLES. WHAT WE STARTED WITH TO WHAT WE ASKED TO START WITH LAST YEAR TO WHAT WE'RE ASKING TO START WITH THIS YEAR. RIGHT? YEAH. BUT THAT OTHER PIECE IS PART OF THE OTHER PIECE MAKES IT THE EQUATION AS WELL. YES. YOU KNOW, SO I CAN, I'LL I'LL PUT THE FINAL, FINAL BUDGET IN THERE TOO, RIGHT. BECAUSE AT LEAST THAT WILL GIVE US A IDEA WHAT SURPLUS WE MIGHT HAVE. YES. GIVE OR TAKE A PERCENTAGE HERE AND THERE. . WELL, FOR CLARIFICATION, THE SURPLUS RETURNS TO THE COUNTY. THAT'S CORRECT. SO IT'S THE BOARD'S DETERMINATION AS TO HOW THOSE FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED. EXACTLY. AND THEN THE SCHOOL BOARD WILL REQUEST, WE'VE BEEN USING THEM FOR CAPITAL, CAPITAL PROJECTS THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, BUT THEY HAVE TO MAKE A REQUEST AND BASICALLY TELL YOU, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO. WE'RE GONNA USE 'EM AT RU JEFFRIES, OR WE'RE GONNA USE THEM AT WILSON, ET CETERA. RIGHT. WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO WITH THEM. AND TO ME, THAT'S THE MISSING PIECE. WELL, AND, AND THE SURPLUS ISN'T JUST FIGURED OFF OF WHAT THE EXPENDITURE BUDGET WAS AND HOW MUCH WE SPENT, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO LOOK AT THE REVENUE SIDE. IF OUR STATE, FEDERAL, AND ALL THESE OTHER REVENUE SOURCES COME IN AT MORE OR LESS THAN WHAT WE BUDGETED, THEN THAT AFFECTS HOW MUCH THE COUNTY HAS TO TRANSFER IT TO US DURING THE YEAR, AND THEREFORE IT COULD BE MORE OR LESS. AND, UM, SO IN, IN, IN CONCEPT, WE COULD ACTUALLY UNDERSPEND OUR BUDGET BY A MILLION DOLLARS, BUT IF OUR STATE REVENUE IS A MILLION TOO SHORT, THEN THAT MEANS WE'VE GONE OVER 200,000 IN STATE RATHER IN COUNTY FUNDING, WHICH WOULD SHOW WE'VE OVERSPENT OUR BUDGET. RIGHT. BECAUSE WE CAN'T SPEND ANYMORE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S APPROPRIATED, THEN WE TAKE IN, IN REVENUE FROM ALL SOURCES. RIGHT. THAT'S WHY I'M A BOTTOM LINE PERSON. YES, YES. YEAH. BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE, UNDERSTANDING THERE MAY BE PEAKS AND VALLEYS WITH THE LINE ITEMS, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ALWAYS REQUEST FOR TRANSFERS TO ABSORB THOSE WITH THE, WITH THE, UM, LINE ITEMS THAT WE HAVE MONEY LEFT OVER, YOU KNOW, SO ANYWAY, SO AGAIN, IT'S JUST, FOR ME, IT'S PART OF THE EQUATION GOING FORWARD. WELL, AND I THINK WE ALL REALIZE, JUST LIKE OUR OWN HOME BUDGETS, YOU, YOU, YOU CAN'T BUDGET TO THE PENNY. THERE'S NO WAY WITH INFLATION GAS, UH, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN A, A ROOF'S GONNA START LEAKING. THE BOILER'S GONNA GO OUT ON ONE OF THESE SCHOOLS. THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT COMES UP. SAME THING AT HOME. SO, YOU KNOW, NONE OF US ARE NAIVE ENOUGH TO THINK THAT YOU DON'T HAVE SOME FLUFF IN HERE. THE THING TO REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, IS, AND I SEE TEACHERS BACK HERE, YOU KNOW, I, I WANT THE TEACHERS MONEY TO BE SECURE AND THAT GOES THERE. THAT'S BOTTOM LINE FOR ME. AND THAT THE PROGRAMS THAT THE CHILDREN NEED, I WANT THEM TO FEEL SECURE AND TO KNOW THAT WE SUPPORT THEM AND THAT WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT SALARIES. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THE OTHER AREAS. AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE PAST, I THINK IT WAS OPTIONAL WHETHER THE BOARD GAVE YOU BACK ANY OR ALL OF YOUR MONEY OR PORTIONS OF IT. I KNOW THE FIRST YEAR I WAS ON THE BOARD, I WALKED INTO THAT MEETING, WAS TOLD THIS IS HOW MUCH WE'RE GIVING THEM. AND I MADE THE MOTION TO GIVE IT ALL BACK BECAUSE IT JUST MADE SENSE TO DO IT THAT YEAR. UM, THE BOARD WAS, THEY WENT ALONG WITH IT, THEY WEREN'T REAL HAPPY ABOUT IT, BUT IT, AS ROADS HAD TO GET DONE. UM, BUT THE MONEY THAT IS LEFT OVER NOW, WE'RE PUTTING IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT FOR YOU. BUSES CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, AND I'M NOT SURE WE NEED THE TEXTBOOKS BECAUSE I KEEP HEARING THE TEACHERS DON'T USE THE TEXTBOOKS ALL THAT MUCH ANYMORE BECAUSE OF THE CHROMEBOOKS OR WHATEVER THEY'RE USING. BUT THAT MONEY'S NOT GOING BACK INTO THE GENERAL TO GO OUT AND BE USED. OTHER WORDS, IT, IT'S TO, TO HAVE A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. WE WERE ABLE TO DO LFK, WE WERE ABLE TO START WORKING ON E WILSON. [00:35:01] UM, WE GOT TENNIS COURTS THAT NEED TO BE DONE. THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU OWN A HOME OR ANYTHING, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING. AND WHERE WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN INTO REPLACING PARKING LOT PAVEMENT, THAT ONE GIVES ME HEARTBURN TO THINK ABOUT IT. UM, BUT THAT'S THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHAT YOUR CARRYOVER IS. I MEAN, IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HARP ON THAT, BUT THIS YEAR, ESPECIALLY THAT CARRYOVER MAY BE NEEDED TO GIVE YOU THE TWO POINT WHATEVER. UM, YOU DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER, RIGHT? 2.469 THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR BUDGET HOLD. SO THAT'S WHERE IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE A CLEAR IDEA OF WHERE YOU ARE WITH ALL THIS STUFF. AND IT'S, IT'S JUST NOT CLEAR TO US YET. AND, AND IT MAY NOT CLEAR TO YOU, I DON'T KNOW. NO, IT'S NOT CLEAR TO ME EITHER. AND, AND THAT IS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO OPERATE FROM. SO FOR INSTANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE BUDGETED $55,000 FOR LEGAL FEES, AND THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO INCLUDE THAT FULL POLICY REWRITE THAT WE HAD HAD TALKED ABOUT. IT HAS NOT INCLUDED THAT. UM, WE HAD TO FIND OUT, I HAD TO FIND OUT FROM A FOIA FROM SOMEBODY ELSE ASKING ABOUT OUR LEGAL EXPENSES THAT WE'VE, THAT AS OF APRIL, WE HAD SPENT $160,000 ON LEGAL EXPENSES. I SEE ON OUR CLERK'S REPORT FOR OUR MEETING TOMORROW, WE'LL BE ADDING ANOTHER 19,000 TO THAT. SO IT PUTS US AT 1 79 FOR, I MEAN, WE'VE BLOWN THREE TIMES THAT, THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY. SO WHEN I ASK THE QUESTION, WHERE DID THAT MONEY COME FROM? WHAT MONEY DID WE USE? BECAUSE WE HAD TO PULL IT FROM SOMEWHERE. AND WHEN I'M ASKING THAT, I'M ASKING THAT JUST SIMPLY SO THAT FOR MY OWN KNOWLEDGE, I KNOW WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MONEY FROM? AND THEN WHEN I'M REFUSED AN ANSWER, IT DESTROYS THE TRUST. IT MAKES ME THINK, WHY, WHY, WHY DO YOU NOT WANT TO ANSWER? WHY, WHY, WHY CAN'T YOU SAY, WELL, WE HAD TO PULL SOME FROM THIS HERE. WE PULLED THIS MUCH FROM HERE, WE PULLED THIS MUCH FROM THERE. WE, WE FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK TO IGNORE ME, TO NOT ANSWER ME, TO REFUSE TO ANSWER ME. UM, IT MAKES ME QUESTION YOU MORE. SO, LIKE THE WAY TO TO DEAL WITH ME IS NOT TO LIE TO ME, NOT TO AVOID ME, NOT TO REFUSE TO GIMME THE THE QUESTIONS, BECAUSE THEN I DON'T TRUST ANY OF IT. AND YOU'RE GONNA GET A WHOLE LOT MORE QUESTIONS BECAUSE THAT'S MY JOB. THAT'S WHAT I WAS ELECTED TO DO, WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING SPENT IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER, IN A TRANSPARENT MANNER. IF I, AS A BOARD MEMBER, CAN'T FIGURE OUT AND GET AN ANSWER, WHEN I ASK THE TAXPAYER WHO PAID THEIR MONEY INTO THIS, THEY'RE NOT GONNA KNOW EITHER. PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW WHERE THEIR MONEY IS BEING SPENT, AND THE ENTIRE BUDGET PROCESS COLLAPSES WHEN THERE'S NO TRUST. AND THAT'S WHERE I'M SITTING RIGHT NOW, IS AT A, AT A PLACE OF, OF NO TRUST, BECAUSE I LOOK AT $179,000 BEING WELL OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND OVER BUDGET ON LEGAL. LEGAL PROVIDES NOTHING FOR OUR CHILDREN AND FOR OUR TEACHERS. IT PROVIDES NOTHING. IT IT'S MONEY THAT YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE JUST FLUSHED DOWN A TOILET. IT'S MAKING SAN ANDERSON RICH. I SEE THAT EXTRA MONEY AND THINK, HMM, WE COULD HAVE HAD THE AGRICULTURE TEACHER, WE COULD HAVE HAD A LOT OF OTHER THINGS THAT COULD HAVE ACTUALLY BENEFITED THE EDUCATION OF OUR KIDS IN THIS COMMUNITY. AND SO I DON'T THINK I'M OUT OF LINE FOR ASKING, WHERE DID YOU PULL THE MONEY FROM? I'M HEARING ABOUT PAPER SHORTAGES AT SCHOOL. AND IS THIS WHY, LIKE, WHERE DID IT COME FROM? LIKE I HAVE, I, I CAN ONLY GUESS IF I'M NOT GIVEN ANSWERS. SO THOSE FUNDS WILL BE PULLED FROM ANYTHING THAT WE HAVE AS FAR AS CARRYOVER FROM, UM, NOT FILLING POSITIONS OR IF WE HAD, FOR INSTANCE, LIKE WE DID HAD A, A LIGHT WINTER. SO FUEL COSTS DID NOT, WE DIDN'T HAVE THE FUEL EXPENSES THAT WE HAD BUDGETED FOR THAT WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST. UM, THERE WERE SOME OTHER AREAS THAT WE WERE, WE WERE LOOKING AT. SO IT WAS FROM UNFILLED POSITIONS AS PART OF THIS. IT COULD COME FROM UNFILLED POSITIONS. IT COULD SEE, I WANNA KNOW WHAT ACTUAL, I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT COULD, OR WHAT MIGHT I WANNA KNOW FOR SURE. DID WE HAVE TEACHERS THAT HAD TO CONTINUE TO GIVE UP THEIR LUNCH BREAKS OR THEIR PLANNING PERIODS, OR HAVE STUDENTS SIT IN A CLASS WITH A SUB FOR AN EXTRA SIX MONTHS BECAUSE WE HAD TO TAKE THAT MONEY THAT WAS MEANT [00:40:01] FOR INSTRUCTION AND SPEND IT ON LEGAL? NO. THEN WHERE DID THE MONEY COME FROM? I MEAN, IT SHOULD BE VERY, A SIMPLE, SOMEBODY MOVED THE MONEY FROM, FROM SOMEWHERE. SO THE BALANCE AT THE END OF THE YEAR, AND THAT'S WHAT WE DO WHEN WE BALANCE AT THE END OF THE YEAR. IT'S JUST LIKE BALANCING YOUR CHECKBOOK. AT THE END OF THE MONTH. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU WERE, WHERE YOU HAD SOME SAVINGS, AND YOU'RE GONNA TAKE THAT SAVINGS AND YOU'RE GONNA TRANSFER IT TO AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE OVERRUNS. IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY DEPARTMENT IN THE COUNTY. AND WHAT THEY DO WHEN THEY HAVE OVERRUNS IN ANY AREAS, THEY LOOK WHERE THEY HAD SAVINGS AND THEN THEY PULL IT FROM THOSE AREAS. AND YES. AND SOME OF THE SAVINGS THAT WE HAVE IS GONNA COME FROM, MAYBE IT WAS FROM IN FACILITIES ALSO. SOME OF THAT'S GOING TO COME FROM, UH, SALARIES. THAT COULD BE FROM POSITIONS THAT WEREN'T FILLED THAT WERE, THAT ARE A SAVINGS. UM, THAT'S ALSO WHERE YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THE EXTRA SUBS. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU HAVE THAT COST THAT'S GONNA COME FROM DIFFERENT AREAS THROUGHOUT THE BUDGET THAT WHERE YOU HAD A SAVINGS. SO TO ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE THIS EXTRA A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS CAME FROM? NO, WE LOOKED AND WE TALKED ABOUT, THERE ARE SEVERAL ITEMS I LOOK AT ON A MONTHLY BASIS THAT I, I WOULD SAY ARE, UM, COSTS THAT WE REALLY CAN'T CONTROL TOO, TOO. WELL, YES, WE CAN CONTROL THEM, BUT NOT TO THE DEGREE, UM, TO A GREAT DEGREE. UM, OUR UTILITY COST AND, AND AS DR. UH, BALLINGER MENTIONED THIS WINTER, WE HAD A MILD WINTER. SO WE'RE LOOKING TO, RIGHT NOW TRENDING, IT WILL BE ABOUT $200,000 SAVINGS IN, UM, HEATING COSTS. OUR, UM, ELECTRIC COSTS AND OUR WATER AND SEWER COSTS, THEY'RE PRETTY MUCH AT BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR, TRENDING THOSE, UH, FOR THE, FOR THE COMPLETE YEAR. SO THAT WOULD BE ONE PLACE WE COULD DO IT FROM. NOW, WHAT WE WILL NEED TO DO IS, BECAUSE THAT IS IN A DIFFERENT FUNCTION OR CATEGORY THAN, UM, WHERE THE LEGAL FEES WOULD COME FROM, WE WILL NEED TO COME TO YOU AND THEN THE BOARD, IF THAT'S WHERE IT'S DECIDED TO COME FROM AND ASKED TO HAVE THAT MONEY TRANSFERRED FROM THE, UH, FACILITIES CATEGORY TO THE, UH, IT'S CALLED ADMINISTRATION, ATTENDANCE AND HEALTH, WHICH IS THE 62,000 CATEGORY. SO THERE SHOULD BE, UM, DEPENDING ON WHERE OUR LEGAL FEES END UP, THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH THERE TO TAKE CARE OF THAT. THAT WOULD BE ONE AREA WE COULD LOOK AT TO, TO COVER THAT. BUT AS YOU MENTIONED, THOSE LEGAL FEES SEEM TO BE, UM, CONTINUING. SO IT, IT MAY BE MORE THAN WHAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY. SO JUST TO CLARIFY, WHAT I'M HEARING TOO IS THIS TRANSFER DOESN'T HAPPEN UNTIL THE YEARS END. SO IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN. LIKE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN FEBRUARY, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN NOW. IT'LL HAPPEN IN YEARS END. YEAH, YOU ALWAYS, AND THEN YOU CAN LOOK TO SEE WHERE THOSE OVERAGES WOULD BE AND THEN IT WOULD BE TRANSFERRED. SO IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. YOU WOULD BALANCE IT AT THE YEARS. IT CAN'T HAPPEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. AND, AND I WOULD THINK WHEN SOMETHING THAT MAYBE BECOMES THAT LARGE, IT'S BETTER TO GO AND BRING IT FORWARD DURING THE YEAR. AND AT THE END IT'S SORT OF THE ASKING FOR PERMISSION OR IF FORGIVENESS, UH, NO, IF IF YOU'RE PAYING THE BILL, YOU, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE MONEY'S THERE SOMEWHERE. RIGHT? RIGHT. WE KNOW THE MONEY'S THERE. IT'S JUST NOT IN THE RIGHT CATEGORY. AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED. I MEAN, WHEN THE BILL COMES TO US, THE LEGAL FEE'S BEEN INCURRED. I THINK THAT'S WHERE HAVING QUARTERLY UPDATES, HAVING, AT OUR BOARD MEETINGS, WE SHOULD BE SEEING QUARTERLY UPDATES ON THESE TYPES OF, OF SPENDING ON, IF WE HAVE CERTAIN LINES THAT ARE GOING OVER OR EVEN TRENDING TO GO OVER, WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THAT SOONER THAN LATER. WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT MONEY THAT'S ALREADY BEEN BILLED AND SPENT AND FINDING OUT ABOUT IT AFTER THE FACT AND HAVING TO FIND OUT ABOUT IT FROM SOMEBODY FOING IT AND NOT HAVING IT BROUGHT TO US. THAT CERTAINLY WAS NOT A CONFIDENCE BUILDER. UM, BUT YEAH, I, I THINK WE NEED TO, TO BE ADDING THIS QUARTERLY TO OUR AGENDA. I WANNA KNOW LINE ITEMS THAT ARE GOING TO BE TRENDING OVER. I WANNA KNOW LINE ITEMS THAT ARE TRENDING BELOW AS WELL THAT ARE NOT BEING SPENT. SO THAT WE DO KNOW, WE HAVE TO KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS AND NOT AT THE END OF THE YEAR. WE, WE TALKED IN CABINET THIS MORNING ABOUT THAT AND, UM, THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH MEETING, WE WILL BE GIVING YOU A REPORT THAT SHOULD HAVE THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION AND AT EACH MONTH. SO, SO YOU CAN WATCH IT EACH MONTH FOR THE PRECEDING MONTH AND THEN THE YEAR TO DATE. SO THAT'D BE PRESENTED AT THE WORK SESSION MAY 15TH. UM, WOULD THAT BE POSSIBLE TO DO THAT AT THE ACTUAL MEETING HERE AT THE GOVERNMENT [00:45:01] CENTER? SO IT'S LIVE STREAMED AND WE KNOW THAT IT WILL ACTUALLY BE RECORDED BECAUSE WE'VE HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT. WITH THAT. IT CAN BE, BUT TO BE HONEST, TO, TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU THE, I I CAN'T GIVE YOU THE MM-HMM. APRIL REPORT AT TOMORROW'S MEETING. RIGHT, RIGHT. SO IF I DID IT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE MONTH, THERE'D BE A MONTH LAG BETWEEN WHEN THE CUTOFF WAS AND THEN THE MONTH WE DID IT. IF I DO IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH, THEN YOU KNOW, IT'S TWO WEEKS SINCE THE CLOSE OR THE END OF THE MONTH AS OPPOSED TO FOUR, FOUR WEEKS. SO CAN DO IT EITHER WAY FROM A THIS QUESTION WHEN YEAH, IF I PICK ANY LINE LINE, THIS FIRST LINE ITEM IS TEACHER SALARIES AND THE CURRENT YEAR, THE BUDGET IS ONE NINE 1 MILLION 9 9 6 AT, UH, RUSTY JEFFRIES. AND IF YOU NEEDED MONEY TO ADD TO THAT LINE ITEM AND YOU WANTED TO TAKE IT FROM INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS, THE SECOND LINE TWO, SO YOU WERE GONNA TRANSFER $20,000 ON ARBITRARY NUMBER, BUT WHATEVER NUMBER FROM THE INSTRUCTIONAL AIDES TO THE TEACHER'S SALARY, DOESN'T THE BOARD APPROVE THAT? IF IT'S IN THE SAME CATEGORY AND THE SAME WHAT WE CALL COST CENTER, IN OTHER WORDS, IN THIS CASE, RESI JEFFRIES ELEMENTARY, THEN THE SUPERINTENDENT BY SCHOOL BOARD POLICY HAS, UH, THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE THAT TRANSFER. OKAY. SO WE WOULD DO THAT. SO YOU WOULD, OR YOU WOULD NOT NEED THE BOARD APPROVAL? WOULD WOULD NOT ON SOMETHING LIKE THAT. JUST MOVING IT WITHIN THE SAME COST CENTER AND WITHIN THE SAME CATEGORY WHEN WE JUMP COST CENTERS OR IF WE, CERTAINLY, IF WE JUMP CATEGORIES IN, WE NOT ONLY NEED OUR BOARD'S APPROVAL, BUT ALSO YOUR BOARD'S APPROVAL. THANK YOU. WE'RE NOT EVEN NOTIFIED ABOUT IT. IT'S NOT THAT WE JUST DON'T HAVE TO GIVE APPROVAL. WE ARE NOT EVEN TOLD THERE, THERE'S A 50,000 THRESHOLD FOR BOARD APPROVAL. YEAH. I, WELL, I THINK IT'S 25 ACTUALLY. IF, IF, IF, IF THERE'S A CONTRACTOR AND EXPENDITURE THAT'S OVER 25,000, WHETHER IT'S BUDGETED OR WELL IT BETTER BE BUDGETED, UM, THEN WE NEED TO GO TO THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR THEIR APPROVAL. IF IT'S UNDER 25, THEN OUR SMALL PURCHASING POLICY COMES INTO EFFECT AND WE HAVE THE FOUR QUOTES AND, UM, IT CAN BE APPROVED ADMINISTRATIVELY BY THE SUPERINTENDENT. BUT 25,000 IS A THRESHOLD ON A OKAY. A SINGLE PURCHASE OR CONTRACT. BUT THAT, I'M SORRY, I DON'T WANNA INTERRUPT, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT HOLDS WITH THE EXAMPLE THAT DR. DALEY YEAH, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE LIKE HE'S SAYING TO MOVE IT TO A TEACHER SALARY YEAH. LINE. BUT THAT APPROVAL THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WOULD BE LIKE, IF THEY WANTED TO APPROVE SOME PROGRAM TO PURCHASE FOR CHROMEBOOK OR I SOMETHING LIKE, WHATEVER, I CAN'T MAKE UP SOMETHING RIGHT ON THE LINE RIGHT NOW, BUT YEAH. SOME, SOME NEW PROGRAM TO DO. IT'S YEAH. EITHER THAT OR WE PURCHASE VERSUS A NEED TO PURCHASE A VEHICLE OR SOMETHING WAY. I WOULD THINK OF IT. I THINK WE RAISE IT RECENTLY TOO THOUGH. WELL QUESTION, LOOKING DOWN THE SHEET, UM, AT THE TOP WHEN IT SAYS TEACHER SALARIES, THAT'S FOR THE WHOLE SCHOOL AND YOU'VE GOT 'EM, UM, SEPARATED BY SCHOOL, UH, ON THESE SHEETS. AND THEN IT HAS THE INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANCE, SUPPLEMENTAL SALARIES. WHAT IS SUPPLEMENTAL SALARIES? THAT WOULD BE LIKE FOR OUR GRADE LEVEL TEAM LEADERS OR DEPARTMENT CHAIRS OR ANY TYPE OF STIPEND THAT WE WOULD PAY. OKAY. FOR SOMEONE FOR A DUTY THAT THEY WOULD PERFORM, A TEACHER WOULD PERFORM, UM, IN ADDITION TO THEIR NORMAL DUTIES. OKAY. BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AT THE OTHER, IT'D BE TEAM LEADERS AND OKAY. AND THOSE TYPE OF POSITIONS NOW. AND THEN I SEE GOING DOWN THIS LIST, YOU UM, YOU SEPARATE OUT LIKE I SEE LIBRARIAN SALARY, SO THAT'S NOT UNDER TEACHER. NO. AND, AND IT GETS EVEN A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED. UM, THE TEACHERS THERE, AND THAT'S WHY I PUT THE FULL-TIME EQUIVALENCE OUT THERE IN THAT COLUMN. SO YOU'D KNOW THAT HOW MANY TEACHERS OR HOW MANY EMPLOYEES FALL INTO THAT SALARY? UM, THE FIRST ONE IS CONSIDERED, UM, REGULAR ED TEACHERS. THAT'S WHAT, AFTER THE TWO 30 NUMBER THERE IN THE CODE, THE 100 MEANS REGULAR ED. AND THESE ARE ALL STATE PRESCRIBED CODES THAT WE HAVE TO USE. OKAY. [00:50:01] UM, IF YOU GO ON OVER TO THE SECOND PAGE, YOU'LL COME DOWN AND SEE WHERE THE 200, UM, CODE STARTS ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN THE PAGE. AND THAT SAYS TEACHER SALARIES. THOSE ARE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS. AND AT RESTI WE HAVE FIVE OF THOSE AND 10 INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS SUPPORTING THEM WITH OUR SPECIAL, UH, NEEDS STUDENTS. OKAY. NOW ARE ALL THOSE POSITIONS, ARE THEY POSITION, ARE THEY FILLED RIGHT NOW ALL BEFORE? IS THAT, IS THAT SAFE TO SAY? I THINK ALL OF OUR POSITIONS AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ARE CURRENTLY FILLED RIGHT NOW. THE ONLY ONES THAT, YEAH, I'D HAVE TO DEFER TO MR. LEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING AS FAR AS HAD ANY OF OUR SCHOOLS SPECIFICALLY THAT ARE CURRENTLY VACANT. I MEAN, BUT MOST OF THEM ARE FIELD, I'D SAY ALL OF OUR POSITIONS ARE FIELD. OKAY. UM, EXCEPT FOR THE FOUR THAT WE MENTIONED. AND THEN THERE ARE SOME ON OUR WEBSITE THAT PROBABLY SOMEBODY DID LEAVE. NOW, IS THERE ANY SPECIFICALLY AT SYS? I, YEAH, I WOULD HAVE TO DEFER THAT. OKAY. OKAY. WELL THAT, I APPRECIATE THAT. 'CAUSE I LOOKED DOWN THERE AND I, I THOUGHT, WOW, IF THAT TOP NUMBER MUST NOT BE INCLUSIVE. YES. BUT THEN I, I DID SEE THE DIFFERENTIATION OF THE, THE LIBRARIAN, THE COUNSELORS AND, UH, THE PRINCIPAL, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AND CLERICAL. SO I APPRECIATE CLARIFYING THAT FOR ME. AND, AND THE NUMBERS OFF TO THE SIDE AS WELL OF HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU HAVE THERE. THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW. UH, MADAM CHAIR, IF YOU DON'T MIND THE YES, SIR. UH, AND MAYBE THE, THE, THE HR PERSON CAN, CAN BEST ANSWER THIS. SO WHEN YOU'RE GOING THROUGH AND YOU'RE TAKING A LOOK AND YOU'RE SAYING, OKAY, UH, I'VE GOT A TEACHER'S POSITION HERE. YOU'VE GOT ABOUT SIX OR EIGHT DIFFERENT LINES THAT PERTAINED TO THE COMPENSATION THAT THAT TEACHER IS GOING TO BE RECEIVING TO INCLUDE SALARY, THE BENEFITS, AND ALL OF THAT STUFF. I WAS WONDERING IF, IF EITHER YOU OR THE HR COULD, COULD TELL US WHICH ONES ARE SPECIFIC TO THE COMPENSATION. SO THE, UH, 'CAUSE IT, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE, LIKE THE TEACHER SALARY, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT, UH, WHAT IS IT, UM, UH, ON, ON THAT FIRST LINE. AND, UH, THEN YOU COME DOWN HERE AND, UH, YOU, YOU SHOW FICA BENEFITS. WELL, I KNOW THAT THAT'S PART OF YOUR, PART OF THE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT YOU'RE, UH, THAT'S PART OF THAT COMPENSATION PACKAGE. SO CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT ALL GOES INTO THAT COMPENSATION PACKAGE? WELL, ONE BY LINE BY LINE. YEAH. SO IF YOU WANT TO GO DOWN BY, OKAY, WELL, OF COURSE THE SALARY IS THE VERY FIRST THING THERE. THE TEACHER SALARY. WE ALSO HAVE THE, UH, SALARY OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS AND THE SUPPLEMENTAL. UM, THEN WE JUMP DOWN THE FICA BENEFIT. OKAY. WE PAY THAT. UM, THAT'S AN EMPLOYER COST. THESE ARE ALL EMPLOYER COSTS. UM, OUR EMPLOYEES ALL PARTICIPATE IN THE VRS. OKAY. AND THEY HAVE, WELL, THEY HAVE A PLAN ONE AND TWO, WHICH HAS A CERTAIN BENEFIT, AND WE HAVE TO TRACK THE HYBRID PLAN SEPARATELY. THEN WE HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE OKAY. THAT WE PROVIDE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES. AND OF COURSE THERE'S AN EMPLOYER COST TO THAT. WE PROVIDE THROUGH VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEM, TWO TIMES THE EMPLOYEE'S ANNUAL SALARY AS A GROUP LIFE. OKAY. THEN FOR THE EMPLOYEES IN THE DISABILITY PROGRAM, IN THE HYBRID PROGRAM, THERE IS A DIS, A SHORT TERM DISABILITY AND A LONG TERM DISABILITY THAT WE HAVE TO PAY FOR. IT'S, IT'S REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN VRS. THEN THERE IS A RETIREE HEALTH CREDIT, WHICH IS, UM, A, A RETIREMENT BENEFIT FOR EMPLOYEES THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE BASED ON THE YEARS OF SERVICE, A BENEFIT WHEN THEY RETIRE TO HELP OFFSET ANY MEDICAL EXPENSES, UH, OR INSURANCE EXPENSES THEY'LL HAVE WHEN THEY BECOME, UH, MEDICARE ELIGIBLE. SO THOSE ARE THE MAIN THINGS. THE NEXT ITEM SAYS LEAVE PAYOUT. THAT IS SOMETHING WE DON'T BUDGET FOR, WE DON'T PLAN FOR, BUT IT IS AN EXPENSE WE INCUR WHEN SOMEONE LEAVES. AND IF THEY HAVE LEAVE THAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE TO BE PAID OUT. UM, WE DON'T BUDGET FOR IT. AND TYPICALLY THAT WOULD BE THE FIRST THING THAT WOULD COME OFF OF THE SAVINGS. IF, LET'S SAY THE EMPLOYEE THAT REPLACES THEM TYPICALLY WOULD HAVE FEWER YEARS EXPERIENCE AND MAKE LESS MONEY THAN PARTICULARLY IF THE TEACHER RETIRES OR THE EMPLOYEE RETIRES. SO THAT WOULD WE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM WHATEVER THAT SAVINGS IS AND THEN THE REST IS LEFT, UM, THERE [00:55:01] AS A SAVINGS. AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY WE DON'T HAVE CASES WHERE THE REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE MAY COST MORE, SO WE'VE GOTTA, YOU KNOW, WEIGH ALL THOSE AGAINST EACH OTHER. GOING BACK TO THE RETIREE HEALTH CREDIT. YES. IS, IS THAT, THAT'S, UH, EMPLOYER COST ONLY. THERE'S NOT A SHARED COST THERE. THE THE EMPLOYEE NO. THE ONLY COST HERE, LET ME THINK THAT THE EMPLOYEE SHARES IN, THEY PAY THE MATCHING AMOUNT ON FICA, SO SECURITY TAXES, RIGHT. ON THE HEALTH INSURANCE, THE EMPLOYEE PAYS A PREMIUM FOR THAT. IN MOST CASES, I THINK THE HIGH DEDUCTIBLE PLAN MAY STILL BE AT ZERO OR CLOSE TO ZERO TO THE EMPLOYEE. BUT MOST PLANS, UH, HAVE A CONTRIBUTION FROM THE EMPLOYEE IF THEY PARTICIPATE. AND THEN ON THE RETIREMENT PLAN WITH VRS, UH, AGAIN, THIS IS PART OF THE VRS SYSTEM, UH, REQUIREMENTS. EACH EMPLOYEE, UM, PARTICIPATES BY GIVING 5% OF THEIR SALARY INTO THE RETIREMENT. THEY, UH, THAT WAS DONE A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO. THAT'S THE OLD PLAN, CORRECT? THAT'S THE OLD PLAN, YES. RIGHT. THEIR GRANDFATHER INTO THAT. YEAH. OKAY. SO IS THIS THEN THE, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE RETIRING HEALTH CREDIT, IS THAT TO COVER THE GAP YEAR BETWEEN THE AGE OF RETIREMENT UNTIL YOU GET TO THE MEDICARE AGE? WELL, I, I, THE AMOUNT THAT IT COMES OUT TO BE REALLY DOESN'T, PROBABLY WOULDN'T COVER, WOULDN'T COVER. THAT DOESN'T, I THINK THE INTENT OF IT IS WHEN YOU GET YOUR RETIREMENT AGE AND YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR A SUPPLEMENTAL PLAN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHEN YOU GET YOUR MEDICARE, UM, PART A AND B, THAT THIS IS TO HELP DEFER THAT. I DON'T KNOW THAT IT COVERS IT. IT'S BASED ON YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. AND UH, MY GUESS IS IN MOST CASES IT MAY NOT EVEN COVER THAT ADDITIONAL COST, BUT IT IS SOMETHING TOWARDS THAT. OKAY. AND, UH, JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT 'CAUSE YEAH, I'M ON MEDICARE NOW. IT'S NOT ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE. UM, AND IT'S, I LAUGH EXCEPT THAT WHEN I PAY THAT, WRITE THAT CHECK AND THEN MY, EVERYTHING THAT IS MY OLD INSURANCE USED TO COVER IS TWICE AS MUCH. NOW I'M LIKE, I THOUGHT AT 65 I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET A BREAK. SO I'M, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY I'M QUESTIONING THAT. BUT, UM, UH, I THINK THAT WAS THE ONLY QUESTION I HAD ON THAT PAGE. WELL, THE, YOUR, YOUR INPUT REALLY HELPS. I APPRECIATE THAT. YEAH. 'CAUSE THE, UH, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT IT, IT'S NOT ONLY THE SALARIES, BUT IT'S ALSO THE BENEFITS THAT THE, UH, AND, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT I'VE FOUND THAT AT LEAST WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I ALWAYS TOOK A LOOK AT THE SALARIES AND THE BENEFITS. AH, YOU KNOW, WHO CARES ABOUT THE BENEFITS, BUT THEN WHEN YOU GET A LITTLE BIT OLDER, ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU REALIZE BENEFITS ARE A BIG PART OF THAT PACKAGE. THE BENEFITS ARE WHAT YOU GO FOR. YES. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON YEAH, THE EMPLOYER BENEFITS ADD UP TO RIGHT AROUND 26% OF THE SALARY. THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE HEALTH INSURANCE BECAUSE THERE ARE, WELL, THREE DIFFERENT PLANS AND THERE'S DIFFERENT TIERS IN THE PLAN. SO IT DEPENDS ON IF THE EMPLOYEE TAKES HEALTH INSURANCE AND, UM, IF THEY DO, WHICH PLAN AND WHICH TIER. AND THAT CAN BE UP TO $20,000 ALMOST PER YEAR FOR AN EMPLOYEE ON A PARTICULAR PLAN. MOST OF THEM DON'T AVERAGE THAT MUCH, BUT AGAIN, THAT ADDS A, ANOTHER PRETTY GOOD PERCENTAGE BASED ON THE PERSON'S SALARY TO THE, THE EMPLOYER COST. BUT, BUT I, ISN'T THIS WHERE YOU Y Y'ALL SAID AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I'M, I I THINK THAT IT'S A, IT'S A GOOD IDEA, YOU KNOW, WE'RE YOU CAME ALONG AND SAID, OKAY, WE'RE GONNA HELP WITH THE HEALTH BENEFITS BECAUSE THAT'S, THAT IS HELPING TO, TO ADD TO THEIR BOTTOM LINE, EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THE YOUNG ONES DON'T, DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, I, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I WOULDN'T HAVE UNDERSTOOD IT. UM, BUT THE, UH, UH, SO IF, IF YOU AVERAGE THAT OUT, HOW MUCH EXTRA DO YOU THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, PER, PER CAPITA DOES THAT, DOES THAT, BECAUSE YOU SAID THAT IT WAS 20 WAS 26%, WOULD THAT ANOTHER ADD ANOTHER TWO, THREE OR 4% FOR THE HEALTH INSURANCE COST? YEAH. YEAH. UM, THE TOTAL EMPLOYER COST FOR THE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN IS JUST RIGHT AROUND $6.7 MILLION. OKAY. AND DIVIDE THAT BY, I THINK WE HAVE MAYBE AROUND 400 EMPLOYEES THAT PARTICIPATE. IS THAT, UH, YOU SAID IT WAS ABOUT TWO THIRDS I THINK WHEN I ASKED YOU. YEAH, YEAH. SO FOUR TO 500 THAT PARTICIPATE. SO IF YOU DI DIVIDE THAT LARGE NUMBER BY THAT NUMBER, IT'S, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY PER EMPLOYEE THAT IS SIGNIFICANT. IT'S, IT'S, YOU KNOW, [01:00:04] DO YOU, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH IT WOULD TAKE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR, THE TEACHERS AND STAFF GOT THEIR STEP INCREASE? THE COLA, DO YOU DO A MERIT AS WELL, OR IS IT JUST A STEP IN A COLA? SO WE'RE DOING THE, UM, STEP PLUS THE 3% FOR TEACHERS AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS. EVERYBODY ELSE WILL GET A STEP INCLUSIVE, UM, OF THE 3%. UH, SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT NUMBER, WE HAD THAT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT NUMBER IS? JUST TO DO STEP COLA? I DON'T HAVE, I, I'M SURE, AND, AND THIS IS ROUGH, UM, RIGHT AROUND 1,000,006 43 WOULD BE THE COST OF THE, THE 3% INCREASE. UM, AS, AS YOU'VE TALKED, AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT. OKAY. SO, SO THE, I I DID A, A LITTLE BIT OF QUICK MATH ON MY, MY PHONE CALCULATOR. IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S ABOUT $5,000 PER EMPLOYEE WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU SPREAD IT OUT OVER, YOU KNOW, OVER EVERYONE. AND THAT'S, THAT'S SIGNIFICANT. THAT IS IT, IT'S A TREMENDOUS BENEFIT. UM, AND YES, THAT SOUNDS REASONABLE. OKAY. BASED ON WHAT, WHAT WE PAY. AND THE 1.3, I'M SORRY, THAT WAS FOR EVERYBODY'S RAISES AND STEPS, OR WAS THAT JUST FOR THE TEACHERS STEP? NO, THAT'S FOR THE TEACHERS AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS TO GET THE STEP PLUS 3%. OKAY. AND THEN FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO GET 3% INCLUSIVE OF THEIR STEP. OKAY. BUT THE 3% INCLUSIVE FOR EVERYBODY ELSE IS THAT, THAT'S ADDED WITH THE STEP PLUS, THE THREE TOTAL, THE 1.3. DO WE HAVE A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT IT WOULD COST FOR THE TEACHERS AND THEN SEPARATE OUT THE EVERYBODY ELSE SEPARATELY? I CAN DO THAT, BUT I DON'T HAVE IT BROKEN OUT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW. DID, AND JUST TO CLARIFY, YOU TOLD, DID YOU, UM, WANNA MAKE SURE I WROTE THIS DOWN RIGHT? 1.643? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? THAT'S WHAT I, YES, THAT'S WHAT I'VE GOT HERE. AND I THINK THAT'S PRETTY CLOSE. OKAY. PRETTY CLOSE. DOES THE STATE PAY ANYTHING TOWARDS, AND I KNOW THEY GIVE, UM, THE SOQ PROGRAMS, DO WE KNOW HOW MUCH THE STATE PAYS THEM FOR SALARIES OR DO THEY JUST GIVE A LUMP SUM AND SAY, PUT IT WHERE YOU NEED IT? UH, THE, THE STATE, WELL, A COUPLE THINGS THERE. THERE ACTUALLY IS A, UH, COMPENSATION SUPPLEMENT THERE. THE STATE'S FUNDING OF THAT 3% INCREASE THE COST OF IT. THEY'RE FUNDING $712,170 BASED ON THE CONFERENCE BUDGET THAT'S YET TO BE SIGNED INTO LAW. OKAY. NOW, DOES FEDERAL DO ANYTHING? FEDERAL DOES NOT DO ANYTHING WITH SALARIES OR INCREASES. THEY DO REIMBURSE US FOR SOME SALARIES. SPECIAL ED, TITLE ONE. THAT'S WHAT WHAT I WAS GONNA ASK SPECIAL. AND THOSE TYPES OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS, WE GET REIMBURSEMENTS FOR THOSE, UH, FOR THOSE, SOME OF THOSE SALARIES. OKAY. I THOUGHT THEY DID TOWARDS, UH, SPECIAL ED, BUT I, I WASN'T SURE IF THEY DID BEYOND THAT. DO YOU HAVE A NUMBER FOR THAT? PARDON ME? DO YOU HAVE A NUMBER FOR THAT OR IS WELL, UH, I, I COULD, I I, I'D RATHER LOOK AT THAT AND GET THAT FOR YOU. JUST, UH, IT BASICALLY, MOST OF OUR FEDERAL PROGRAMS, UM, THEY ARE LISTED ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE UP AT THE TOP. MOST OF THOSE ARE SALARY DRIVEN. THERE ARE SOME MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES, UM, PARTICULARLY IN THE TITLE ONE THAT WE PURCHASE. BUT A LOT OF IT IS SALARY DRIVEN. THE, THE REIMBURSEMENT NOW IS THAT DESIGNATED SO THAT THIS ISN'T MONEY THAT YOU CAN TAP INTO IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL ED OPENINGS AND YOU NEED TO PULL TO COVER LEGAL FEES, OR IS THIS ONE OF THOSE POTS THAT YOU CAN USE THIS AND THAT'S IT. THE FEDERAL HAS TO GO TOWARDS WHAT WE'VE PUT IN IN THERE. AND, UH, THAT WOULD BE THE SPECIAL ED SALARIES. OKAY. YES. AND YOU HAVE TO MEET MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT WITH, UM, FEDERAL. AND SO YOU LOOK AT YOUR EXPENDITURES FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT, COMPARED THOSE TO YOUR LOCAL REVENUES, WHICH WOULD BE YOUR STATE AND, AND LOCAL. AND YOU HAVE TO STAY WITHIN THAT PERCENTAGE. UH, BECAUSE REALLY YOUR FEDERAL DOLLARS ARE KIND OF THE SPRINKLES ON THE TOP. UM, THEY'RE GONNA GIVE YOU ENOUGH JUST TO KIND OF HELP OUT. MM-HMM. . BUT WE DO TRY TO MAKE THOSE COVER SALARIES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. UM, BECAUSE THAT'S JUST THE BEST WAY TO USE THOSE FUNDS. 'CAUSE THAT'S GONNA KEEP YOUR FEDERAL BUDGET KIND OF CONSISTENT WHEN YOU'RE USING IT FOR, UH, SALARIES. WELL, IT, IT'S DECREASED. I'M NOT SURE WHY IT WENT FROM WELL, THAT WAS PROBABLY CARES. YEP. IT'S CARES MONEY. YEAH. THAT'S GOOD. [01:05:01] THREE, THREE POINT, ALMOST 6 MILLION. THAT'S, THAT'S A NICE LITTLE SPRINKLE THOUGH. I'M, APPRECIATE IT. WELL, I MEAN, AND IT'S, IT'S THROUGHOUT EVERYWHERE. I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE PROPOSED, THAT'S, YEAH. 3.5 MILLION, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THAT WITH YOUR TITLE ONE, THAT'S USING THIS YEAR'S NUMBER, SO WE WON'T KNOW OUR FINAL NUMBER TILL, UH, SEPTEMBER OF NEXT YEAR. NO, BUT I'M, I'M SAYING WHEN YOU SAID LITTLE SPRINKLE I WAS, HADN'T LOOKED AT. WELL, THAT'S HOW THEY, THAT'S HOW THE STATE, AND THAT'S HOW THE FEDERAL, THAT'S HOW THEY ALWAYS, UH, TALK ABOUT YOUR, YOUR FEDERAL DOLLARS AND, AND HOW THEY CAN BE USED. AND YOU'RE, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO, UM, SUPPLANT. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SUPPLEMENT WITH YOUR FEDERAL DOLLARS AND THEY REALLY TRACK TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT SUPPLANTING WELL, I DON'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. UM, I THINK DR. DALEY HAD A QUESTION. JUST A QUESTION I WANT TO CLARIFY, MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAID, MR. VALENTINE. SO IF THE SALARY, THE STEP AND THE INCREASE IS 1.6 AND THE STATE PROVIDES 712,000, THEN WHEN THE STATE SITS DOWN THERE AND ANNOUNCES THEY'RE DOING 3% RAISES FOR THE TEACHERS, THEY'RE ONLY PAYING 42% OF IT. THAT IS CORRECT. THE REST OF IT'S ALL COMES THAT'S CORRECT. THEY'RE PAYING PROPERTY TAX. YEAH. I JUST THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE IN THE RECORD. RIGHT? I'M SORRY. IT WAS 1.3 OR 1.6? 1.6. 1.6. OKAY. MILLION 6 43. 1.6. THAT'S, THAT DOESN'T FALL UNDER UNFUNDED MANDATES. THAT FALLS UNDER PARTIALLY FUNDED MANDATES. YEAH. IT'S AS CLOSE TO AN UNFUNDED MANDATE AS POSSIBLE. IT'S PRETTY CLOSE TO IT, ISN'T IT? THAT IS IS THE SPRINKLE. IT'S THE DANGLING OF THE CARROT. THEY PUT THE CARROT OUT THERE, THEY PUT A, THAT'S THE SPRINKLE PUT A $700,000 CARROT OUT THERE, AND IF YOU BITE IT, YOU'VE TAKEN ON A 1,000,006 EXPENSE. YEAH. YOU BUY THE WHEELS. WE'LL, WE'LL THROW IN THE WHEELS AS YOU BUY THE CAR. CAR. YEAH. YEAH. OKAY. OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH. GOING BACK TO THE INTRODUCTION TONIGHT, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE BUDGET DOES INCLUDE THE FOUR NEW ROLES. UM, COULD YOU JUST RECAP FOR MY SAKE AND ANYONE ELSE'S WHAT, WHAT THOSE ARE? SO THAT'S THE, UM, FOUR, UM, READING SPECIALIST, A, UH, TEACHER, ELEMENTARY TEACHER, AND THEN A, UH, PATHWAYS AND CONNECTION COORDINATOR. SO, SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY AT, UM, FIVE, NOT, NOT FOUR. OKAY. OKAY. UM, SO NOT A COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST. OH, UH, YES. WE DID ADD THAT IN THERE TOO. SO YES, COMMUNICATIONS, UH, WAS IN THERE TOO. OKAY. I'M FORGOT THAT THE READING SPECIALIST IS REALLY ONLY ONE BECAUSE THE OTHERS HAD ALREADY BEEN PROGRAMMED IN, HIRED IN. YES. SO, BUT THOSE WOULD, THERE ARE ACTUALLY FOUR THAT WERE THREE THAT WERE AUTOMATICALLY GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE, BECAUSE THE STATE SAID YOU HAD TO HAVE 'EM. SO THEY WERE BUILT. SO THEN WE, THEY WERE BUILT IN. THEN WE ADDED THE, THE, THE EXTRA, WHICH GAVE US FOUR READING SPECIALISTS. OKAY. THEN YOU ADD THE TEACHER, THEN YOU ADD THE COMMUNICATION, THEN YOU ADD THE, THE PATHWAYS AND CONNECTIONS. OKAY. AND SO IS ONE OF THOSE, UH, IN THE SPECIAL ED CATEGORY ON THE, ON THE LINE ITEMS, LIKE THE PATHWAYS AND CONNECTIONS, OR, IT WOULD BE, YEAH. YES. OKAY. THE PATHWAYS AND CONNECTIONS. OKAY. UM, AND IT, IT IS SHOWING HERE ON PAGE 26 OF THE BIG PACKET, UH, UH, FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT OF FIVE. SO WOULD IT BE, IT WAS FOUR IN THAT PLUS ONE IS, IS, UH, THE ADDITIONAL COST. WHICH PAGE WERE YOU ON? I'M SORRY, WHICH PAGES? UH, PAGE 26. 26. YEAH. IT'S, UM, IT'S ABOUT, UH, THREE QUARTERS DOWN WHERE THE NUMBER FIVE IS IN THE HEADCOUNT ROW. IN THE HEADCOUNT COLUMN. 26 OF 41. IS THAT, OH, I'M AT 26 OF 37. SO WE HAVE THE SAME PACKET. OH, OKAY. YEAH. YEAH. OKAY. MM-HMM. , ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE, THEY, THEY PRINTED ON A LARGER SCALE, SO THEIR PAGE NUMBERS. OH, OKAY. DON'T MATCH UP THE HASH. LEMME JUST GIVE, GIVE THE ACCOUNT. IT'S, IT'S ACCOUNT 9 21. YES. UM, COST CENTER 9 21. YES. AND THAT'S SPECIAL ED. AND I, IT'S, IT WOULD BE IN THERE. OKAY. OKAY. YES. WHAT PAGE IS THAT? IS 30 ON OURS, IT'S PAGE 30 AT THE VERY TOP OF IT. GOTCHA. OKAY. SO, UM, JUST CURIOUS, THAT'S A, UH, THE, THE DOLLAR NUMBER THERE IS, IS PRETTY BIG. IS THAT ALL FOR THAT ONE HIGHER OR IS THAT ALSO EVERYONE ELSE? THE OTHER FOUR STEP INCREASE IN 3%? OH, NO, THAT, YEAH, THAT IS FOR ALL FIVE POSITIONS. OKAY. UM, JUST TRYING TO THINK BACK. [01:10:03] THAT JUMPED UP A GOOD BIT FROM THIS YEAR TO LAST. I'M TRYING TO THINK. 'CAUSE IT'S SHOWING, SHOWING AN INCREASE OF 79%. AND IF YOU'RE ADDING ONE PERSON, THAT WOULD BE 25%. 5%, AND THEN 3%, AND THEN A COUPLE PERCENT STEP INCREASE. THAT WOULD BE 30%, BUT IT'S AT 79%. I WILL LOOK AT THE DETAIL. I'VE GOT THE DETAIL AND SEE WHY THAT IS. UM, IT, IT'S, UH, THE VERY FIRST ONE UP THERE IN 9 21. SEE, WE WENT, WE'VE GOT FIVE TEACHERS, WHICH THAT THAT'S, BUT LAST YEAR WE ONLY BUDGETED THAT AMOUNT. SO IT WAS FOUR LAST YEAR, FIVE THIS YEAR. AND IT JUMPED CONSIDERABLY MORE THAN WHAT YOU WOULD THINK. YEAH. IT WAS TWO 50 THE YEAR BEFORE. YEAH. IT, IT'S PROBABLY A TEACHING POSITION THAT GOT RECLASSIFIED DURING THE YEAR FROM SOMEWHERE. BUT I, I, I'LL, I'VE GOT THE DETAIL AND, AND OKAY. YEAH. I CAN LET YOU KNOW. YEAH. IF YOU COULD MAKE A NOTE OF THAT, I'D APPRECIATE. THANKS. YEAH. YEAH. UM, ANOTHER QUESTION I NOTICED IN A COUPLE PLACES IN THE SAME PACKET, WORKERS' COMP FOR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES YEAH. SEEM TO GO UP FAIRLY PRECIPITOUSLY. AND I WAS WONDERING WHAT'S DRIVING THAT? WELL, UM, IT, IT, TWO THINGS DRIVE IT. THEY, THEY CALL IT THE MODIFICATION FACTOR. MM-HMM. . AND THAT'S BASED ON OUR THREE YEAR ROLLING AVERAGE. MM-HMM. , UM, UH, CLAIMS ON, ON IT. AND THAT WENT UP A LITTLE BIT THIS YEAR. WE'VE HAD SOME GOOD YEARS. AND THEN THE THREE YEAR ROLLING RIGHT NOW, BUMP THAT UP A LITTLE BIT. AND THEN IT'S ALSO BASED ON YOUR SALARY. MM-HMM. . AND, UM, WE ESTIMATE WHAT OUR SALARY WILL BE. WE REMIT IT TO, UM, WE BELONG TO V CORP AND THAT'S WHO HANDLES OUR WORKERS' COMP CASES. AND THEN AT THE END OF THE YEAR, THEY COME BACK AND DO AN AUDIT OF OUR PAYROLL, AND WE GET AN ADJUSTMENT. EITHER WE PAY MORE OR PAY, THEY PAY US SOMETHING BACK IF WE'VE OVERESTIMATED. SO IT'S, IT'S THE FACTOR, THE, THE, UH, CLAIMS FACTOR AND ALSO THE INCREASE IN SALARY, WHICH WE ADDED A 2% THIS YEAR AFTER WE HAD BUDGETED LAST YEAR. AND THEN WE ADDED, UH, 3% OR IN SOME CASES, CLOSE TO 4%, UM, TO IT. SO THAT'S WHAT BUMP DID. OKAY. OKAY. UM, AND THEN ANOTHER ONE, I'LL GIVE YOU AN ACCOUNT NUMBER. UM, MM-HMM. ACCOUNT NINE 10, WHICH IS CARES, UH, YEAH, I UNDERSTAND. WE'RE LOSING SOME CARES MONEY, SO I'M WONDERING IF THAT'S WHAT DRIVING IS DRIVING THIS. UM, INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS, UH, LOOKS LIKE 117% INCREASE, UM, WITH A FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT, UH, HEADCOUNT OF 14. AND I'M WONDERING HOW MUCH OF THAT IS NEW HIRES VERSUS IS STEP IN COLA VERSUS SOMETHING ELSE, SUCH AS THE LAW, SUCH AS MAKING UP FOR THE, THE REDUCTION IN CARES FUNDING. AND THAT'S, UH, AND ANYONE WHO'S FOLLOWING ALONG IT'S ACCOUNT OR COST NUMBER, COST CENTER, NINE 10, OBJECT NUMBER 1, 1 4 1. YEAH. YEAH. I'M LOOKING AT THAT. IS THAT THE STUDENT SUPPORT COACHES? LIKE, I MEAN, THAT WOULD BE THE SUPPORT THAT YEAH, THAT'S THE SUPPORT COACHES. UM, I THINK, WAS THAT WHAT WE HAD USED SOME OF THAT REVISED MONEY TO KEEP SOME OF 'EM? IS THAT 'CAUSE MAYBE THEY JUST WEREN'T IN THE ORIGINAL 24 BUDGET. YEAH, I'M JUST BECAUSE WE'RE USING SOME OF OUR, UH, I THINK IT'S BLA OR, UM, YEAH. THAT ALL IN OR WHATEVER, ALL INTO TO KEEP SOME OF THOSE POSITIONS. WE ARE. AND IS THAT WHAT, THAT'S WHERE THEY ARE. THAT'S WHERE THEY ARE. BUT WHY WEREN'T, WHY, WHY WEREN'T, WHY WASN'T AS MUCH LAST YEAR OR THIS YEAR? WHY DID IT JUMP FROM 180 4 TO 400? I'LL NEED TO LOOK AT THAT AGAIN. I'LL HAVE THE DETAIL, UM, WITH EACH PERSON IN EACH POSITION. UM, DID NOT HAVE THEM ASSIGNED AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL, DID WE NOW? NO, THAT WOULD'VE ALL BEEN, YEAH, THEY'D ALL HAVE BEEN IN THAT. I'LL HAVE TO CHECK ON THAT. OKAY. OKAY. UM, AND THEN I THINK THIS IS MY LAST ONE FOR THE TIME BEING. MM-HMM. , UM, ACCOUNT, OR PARDON ME, COST CENTER 9 4 3. UM, YES. ACCOUNT 1, 1 6. OH, MAINTENANCE TRADES SALARIES. YES. IT'S SHOWING A, A $200,000 INCREASE. AND I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO THAT, THAT ARE [01:15:01] OUR MAINTENANCE FOLKS. AND I KNOW WE ADDED, UM, A POSITION THIS YEAR WITH THE, WITH THE HVAC. AND THEN DID WE ADD THE APPRENTICE POSITION TOO? WAS IT TWO POSITIONS? WE, WE ADDED, WE FILLED THE FOREMAN POSITION AND ADDED THE, AND ADDED ANOTHER APPRENTICE POSITION. YEAH. OKAY. SO THAT'S ALL IN JANITORIAL. SO IT, IT'S BASICALLY TWO, WELL, IT'S NOT JAN. IT'S, UH, UH, MAINTENANCE OF THE BUILDINGS. OKAY. UM, HV BA, BASICALLY THE HVAC TECH. WE HIRED ONE AND THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU. I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS. SO I'M LOOKING AT THE, UM, POWERPOINT SLIDE THAT WAS PRESENTED AT THE PUBLIC HEARING, YOUR PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE BUDGET. AND, UM, WHERE IT'S, THE SLIDE IS FOR, UH, THE GRADE BREAKDOWN AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE BUDGET. AND I JUST, YOU HAVE AN ITEM HERE THAT SAYS, TO BE DISTRIBUTED OVER MULTIPLE POSITIONS FOR A POSITION. MM-HMM. CLOSE TO $7 MILLION. YES. AND THAT'S LIKE 9% OF THE BUDGET. SO COULD YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THAT MEANS? BECAUSE YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU, YOU HAVE ALL THE POSITIONS, YOU KNOW, TEACHERS AND ADMINS AND THIS AND THAT. BUT THIS TO ME, WHEN I SAW THAT, THAT WAS LIKE A CATCHALL. YEAH. AND IT REALLY ISN'T MEANT TO BE THAT, BUT WHAT IT IS, IS OF THAT NUMBER, UM, $6,725,000 IS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE. SO I LOOK AT HEALTH INSURANCE IN ITS TOTAL, AND THEN LOOK AT AND DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE EMPLOYEES BASED ON WHO CURRENTLY HAS A PLAN. AND, AND, UH, THAT, SO, UM, THE, THE LARGE PERCENTAGE OF IT IS FOR, UM, HEALTH INSURANCE INSTEAD OF DISTRIBUTING IT DOWN AMONG THE CATEGORIES. I COULD DO THAT. AND AGAIN, IT'S JUST AN ESTIMATE, BUT, UM, THE TOTAL NUMBER'S GOOD. IT'S JUST, UH, IT, IT DEPENDS ON, SO THESE ARE THE BURDEN COSTS? YES. ALL OF THE BURDEN COSTS. YES. NO POSITIONS, RIGHT? OH, NO, NO, NO POSITIONS. OKAY. NOTHING LIKE THAT. ALL RIGHT. OKAY. UM, GET MY OTHER SHEET UP HERE. I DID A DEEP DIVE AND THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT. SO I'M JUST GONNA GO AND JUST ASK THE QUESTIONS. FIRST OF ALL, THERE IS A DESCRIPTION CALLED REDEMPTION OF PRINCIPLE. YES. FOR 377 K. COULD YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THAT IS? YEAH, THAT'S OUR, THAT'S OUR BOND PAYMENT. AND THERE'S AN INTEREST THAT GOES WITH THAT. UM, IT'S REALLY THE ONLY BOND THAT THE SCHOOL BOARD PAYS OUT OF ITS OPERATING BUDGET. ALL THE REST ARE PAID, UM, BY, BY YOU, BY THE COUNTY, UM, BY DR. DALEY. HE PAYS THEM ALL. , I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THERE IS A BOND YEAH. THAT THE SCHOOLS REPAY THE PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST EACH YEAR, AND IT'S COUNTED IN THE COUNTY'S DEBT, BUT THEY PAY IT DIRECT RATHER THAN ALL THE OTHERS THAT MRS. SCOTT TAKES CARE OF. IT WAS THAT ENERGY CONSERVATION BOND WE DID WHEN WE CONTRACTED WITH THAT COMPANY TO DO AN ENERGY AUDIT AND THEN COME INTO THE BUILDINGS, AND THEY'RE THE ONES THAT PUT IN THE WELLS FOR THE CHILLERS AND THINGS. SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR TOWN WATER AND, UH, PUT IN THE HIGHER EFFICIENT LIGHTING AND STUFF. SO THEY GUARANTEE YOU YOU'RE GONNA SAVE SO MUCH MONEY. SO WHAT WE DID WAS YOU HAVE TO BORROW THE MONEY TO PUT IN THE COST SAVINGS AND THEN THE SAVINGS, PAY THAT BACK. SO THAT ONE IS A BOND THAT WE DO PAY, BUT AS A, AS WE MENTIONED, THE ONLY BOND WE PAY, I THINK SOME OF IT ALSO WENT TO, UM, HELP THE RESTY JEFFRIES, UH, RENOVATION PROJECT, A SMALL PORTION OF IT. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. AND THEN THE OTHER, OH, NO, I WAS THINKING THAT'S ONE OF THOSE GREEN INITIATIVES, I GUESS. OH, IT IS. GREEN SAVES IT'S CALLED OR SOMETHING. YES. OH, SNAKE OIL SALE. SO, UM, AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO COMMENT, BUT I JUST WANTED, UH, I SEE THAT WE ARE, THE BUDGET IS, WE HAVE 970 2K IN NEW EXPENDITURES FOR THIS YEAR FROM LAST YEAR. AND I THINK THE BULK OF IT WAS REPLACEMENT OF SOME COMPUTERS. AND THEN I THINK YOU HAD ANOTHER ONE FOR VEHICLES [01:20:01] AND BUSES FOR 300 K. SO I'M ASSUMING THOSE ARE WHAT'S REALLY DRIVING THAT 972,000. UM, ANOTHER, UH, I NOTICED WITH TRAVEL AND CONVENTIONS, IT'S 80 K FOR TRAVEL AND, AND CONVENTIONS, WHICH IS A $12,000 INCREASE FROM LAST YEAR. UM, IT'D BE INTERESTING, I HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO DO A, TO LOOK AT YOUR ACTUALS TO SEE HOW MUCH WAS THAT WAS SPENT, BUT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT STUCK, UM, WAS A RED FLAG FOR ME. UM, ANOTHER THING I SAW WAS, UH, FIVE POINT ABOUT APPROXIMATELY $5 MILLION FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND, UM, INCREASE OF 914 K. AND I KNOW WE'VE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES? AND I'VE REALLY NEVER GOT A, A, A TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT IS. BUT WHEN I SEE AN INCREASE OF ALMOST A MILLION DOLLARS FOR 'EM, COULD YOU KINDA AT A HIGH LEVEL EXPLAIN WHAT TYPE OF SERVICES THIS COVERS? IT, IT, GO AHEAD . GO AHEAD. THE FLOOR. IS IT, IT'S A VARIETY OF THINGS. YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN YOU LOOK AT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, IT, IT, IT'S YOUR, YOUR CONTRACTS FOR, FOR MOWING, IT'S YOUR CONTRACTS FOR, UH, SODEXO. IT'S, IT'S YOUR CON, YOU KNOW, FOR THE JANITORIAL SERVICES. UM, ANYTIME YOU HAVE TO BRING SOMEBODY IN TO DO A SERVICE, THAT'S A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE. UM, AND OF COURSE, UH, I KNOW THERE'S OTHER CONTRACTS, UH, FOR, UM, FUEL. NO, NO. THAT WOULD BE UNDER, YOU PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE UNDER THAT WOULDN'T BE THERE. BUT IT'S, UM, THERE. BUT, AND EVEN LIKE FOR OUR, UH, SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS, WE HAVE MUSIC THERAPY. WE HAVE, UM, IN SOME AREAS WHERE WE DON'T HAVE ONE STAFF OR COULDN'T AFFORD TO HAVE ONE STAFF TO MEET THE NEEDS OF CERTAIN STUDENTS WE CONTRACT WITH OUTSIDE AGENCIES. IT, IT CAN RUN THE GAMUT, YOU KNOW, FROM TRANSPORTATION. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES WOULD BE ONE THING, AS YOU MENTIONED, MAINTENANCE WOULD BE ANOTHER. AND THEN YOU GET TO THE CLASSROOM AND IT'S SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT. UM, IT'S REALLY HARD TO CATEGORIZE IT AND SAY THAT THIS IS WHAT IT IS. BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT DRIVE IT. UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THE DETAIL. I, I CAN COME UP WITH A DETAILED REPORT AND IT'LL SHOW BASICALLY EVERYTHING WE'VE SPENT UNDER THAT CATEGORY AND WITH A, AT LEAST A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT IT WAS FOR. AND AGAIN, IT'LL VARY FROM ONE DEPARTMENT OR EVEN ONE SCHOOL TO ANOTHER BASED ON NEEDS. MM-HMM. , THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR ME, JUST SO I KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING TO. MM-HMM. , UM, THE NEXT ITEM THAT, UH, WAS A RED FLAG FOR ME WAS 790 2K FOR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES. A 30 2K INCREASE. THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY FOR EDU EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES. AND MAYBE THIS, IT'S IGNORANCE ON MY PART THAT I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, BECAUSE WHEN I SEE SUPPLIES OR MATERIALS, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT THE TEACHERS ARE USING IN THE CLASSROOM. YOU KNOW, PAPER, YOU KNOW, GOOD PENCILS. I, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW. I MEAN, I, I KNOW PARENTS NOW HAVE TO PROVIDE THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. SO I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE, UH, THIS IS WHAT THE SCHOOL IS USING IS FUNDING FOR. AGAIN, AND IT'S JUST VARIOUS THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES AT THE SCHOOL. I MEAN, THEY, THEY BUILD THEIR BUDGETS, UM, FOR THEIR NEEDS. AND, YOU KNOW, JUST LAST YEAR, WHAT WAS IT? PAPER WENT UP. I MEAN, IT, IT WENT UP, IT WENT UP DRASTICALLY. AND SO, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT, OKAY, I BUDGETED THIS FOR PAPER LAST YEAR, BUT HERE'S WHAT I ACTUALLY SPENT, SO HERE'S WHAT I'M GONNA BUDGET FOR IT. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT 32,000, UM, OH 790 2K, BUT YOU SAID AN YOU, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IT WAS AN INCREASE IN 32, RIGHT? THOUSAND. WHEN YOURE LOOKING, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT AN INCREASE OF, OF THAT AMOUNT, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING'S WENT UP AS FAR AS WHAT COMES COST. SO OTHER THAN PAPER, WHAT ELSE COULD YOU GIMME? ANOTHER EXAMPLE OTHER THAN PAPER. UH, YOU LOOK AT, THERE'S, THERE'S PROGRAMS THAT THEY PURCHASE. UH, SO THERE, THERE MAY BE, UH, A TEACHER ONCE A, UH, YOU KNOW, TO UTILIZE A PROGRAM, UM, WITHIN THE CLASSROOM. UH, IT MAY BE ALSO, UM, OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPLIES THAT, THAT THEY'RE ORDERING TO, TO WORK WITH STUDENTS. UM, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE SOME SUPPLIES, ART SUPPLIES, ART SUPPLIES. IT COULD BE MUSIC SUPPLIES, SUPPLIES, SUPPLIES. IT'S, I MEAN, IT'S ANYTHING THAT'S DOES THAT. COOL. DOES THAT INCLUDE A LOT OF THE SUPPLIES AT THE BLUE [01:25:01] RIDGE TECH TOO, WITH THOSE SUPPLIES? 'CAUSE I KNOW THOSE SUPPLIES BE, THEY WOULD SHOW UNDER THAT. I MEAN, IT'S ANY TYPE OF BASICALLY CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES FROM, YOU KNOW, PAPER TO PENS AND PENCILS TO, UM, INSTRUMENTS FOR MUSIC AND THINGS LIKE THAT. IT COMES OUT TO ABOUT $158 A STUDENT. SO IF YOU THINK OF A STUDENT GOING THROUGH 180 DAYS OF SCHOOL AND WHAT THEY DO EACH DAY AND CONSUME, AND WHAT'S USED BY THE TEACHER AS, YOU KNOW, EXAMPLES FOR THEM AND THINGS LIKE THAT, IT HOPEFULLY ISN'T TOO UNREASONABLE. SO WHEN YOU PUT THE BUDGET TOGETHER, DID YOU LOOK AT, UM, WHAT WAS SPENT THE PRIOR YEAR? I MEAN, UH, SO, SO I'M LOOKING AT IF IT INCREASED 30 2K, THAT MEANS THAT YOU SPENT, UM, SEVEN, YOU KNOW, UH, 760 WHATEVER AND SOME CHANGE. AND SO YOU NEEDED THE EXTRA MONEY TO COVER IT. OR DID, WAS THERE A, YOU KNOW, AN UNDER BUDGET OF 20 K OR 20 5K? BUT I THINK, OH, SORRY. I WAS JUST GONNA ADD THAT EACH SCHOOL DOES THEIR OWN. SO FOR THOSE PARTICULAR ITEMS, DR. BALLINGER HAS EACH OF THE COST CENTERS. SO LIKE SSI WOULD GO THROUGH THEIR ADMIN TEAM AND THEIR TEACHERS WOULD GO THROUGH WHAT THEY SPENT IN EACH OF THOSE CATEGORIES. SO THEN THAT WAY EACH, EACH INDIVIDUAL COST CENTER CAN THEN PRESENT IT BACK TO DR. BALLINGER AND THE BUDGET COMMITTEE AND SEE WHAT THEY ACTUALLY USED AND THEN WHAT THEIR PREDICTION WOULD BE FOR THE NEXT YEAR. SO IT IS MORE AT THE INDIVIDUAL BASIS OF THE SCHOOL, BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONES THAT KNOW WHAT THEY USED IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS. 'CAUSE NOT EVERYBODY'S GONNA USE THE SAME PROGRAMS IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF MATERIALS. AND THAT IS SOMETHING WE, WE DID GO THROUGH, WE LOOKED AT, BECAUSE WE HAD QUESTIONS, UM, I KNOW ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP WAS WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT WHAT THEY, WE DIDN'T HAVE, UM, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER IF WE DID THIS IN JOINT SESSION OR NOT, BUT WE, UM, LOOKED AT WHAT THEY HAD HAD USED THIS YEAR. BUT WHAT WE REALLY NEEDED TO SEE WAS WHAT THEY USED LAST YEAR, BECAUSE SOME OF THEIR COSTS ARE INCURRED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR VERSUS THE END OF THE YEAR. SO WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT IT, IT, WE, WE SAW, WELL, THERE'S AN INCREASE. MAYBE THEY HAVEN'T USED IT WELL BECAUSE IT'S AN INCURRED COST AT THE END OF THE YEAR. SO WE HAD YOU UPDATE THAT. I REMEMBER AT ONE POINT, UM, AND I DO REMEMBER, UM, SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WE WERE ASKING, YOU KNOW, SO WHY ARE THESE INCREASES? THE PAPER CAME UP, UM, THE SUPPLIES THAT BLUE RIDGE TECH USES FOR THEIR DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, THOSE COSTS HAD GONE UP GREATLY. SO I KNOW THEY HAD TO INCREASE THAT. UM, I DON'T REMEMBER, BUT YES, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, DID WE LOOK AT THAT? ABSOLUTELY. WE LOOKED AT EACH COST CENTER AND JUST, YOU KNOW, FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE, OBVIOUSLY, AND THIS IS WHAT THEY USED, AND THIS IS WHAT, UM, THEY INCURRED, AND THIS IS WHY IT WAS GOING UP. SO WITH THE, UM, THE SPREADSHEET THAT YOU SENT OUT, I SEE THAT WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 23 BUDGET IN THE ACTUALS. IF I GO THROUGH THAT, USE THOSE TWO COLUMNS, I'LL SEE IF THERE WAS ANY UNDERRUN OR OVERRUN TO KINDA, IN MY MIND, JUSTIFY, YOU KNOW, UH, CLOSE TO 800 K IN SUPPLIES. UM, AND LET'S SEE, WE HAVE EVERYTHING ELSE. OH, IF WE'RE PLACING THE MOTOR VEHICLES, I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT EXPENDITURE. NO VEHICLES OR NOT, HAS IT ALWAYS BEEN UNDER THE OPERATIONS BUDGET? SO VEHICLES ARE NOT IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. OKAY. UH, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT HAS, UM, IN THE PAST, I THINK THERE WAS AN AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY THAT FROM TRANSPORTATION, UH, THAT THEY WERE GETTING SOME SURPLUS MATERIALS. OKAY. BUT I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE GONE AWAY FROM THAT. SO NOW FOR US TO, TO GET SOME VEHICLES, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PURCHASE SOME VEHICLES, UM, FROM, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, UHHUH. BUT, UM, WE DO HAVE IN THE TRANSPORTATION LINE ITEM, THAT IS WHERE YOU WOULD GET YOUR VEHICLES, UM, YOUR BUSES ALSO IN THE OPERATIONS, IF WE HAVE FUNDS AVAILABLE THAT THEY PUT IN THERE. AND THEN THEY COULD PURCHASE OUTTA OPERATIONS TOO. DO WE UTILIZE THE ASSET REPLACEMENT FUND FOR THIS, FOR THE SCHOOL? NO. DO WE HAVE A, IN THE ASSET REPLACEMENT FUND, DO WE HAVE A LINE ITEM FOR THE SCHOOLS, FOR THEIR VEHICLES AND THE BUSES AND THINGS LIKE THAT? OKAY. NO, WE DON'T , NO. OH, OKAY. WELL, I DID. AND THAT WAS JUST A QUESTION, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, AS FAR AS THAT GOES. UM, AND, AND THEN THE, THE BUDGET HERE DOES NOT TALK ABOUT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT, THE TENNIS COURTS AND ALL OF THAT. ARE YOU GOING TO BE COMING BACK AND ASKING FOR, I THINK IT WAS 3 MILLION, THE LAST NUMBER THAT I RECALL, 1.2 FOR NOT FOR OPERATIONS? WELL, WELL, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET. OKAY. WE'RE, WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING, WELL, AT LEAST WITH ME, WE HAVE AN OPERATION BUDGET AND WE [01:30:01] HAVE A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET. OKAY. SO WE'RE LOOKING, WE'RE TALKING OPERATIONS, BUT WE'RE TALKING AN ADDITIONAL 3 MILLION. SO IF WE'RE ASKING 2.9, ADD THE 3 MILLION TO THAT. SO MY QUESTION IS, WHEN IS THAT COMING TO THE BOARD, IF YOU KNOW, FOR A RE AS THE BUDGET REQUEST? SO I THINK RIGHT NOW, THE ONLY THINGS WE HAVE LEFT ON THE BOOKS ARE LFK AND E WILSON AT THIS POINT IN TIME. AND THEN WE WERE GOING TO LOOK AT, UM, YEAH, GO AHEAD. BUT, UM, THE, THE PROJECTS THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE FINISHED UP ARE LFK PROJECT AND E WILSON. BUT THOSE FUNDS AND SO FORTH WERE REQUESTED AND APPROPRIATED FROM THE CAPITAL, UH, RESERVE FUND THAT DESIGNATED AS THE, AS THE SCHOOLS. UH, AND THEN WE DID THE SAME THING RECENTLY WITH THE E WILSON PROJECT. UM, AND THEN THE NEXT ITEMS, OBVIOUSLY THE TENNIS COURTS HAVE, HAVE MOVED UP, UH, TO, UH, TO, UH, HAVE MOVED UP AS, AS A HIGHER PRIORITY. UM, AS FAR AS OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. A LOT OF THAT SIMPLY WILL BE BASED UPON THE FUNDING THAT WE HAVE REMAINING ACTUALLY IN THE CAPITAL RESERVES FUNDS THAT ARE SET ASIDE FOR THE SCHOOLS. UH, GO AHEAD. SO WE, WE HAVE THIS DISCUSSION BEFORE, AND, UM, THAT IS THE BOARD'S MONEY UNTIL YOU ALLOCATE IT TO A PROJECT. SO WE JU YOU JUST RECENTLY DID THE E WILSON CONTRACT AND APPROVED THAT, AND THAT MONEY IS THEN TRANSFERRED OVER TO SCHOOLS UNTIL THAT TIME THAT WE'VE BEEN TRANSFERRING MONEY TO LFK. BUT UNTIL THAT TIME, IT'S YOUR FUNDING. UH, YOU HAD RESERVED FUNDING. YOU, YOU WANTED TO USE IT FOR SCHOOLS, TRANSPORTATION, AND THEY CAME BACK AND WITH THE PROPOSAL, I THINK IT WAS EIGHT BUSES TOTAL. I DON'T THINK SO. I THINK IT WAS, BUT WHEN THEY DID THAT, THEN YOU ALLOCATED THE MONEY UNTIL THAT TIME IT IS YOUR MONEY. SO WE DON'T REALLY NEED TO LOOK AT THIS AT, AT THIS POINT IN TIME. WELL, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA ASK FOR RIGHT. FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS. BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE COUNTY'S, UH, CASH FLOW AND SPENDING. YEP. YOU WANNA KNOW HOW MUCH YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND FUND FOR CAPITAL AS WELL AS OPERATING FOR THE COUNTY AND FOR THE SCHOOLS. I AGREE. SO AT WHAT POINT WILL THAT BE PRESENTED TO THE BOARD? SO IF YOU LOOK AT THAT LAST PRESENTATION, WE TALKED ABOUT THE E WILSON MORRISON PROJECT, THE WARREN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL, AND SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS COURTS, AND BLUE RIDGE TECH, HVAC REPLACEMENT. MM-HMM. . I THINK RIGHT NOW WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS TRYING TO FIND THE NUMBER THAT IS GOING TO BE LEFT OVER AFTER THE E WILSON PLUS WHERE WE'RE AT WITH THIS, UM, REQUEST THAT IS SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW TO SEE WHAT FUNDS WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO DO A PROJECT. UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, WE CAN PUT OUT THERE THAT WE WANT TO DO THE TENNIS COURTS, BUT AGAIN, IF THE FUNDS AREN'T THERE TO DO THE TENNIS COURTS, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO HAVE THAT, THAT MONEY SET THERE UNTIL WE WE DO GET THE FUNDS. SO, JUST SO I UNDERSTAND, SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, FISCAL YEAR 24 TO SEE WHAT'S IN A CARRYOVER OR I, I CALL IT SURPLUS, BUT MM-HMM. , UM, TO SEE WHAT THE SURPLUS WOULD BE, OR, OR IS AND THEN YOU'LL DETERMINE IF YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DO THESE OTHER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECTS. THE PROJECTS IS WHAT WE WERE LOOKING AT THE PROJECTS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE WERE CURRENTLY SITTING AT, WHAT WAS THE NUMBER WE WERE CURRENTLY AT THAT AFTER E WILSON MORRISON. I KNOW WE'D HAVE TO LOOK OVER AT ED. SO, SO, SO I MEAN, AS FAR AS RIGHT NOW, IF YOU WANNA LOOK AT A PROJECT, THEN YOU WANNA SAY, OKAY, WHAT PROJECTS WOULD WE HAVE ON THE BOOKS RIGHT NOW? WE WOULD NEED TO LOOK AT, AT OUR, UH, COURTS, WHICH TO REPLACE BOTH COURTS AT BOTH HIGH SCHOOLS WOULD RUN. YEAH. THE QUOTE OF THAT IS, THIS IS 1.1 0.2 MILLION, UH, TO REPLACE THOSE COURTS. SOME OF THE SMALLER, AS, AS DR. BALLINGER MENTIONED, IT, IT'S A MATTER OF WHAT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE. IF THE FUNDING'S NOT AVAILABLE, THEN WE JUST HAVE TO READJUST AS MUCH AS WE CAN. AND UNTIL THE FUNDING IS AVAILABLE, UM, CAN'T ASK FOR SOMETHING THAT'S NOT THERE. RIGHT. SO, UM, SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE, THAT'S ON THE BOOKS FOR THIS UPCOMING YEAR, ONE WAS THE COOLING SYSTEM, THE COOLING TOWER, YES. AT HABJ BARBER. AND THAT WAS A A HUNDRED THOUSAND PROJECT [01:35:01] MR. UH, MAGIC HERE, MR. HELMAN, AS FAR AS, UH, THE PHYSICAL BACKGROUND AND THOSE TYPE OF THINGS IN HVC, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, REFURBISHING THAT UNIT FOR ABOUT 70,000 BUCKS, LESS THAN THAT. MM-HMM. 30. UH, ALSO THERE IS, UH, A SITUATION THAT HAS COME UP THAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN OUR, OUR BUILDING COMMITTEE, UH, MEETING, AND THAT'S AT, UM, SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL. SOME OF THE LIGHTING SYSTEMS AND THOSE TYPE OF THINGS INSIDE AUDITORIUM, UH, HAVE, HAVE FAILED. UH, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA, THAT'S GONNA AFFECT, UH, LOTS OF, UH, OF, OF FOLKS, UM, THE STUDENTS AS WELL AS OUTSIDE GROUPS AND THOSE TYPE OF THINGS. UH, ALSO THE STAGE CURTAINS AT, UH, BOTH OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS, UM, ARE TO THE POINT OF WHERE THOSE ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE, UH, IN PLACE. SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS. AND, AND, AND THOSE CALLS FOR STAGE CURTAINS, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG FOR THAT SECTION, RUNS ABOUT AROUND $45,000 PER, UH, PER SCHOOL. MM-HMM. . CORRECT. SO, UM, YEAH, TENNIS COURTS ARE THERE THAT, THAT WE NEED. UM, UH, BUT ONCE AGAIN, IT'S A MATTER OF WHAT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE AND IF WE KNOW WHAT FUNDING IS AVAILABLE, THEN WE ADJUST OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN TO TRY TO HELP COMMUTE THAT. AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO TO TAKE OFF THE OPERATION, SUCH AS THE COOLING TOWER, WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO NOW SWING THAT TO THE CIP SO THAT WE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM THE OPERATION SIDE. SO I GUESS WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT TILL THE END MAY TO FIND OUT WHERE WE ARE. WELL, I THINK THE BOARD, THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS NEEDS TO SEE THE CIP SO THAT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE PROJECTS ARE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. YEAH. SO, AND WE DO HAVE THE COUNTY GAVE YOU. YEP. AND WE DO HAVE THAT. I MEAN, BUCK HAS THAT, UM, PUT TOGETHER. YEAH. I RE I RECALL SEEING ONE LAST YEAR. MM-HMM. , YES. SO, SO THE ONLY THING IS THAT WE WANNA MODIFY PROBABLY TO, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT WE HAVE IN THE OPERATIONS THAT TO SAVE THE OPERATIONS AND PUT IT INTO THE CAPITAL MM-HMM. . THEN THOSE ARE GONNA BE SOME THINGS THAT WE WERE DISCUSSING, UM, OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, UM, ABOUT MOVING SINCE THE LAST MEETING THAT, THAT WE HAD. OKAY. UM, AND THE LAST TWO QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE OR NOT, BUT YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S WHAT, FOUR SCHOOLS THAT ARE UNDER FEDERAL STANDARDS RIGHT NOW. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE. I READ IT IN THE MEDIA AND I HATE SAYING THAT, BUT I'VE ALSO HEARD OTHER FOLKS TELLING ME THE SAME THING. SO IN YOUR, YOUR BUDGET HERE, I MEAN, WHAT, WHERE, WHERE IN YOUR BUDGET ARE YOU ADDRESSING IN BRINGING THIS UP TO FEDERAL STANDARDS? YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I, I KNOW THERE'S, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ROOT CAUSE IS, YOU KNOW, BUT I'M A SOLUTION PERSON, YOU KNOW, IN A, IN CORRECTIVE ACTION. SO WHAT, WHERE HAVE YOU PUT ANYTHING IN THE BUDGET TO DO SOME INITIATIVE TO DO SOME TYPE OF TRAINING? I'M, I DON'T KNOW. I AM JUST ASKING. SO WE'VE, WE ARE GOING TO REPURPOSE SOME EXISTING POSITIONS, SO WE DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK FOR MORE THAT, UM, WILL HELP WITHIN SOME COACHING STANDARDS OR, UM, BECAUSE ONE THING WE'RE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW IS A-V-D-O-E AUDIT, UM, AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT, OKAY, WHAT, WHAT ARE OUR DEFICIENCIES, UM, AS FAR AS FROM THE, UH, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION? AND ONE THING THAT WE'RE HEARING IS, UM, OUR TIER ONE INSTRUCTION. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO FOCUS A LOT OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON TIER ONE INSTRUCTION. UH, THAT IS GOING TO BE ONE THING THAT WE DO HAVE TO DEFINITELY LOOK AT. UH, SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VARIOUS THINGS OF THAT NATURE, SO, OH, GO AHEAD. SO WHEN I LOOK AT YOUR, YOUR LINE ITEM, WHAT, WHAT IS THE, UH, THE ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION IN HERE THAT GIVES THE BUDGET TO, TO GO OFF IN, TO DO THESE? WELL, IT'S GONNA BE YOUR, YOUR, UM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THAT'S GONNA BE SOME OF THAT. YES. UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, TEACHERS, BY REPURPOSING TEACHERS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ALREADY BUILT INTO THE BUDGET. WE'RE JUST REPURPOSING THEM TO DO A DIFFERENT JOB, UM, TO ADDRESS THOSE NEEDS. SO, AND MAYBE IT'S TOO EARLY TO ASK THIS QUESTION. SO DO YOU HAVE A, UM, A PLAN IN PLACE WITH A TIMELINE OF WHEN WE'RE GONNA GET THE SCHOOLS IN, IN TO SEE IF THESE, UM, CORRECTIVE ACTIONS THAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED, IT'S GOING TO HELP US GET US BACK TO IN GOOD STANDING? SO YEAH, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT EVERY DAY. AND HAVE YOU, HAVE YOU ESTIMATED WHAT, UH, IT WOULD COST TO DO IT? [01:40:01] SO A LOT OF TIMES IF IT'S YOUR TIER ONE INSTRUCTION, IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOOD SOUND QUALITY INSTRUCTION IN THE CLASSROOM. AND SO LOOKING AT THAT THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT YOU CAN DO, UM, AND THEN OTHER SUPPORTS, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE THE SUPPORTS THERE, IT'S JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE GET THOSE BACK IN LINE. SO YES, THERE ARE THINGS WE ARE AT, WE'RE TRANSFERRING OVER TO THE VIRGINIA LITERACY ACT. UH, SO YOU GOT, YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE THREE ADDITIONAL, UM, READING SPECIALISTS THAT ARE GONNA BE HELPING WITH, WITH READING INSTRUCTION, UH, WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT ASPECT FROM IT. UM, ALSO LOOKING AT WHAT OTHER, UM, NEEDS EACH SCHOOL HAS, BECAUSE EACH SCHOOL HAS ITS OWN IDENTITY AND ONE SCHOOL'S NEEDS ARE NOT NECESSARILY ANOTHER SCHOOL'S NEEDS. SO YOU HAVE TO TAILOR THOSE AND TO FIT THE NEEDS OF THAT SCHOOL OR THOSE STUDENTS AND, AND ADDRESS 'EM IN THAT MANNER. MM-HMM. . SO YES, WE ARE PUTTING PLANS TOGETHER. WE DID DO A, A NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UM, AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT SAID, OKAY, WHAT, WHERE ARE WE AT? WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO? AND SO WE'RE ADDRESSING THOSE RIGHT NOW AND, AND PUTTING PLANS TOGETHER. IS THERE ANY WAY THAT I CAN GET A COPY OF THE REPORT? WHAT REPORT? UH, THE, THE REPORT THAT, UM, AND THIS IS JUST THE WAY , I, I AM AN AUDITOR. SO, YOU KNOW, SO A FINDING REPORT, I MEAN, I'M SURE THERE WAS A CRITERIA, THERE WAS SOME TYPE OF EVALUATION THAT WAS DONE TO DETERMINE THAT, THAT THE LEVEL OF, UM, OF COMPLIANCE TO BE UP TO HIGH STANDARDS. SO IS THERE ANY DOCUMENT OUT THERE THAT I CAN GET A COPY TO FIND OUT THE DEFICIENCIES OF THIS SCHOOL VERSUS DEFICIENCIES OF THAT SCHOOL? I THINK YOU MEAN THE ACCREDITATION REPORTS, I THINK, IS THAT WHAT IT, NO, SO WE HAD, WHEN WE HAD OUR WORK SESSION, UM, HEATHER BRAGG GAVE A PRESENTATION AND WE WERE ALL GIVEN HANDOUTS. AND ACTUALLY I HAD, UH, SOMEBODY ASK ME THIS QUESTION RECENTLY, I WENT TO GO PULL IT BACK UP ON THE AGENDA. BUT THE HANDOUT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US, UM, IS NOT ACTUALLY UPLOADED ON THE AGENDA. I DO HAVE A COPY AND I CAN MAKE YOU A COPY. OH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. BUT I WAS THINKING IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF WE UPLOADED THAT PRESENTATION TO THE AGENDA. COULD WE, COULD WE DO THAT? IF I'M GIVING THEM, I WILL DO IT. NO, I KNOW IT WAS JUST GIVEN TO ONLY OUR BOARD MEMBERS WHEN WE, LIKE, WHEN WE SAT DOWN THAT NIGHT. BUT IT WAS A WORK SESSION, WASN'T IT? IT WAS A WORK SESSION. MM-HMM. . YEAH. YEAH. AND I KNOW SHE WAS GETTING DATA AS IT CAME IN UP UNTIL LIKE THE LAST MINUTE, WHICH IS WHY IT WASN'T ON THE AGENDA, BUT I DO THINK IT SHOULD BE UPLOADED RETROACTIVELY. SO I'D REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. MM-HMM. , IT'S SOMETHING TO WATCH, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I THINK WHEN WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS AND PRIORITY OF OUR FUNDING, I THINK THIS IS A, A TOP PRIORITY. I MEAN, 'CAUSE IT'S OUR KIDS THAT IS, ARE GONNA SUFFER. SO, UM, AND THEN THE LAST THING IS ABOUT TO PIGGYBACK, UM, MS SALE'S COMMENT ABOUT THE LEGAL FEES. YOU KNOW, UM, I KNOW WE BUDGETED WHAT, 50,000, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WAS TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, UM, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING, AND NOW WE'VE OR OVERRUNNING WHAT, 170 K IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY. SO IN THIS BUDGET, NOW THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT PROJECTION OF LEGAL FEES, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA BUDGET FOR 55,000, I BELIEVE IS WHAT WE HAVE LISTED. BUT IF YOU, IF YOU HAD 50 LAST YEAR AND YOU OVERRAN IT, WHAT MAKES, WHAT'S YOUR LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE THAT YOU'RE GONNA OVERRUN IT AGAIN? WELL, I MEAN, EACH, EACH YEAR'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT. UH, YOU KNOW, THE PREVIOUS YEAR I DIDN'T HAVE 50,000, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, THERE IS, THERE'S YEARS THAT WE'VE BEEN AROUND 20,000. UM, SO YES. HAVE THERE BEEN SOME THINGS THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED THIS YEAR THAT HAVE CAUSED SOME COST INCREASE? YES. UM, YOU KNOW, DO YOU PROJECT THOSE THINGS TO BE HAPPENING IN NEXT YEAR? NO, WE'VE OVERRUN OUR LEGAL BUDGET EVERY YEAR FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS NOW. I MEAN, THAT'S, SO THAT'S WHY YOU'D HAVE A CONTINGENCY LINE ITEM FOR THOSE TYPE OF THINGS. BUT I KNOW WE DON'T HAVE THAT YET THAT THAT'S NOT IN THIS BUDGET. BUT, UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW HOW, I MEAN, WE'RE, IT'S JUST THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WE'RE IN TODAY, YOU KNOW, AND, AND I UNDERSTAND, UM, THE EXPLANATION OF, UH, TRANSFERRING FROM ONE LIGHT ITEM TO ANOTHER LINE ITEM. AND OF COURSE, I UNDERSTAND YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GONNA PULL IT UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR. I GET ALL OF THAT. BUT AT SOME POINT, YOU KNOW, DURING THAT WHOLE EVALUATION, IT'S JUST BEST PRACTICE THAT IF YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE GONNA MOVE MONEY FROM THIS LINE ITEM TO THAT LINE ITEM, YOU DON'T WAIT TILL THE END OF THE YEAR. I MEAN, THAT'S A TRANSFER. WE [01:45:01] DO TRANSFERS EVERY MONTH. EVERY MONTH. THE, THE, THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, UH, THE, THE DEPARTMENTS COME IN AND THEY, THEY REALIZE THAT THEY, THEY NEED MONEY FROM THIS LINE ITEM TO THIS LINE ITEM. THEY COME TO THE BOARD, WE APPROVE IT AND WE MOVE ON. AND THERE'S TIMES WHERE IN SOME OF OUR AUDITS, SOME OF THE FINDING IS BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ON TOP OF THE TRANSFERRING THE MONEY, YOU KNOW, TO THE PROPER ACCOUNTS. YOU KNOW. SO I JUST HOPE THAT WHEN YOU, THAT THE, WITH THE LEGAL FEES, YOU KNOW, TO PREVENT, YOU KNOW, TAKING MONEY, YOU KNOW, I HATE TO USE THIS TERM, YOU KNOW, BUT STEALING FROM PETER TO PAY PAUL. AND IF YOU'RE TAKING A, IF YOU'RE TAKING MONEY AWAY FROM ONE LINE ITEM, THERE'S TWO THINGS IN MY MIND THAT POPS UP WITH TWO THINGS. ONE, YOU HAD MORE MONEY THAN YOU NEEDED, OR TWO, SOMETHING'S NOT GOING TO GET DONE. SO, YOU KNOW, JUST, I'M JUST HOPING THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE PLANNING AHEAD AND, AND ANTICIPATING THAT YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA CONTINUE MORE. IT, IT, THE LEGAL FEES ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO RISE JUST BASED ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND, AND WHAT I'VE BEEN WITNESSING AT, UM, SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS. BUT ANYWAY, THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. , JUST A FOLLOW UP QUESTION ON THAT. UM, SO THE 55,000 BUDGETED FOR LEGAL, IS THAT MEANT TO COVER BOTH, UM, THE UNEXPECTED LEGAL ISSUE AS WELL AS, UM, I GUESS THE POLICY REWRITES THAT SANS ANDERSON, I BELIEVE IS ENGAGED FOR? SO YES, THAT WAS INTENDED TO COVER THOSE. OKAY. THOSE FEES PLUS THAT. OKAY. IS THAT SUFFICIENT? I, I JUST, MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ON OUR SIDE WITH SANS ANDERSON IS THEY'RE NOT CHEAP. SO NO, AND ACTUALLY IT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO BRING UP, WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD A COMPANY APPROACH US ABOUT DOING A POLICY AUDIT FOR US. AND THEY ARE LOOKING, HANDLING, CHARGING US $5,000. WE HAVE SPENT MORE THAN THAT EACH MONTH. AND WE HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT FROM SAN ANDERSON. BUT, UH, FISCAL YEAR 22, THE LEGAL BUDGET WAS 11,623, IT WAS 30,024, IT WENT UP TO 55. SO WE COULD COVER THESE POLICY UPDATES, WHICH HAVE NOT HAPPENED. WE'VE BLOWN THAT OUTTA THE WATER. SO WE COULD HAVE A COST SAVINGS, A SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS IF WE JUST DID OUR POLICY AUDIT TO BRING US UP INTO LEGAL COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATE OF VIRGINIA FOR THIS $5,000 AND OUR MOWING CONTRACT. BY THE WAY, WE SAVED $30,000. THANK YOU MR. HELMICK. SO THAT PROFESSIONAL SERVICE WENT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. WELL, I JUST, I JUST HAVE TO MAKE THIS, SAY THIS. AT OUR LIAISON MEETING, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSING POSITIONS AND DIFFERENT THINGS. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A BIG NEED FOR A SECOND, UM, FFA TEACHER AG TEACHER THAT THERE'S, AND THE REASON YOU NEED IT IS BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY STUDENTS THAT WANNA DO THAT. AND NOW YOU'RE LOOKING AT AG TEACHER OR PR PERSON, I UNDERSTAND YOUR NEED FOR PR PERSON TO AN EXTENT, BUT I REALLY FEEL LIKE THE AG TEACHER, I MEAN, HOW DO YOU NOT GET THE AG TEACHER WHEN YOU'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HERE FOR THE STUDENTS AND I BELIEVE A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING WITH HOW TO HOPEFULLY MAKE THAT POSITION HAPPEN, UM, OUTSIDE OF SORT OF THAT BUDGET THAT WE, THAT WE HAVE THERE. 'CAUSE I HOPE SO. 'CAUSE I, BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF STUDENTS WANTING TO GET INTO THAT PROGRAM. ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. AND, AND MS. BUCKLIN DOES AN AWESOME JOB, BUT SHE CAN'T DO IT BY HERSELF THERE. NO, SHE CAN'T. AND TO, TO THINK THAT WE MAY LOSE HER BECAUSE OF OVERBURDENING AS WELL. AND I'VE PARTICI, YOU KNOW, GONE TO SOME OF THE EVENTS THAT THESE KIDS ARE DOING AND, YOU KNOW, IT JUST, IT'S A GREAT PROGRAM. I'M, I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE IT BACK. UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE GOT UNCLES THAT, MY GOODNESS, THEY, THIS WAS BACK IN THE THIRTIES AND FORTIES WERE IN THOSE PROGRAMS AND, UM, I THINK HE WON AN AWARD, YOU KNOW, UM, MY UNCLE GRAYSON. AND THERE'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN AVENUE THE KIDS, THEY'RE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT. SO I JUST HAD TO SAY THAT, THAT I, I REALLY SUPPORT THAT AND HOPE YOU CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN. UM, I JUST THINK IT'S A GREAT PROGRAM AND I THINK THERE'S AN EVENT THURSDAY THAT IT, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING TO. SO JUST HAD TO SAY THAT SECOND QUESTION. , HERE YOU GO. UM, YOU GOT ANYTHING? YEAH, THE, I, I'VE GOT, UH, TWO THINGS AND YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE LIAISON MEETING THAT WE HAD WITH, UH, UH, DR. BALLINGER AND THE, UH, YOU'D MENTIONED ABOUT, UH, THREE DIFFERENT THINGS YOU HAD MENTIONED ABOUT BUSES. THE, [01:50:01] AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT WAS THE AG TEACHER OR THE FOUR TEACHERS? I, I CAN'T REMEMBER. AG TEACHER WAS WHAT? YEAH. THE AG TEACHER. AND THEN YOU MENTIONED ABOUT, UH, TENNIS COURTS AND CAN YOU GO OVER, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOUR PRIORITIES ON THOSE ARE? AND THEN THE SECOND THING IS, IS THE, UH, I'M, UH, I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY. UH, SO YOU'VE GOT THE OPERATING BUDGET AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET OF, SO THE, SO WE ARE TALKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE OPERATING BUDGET AND YOU'RE A, YOU'RE, YOU'RE REQUESTING AN ADDITIONAL WHAT, UH, TWO, TWO PLUS MILLION DOLLARS ON THAT. BUT THE NOW DOES THAT, IS THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET, IS THAT GONNA BE PART OF THAT? OR IS THAT GONNA BE AN ADDITIONAL WELL, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT IS, AS DR. DALEY SAID, THAT'S ON YOUR SIDE. OKAY. UM, AND SO THAT'S NOT IN OUR OPERATION, SO WE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THAT. OKAY. UNTIL WE REQUEST THAT FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS AND THEN THIS BOARD APPROVED, THEN YOU GUYS APPROVED. ALRIGHT. SO THAT'S AS FAR AS WITH THAT, AS FAR AS OPERATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE DO WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR STUDENTS. AND SO YOU ASKED ME TO RANK AND THOSE THREE THINGS THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT. YEAH, OF COURSE INSTRUCTION AND TEACHERS ARE ALWAYS GONNA COME FIRST. OKAY. BUT YOU'RE ALSO, LIKE YOU SAID, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT POTS OF MONEY. YOU KNOW, I CAN'T PAY FOR A TEACHER OUT OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND OR THE TRANSPORTATION FUND. YEAH. BUT I CAN DO TENNIS COURTS OUT OF A TRANS, OUT OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND AND I CAN BUY BUSES OUT OF TRANSPORTATION FUND. SO, SO LOOKING AT THOSE AND, AND HAVING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAVING TWO DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS OKAY. ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT POTS OF MONEY. ALRIGHT. SO THAT, THAT WOULD BE THE THING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO, TO MAKE CLEAR AND, AND BE SURE THAT WE ALIGN IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS WANNA DO WHAT'S RIGHT BY TEACHERS YEAH. AND STUDENTS FIRST, BECAUSE THE QUESTION ALWAYS COME, WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF KIDS? WHAT'S IN THE BE OR WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS? THAT SHOULD BE THE QUESTION THAT EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM ASKS. AND, AND ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR OUR STUDENTS? AND THEN AFTER THAT COMES EVERYTHING ELSE. YEAH. AND SO I, I FULLY AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT. YEAH. YES. SO AG TEACHERS GONNA HAPPEN , I GOTTA SAY IT. SO, UM, BUT ONE THING, DR. DALEY, CORRECT ME IF I'M NOT WRONG, WE DON'T HAVE A BUDGET LINE OUT OF OUR SIDE OF THE BUDGET FOR THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT. WE USE THEIR CARRYOVER AND PUT IT IN THERE. CORRECT. THE CARRYOVER GOES INTO OUR COUNTY'S GENERAL RESERVE. RIGHT. EARMARKED THOUGH, UNLESS, WELL ONE, A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO YOU SPECIFICALLY EARMARKED MM-HMM. IT FOR TRANSPORTATION AND FOR CAPITAL AND AT THAT POINT TEXTBOOKS. CORRECT. AND THEN THE NEXT YEAR YOU EARMARKED A PORTION OF IT FOR CAPITAL AND A PORTION OF IT FOR COUNTY'S GENERAL RESERVE AND IT WENT TO THE GENERAL RESERVE ABOUT 260,000. MRS. SCOTT, IS THAT ABOUT RIGHT? I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. UH, AND THEN THE, IN 22 LAST YEAR THERE WAS $600,000 CARRYOVER THAT HAS NOT BEEN REQUESTED. AND SO THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT TOMORROW EVENING ABOUT REQUESTING. AND THE QUESTION YOU WILL HAVE, WELL WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO WITH IT? MM-HMM. , UH, TO KNOW WHAT PROJECT THIS IS GOING TO DO. OBVIOUSLY NOT THE TENNIS COURTS 'CAUSE THAT'S 1.2 MILLION. SO WHAT IS THE PROJECT AND THAT BEING THE CASE THEN DOES THAT REDUCE LOWER THE PRIORITY OF THE TENNIS COURTS BECAUSE YOU WOULD'VE HAD HALF THE MONEY THERE AND NOW THAT WILL BE GONE ON THESE OTHER PROJECTS. SO YOU NEED TO SEE WHAT THAT IS AND THEN TO BE ABLE TO BALANCE IT. RIGHT. AND THEN WE DON'T KNOW, WE HAVEN'T SEEN, UH, ANY PROJECTIONS FOR THE THIS YEAR WHAT THE, UH, IMBALANCE IS GONNA BE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR LINE ITEMS ARE YEAR TO DATE YET, WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE. WELL, MY POINT IS THAT, THAT THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE IN WHAT WE CAN DO FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FOR THEM. YES, IT DOES. YES IT DOES. AND WHAT WE, LAST YEAR, TWO YEARS, WE'VE HAD BASICALLY A BALANCED OPERATING ALLOCATION, BUT WE PUT 4 MILLION INTO OUR FLFK, SO, AND THEREFORE WE WERE ABLE TO DO [01:55:01] THAT TO AVOID BORROWING MONEY. SO YOU DID NOT INCREASE THE COUNTY'S DEBT. BUT WE'RE STILL ABLE TO DO THIS PROJECT WITH OTHER MONEY THAT THE SCHOOLS WERE ABLE TO GENERATE, PARTICULARLY WITH ARPA MONEY AND CARES ACT TO PUT TOGETHER AN ALMOST ONE POINT, ALMOST $15 MILLION PROJECT, WHICH IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL TO DO THAT MUCH WITH CASH. AND I, I THOUGHT I REMEMBERED THAT WHEN YOU DID THE ROOF ON, UM, BLUE RIDGE TECH, THAT THAT WAS ALSO GONNA INCLUDE DOING THE HVAC. WHY WAS THE HVAC NOT DONE WITH THAT? BECAUSE WE NEEDED THOSE FUNDS TO MAKE SURE WE FINISHED ONE PROJECT. AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ALSO HAD A MEETING WITH THE VDOE AND THEY SAID TRY TO FOCUS ON ONE ONE PROJECT. AND SO WE DID, WE WERE ABLE TO DO THE ROOF AT BLUE RIDGE TECH, BUT THEN WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COMPLETED LFK. AND SO THE THOUGHT WAS THAT WE WOULD COME BACK AT SOME POINT AND DO, UM, THE HVAC AT, AT BLUE RIDGE TECH. BUT DIDN'T WE COME IN, I THINK WASN'T IT BUDGETED FOR LIKE 600,000 AND THAT ROOF CAME IN AT LIKE 300? SO THAT THREE EXTRA THREE WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THE HVAC? NO. 'CAUSE THAT WAS ABOUT 1.5 MILLION I THINK. OKAY. FOR THE ROOF, FOR THE HVAC. IT WAS A MATTER OF LIKE, UM, BEING ABLE TO FINISH ONE PROJECT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD THE PROPER FUNDING BEFORE WE ACTUALLY SPENT IT ON, UM, WE, WE NEEDED THOSE FUNDS FOR, FOR LK. OKAY. I JUST DIDN'T REALIZE THAT. I NEVER HEARD, BUT I I THAT YOU WERE DOING THAT. UM, BUT THEN I KEEP HEARING THE HVAC AND I THOUGHT, WELL, I THOUGHT THAT WAS ALL A PACKAGE DEAL THAT, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT WAS JUST MM-HMM. JUST THE RIFF. OKAY. IF I MAY REAL QUICK, UH, TO FINISH, UH, DR. DALEY'S THOUGHT ABOUT THE CURRENT, UM, ACTUALS FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR. UM, YOU HAVE THE CLERK'S REPORT, RIGHT? EVERY MONTH IS PUBLISHED THAT SHOWS THE ACTUALS FOR THE MONTH PRIOR. CORRECT? BECAUSE I KNOW WE ALWAYS ASK THIS QUESTION, I'M SORRY. I MEAN, IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS. I I'VE ASKED CAN WE HAVE A QUARTERLY REPORT, YOU KNOW, SHOWING, YOU KNOW, UH, BY CATEGORY, YOU KNOW, BY YOUR CATEGORIES, WHAT THE ACTUALS HAVE BEEN AND I KEEP HEARING YEAH, WE'LL GET IT. YOU GET IT AND YOU KNOW, WE DON'T GET IT. BUT I HAVE SEEN THE CLERK, YOUR YOUR, YOUR REPORT THAT IS APPROVED BY THE, UH, THE SCHOOL BOARD EVERY YEAR. CAN WE USE THAT REPORT TO DETERMINE WHAT YOUR PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN DURING THE YEAR? OR WOULD THOSE BE CONSIDERED ESTIMATED ACTUALS OR TRUE ACTUALS? NO, THOSE IN THE CLERK'S REPORT, THOSE ARE TRUE ACTUALS. THOSE ARE TRUE. ACTUAL. ACTUAL, YES. OKAY. SO IF I GO BACK TO THE, UH, JANUARY AND, 'CAUSE YOU HAVE THAT LITTLE COVER SHEET AND IT SHOWS HOW MUCH YOU KNOW, YOUR, UM, UH, THE BUDGET IS AND IF YOU, IF YOU, WE APPROPRIATED MORE MONEY AND SO ON AND SO FORTH, WE CAN USE THAT. WE AS THE COUNTY CAN USE THAT OF KNOWING WHAT YOUR EXPENDITURES HAVE BEEN, THAT THAT SHOULD BE A TRUE REFLECTION OF WHATEVER OUR EXPENDITURES HAVE BEEN. YES, IT WOULD BE RIGHT. EXCEPT TILL THE END OF THE YEAR. YES. . OKAY. YEAH. AND THAT'S WHERE IT GETS STARTED. THAT'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY MUDDY AT THE END OF THE YEAR BECAUSE LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, YEAH, BECAUSE I, I'VE ACTUALLY ALREADY GONE THROUGH THIS EXERCISE AND I KNOW WHEN IT CAME TO JANUARY, I MEAN, EVERYTHING WAS GREAT. YOU HAD THE NICE LITTLE COVER SHEET, YOU KNOW, AND I WENT, OH YEAH, THIS IS COOL. THIS IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR. THEN IT CAME TO, UH, JUNE AND THEN THAT NICE LITTLE SUMMARY SHEET GOES AWAY AND IT'S JUST THE NORMAL, UH, UH, FINANCIAL REPORT THAT YOU PRODUCE AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT JUST KIND OF EVAPORATES, YOU KNOW? BUT I GUESS AT THAT POINT IS, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE NEED TO COME BACK AND ASK, YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU ARE ON THE SURPLUS, YOU KNOW, SO, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS EASIER IF WE JUST FOLLOW THE CLERK REPORT OR SHOULD WE JUST CONTINUE ASKING FOR A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM THEM? WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S UP TO YOU, MA'AM. YOU CAN, I WANT A QUARTERLY REPORT. YEAH, I THINK THAT'S BETTER. I I REALLY, IT'D BE CLEANER, YOU KNOW, AND IT'S MORE OFFICIAL, SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO OUR FORECASTING WITH. YEAH. AND, AND WHAT WE HAVE TO BE REAL CAREFUL [02:00:01] IS, UM, OUR 10 MONTH EMPLOYEES, WHICH IS A VAST MAJORITY OF OUR EMPLOYEES, ARE PAID ON A CYCLE FROM AUGUST TO, UM, JULY MM-HMM. . HOWEVER, THE JULY PAYMENT IS ACCRUED BACK TO THE PRIOR FISCAL YEAR BECAUSE ITS PAYMENT FOR WAGES EARNED DURING THAT PRIOR FISCAL YEAR. SO YOU'RE GOING ALONG THINKING, OH GOSH, WE'RE, WE'RE DOING GREAT. WE'RE DOING GREAT. AND THEN BASICALLY IN JUNE, YOU GET HIT WITH TWO MONTHS WORTH OF, UH, SALARIES FOR THE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR EMPLOYEES. MM-HMM. . SO YOU GOTTA BE CAREFUL WITH THAT TOO. WELL, IF WE DO A QUARTERLY REPORT, THOSE THINGS WOULD BE CAPTURED. UH, IF WELL, IF YES, IF WE, IF WE DO IT ON A CASH BASIS, IT'S DIFFICULT BECAUSE THAT COMMITMENT STILL IS FOR, UH, IN JUNE IS GONNA BE TWICE OF WHAT IT IS IN ANY OTHER MONTH. RIGHT. THE BUT, BUT YOU CAN COMPENSATE FOR THAT E EXACTLY. IT'S A COMMITMENT. AND I MEAN THAT'S JUST, IT'S, THAT'S JUST BUDGET 1 0 1. YOU KNOW, THIS IS YOUR BUDGET, THESE ARE YOUR ACTUALS AND THESE ARE YOUR OBLIGATIONS. OBLIGATIONS. YEAH. THERE YOU GO. JUST OUTTA CURIOSITY, WHY AREN'T THE TEACHER CONTRACTS ON A JUNE, UH, JULY TO JUNE BASIS? IS IT THAT YOU WOULDN'T WANNA START PAYING THEM BEFORE THEY'RE ACTUALLY TEACHING THEM? YEAH. IF, IF YOU STARTED, UM, PAYING THEM IN JULY, THEY DON'T ACTUALLY SHOW UP FOR WORK FOR AUGUST YEARS AGO. IT USED TO BE THAT'S BIG RISK. SEPTEMBER A YEAH. IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED RISKY BY SOME. YEAH. OKAY. YEAH, IT DOES REALLY COMPLICATE THE ACCOUNTING THOUGH, DOESN'T IT, TO HAVE THAT ONE MONTH OFFSET. YEAH. KNOW. WELL, IT KIND OF MEANS THAT YOUR ME YOUR END OF APRIL REPORT IS YOUR THREE QUARTERS, BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE, IN ESSENCE, TWO MONTHS IN JUNE. SO YOUR LAST QUARTER IS MAY, JUNE ONE AND JUNE TWO. CORRECT. SO THE APRIL REPORT THAT COMES OUT IN MAY IS YOUR THREE QUARTER LAP. I HAVE A COUPLE COMMENTS. YES, SIR. UM, I THINK EVERYBODY'S HANDLED THE LINE BY LINE STUFF PRETTY WELL. UM, I WANT TO GO UP TO MAYBE 40,000 FEET OR SO. UM, I'VE ALREADY MADE A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT A KIND OF A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE IN TERMS OF, OF TRANSPARENCY AND, AND, UM, WHAT'S VISIBLE. BUT MY OVERRIDING CONCERN AS A SUPERVISOR CHARGED HER WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR, FOR USING TAXPAYER MONEY IS WHETHER ACCOUNTABILITY IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE MONEY BEING SPENT, UM, BY THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND IF IS, IS AND, AND ASKING THE QUESTION, IS MORE MONEY CORRELATED WITH BETTER, BETTER EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES? AND, UM, I'VE DONE SOME, SOME RESEARCH ON THIS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO SAY, YEAH, UH, SPENDING MORE MONEY ON EDUCATION RESULTS IN BETTER EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES. UM, THAT'S NOT THE PREPONDERANCE OF, OF THE EVIDENCE. UM, BUT IT'S WORTH NOTING. BUT THERE ARE, THERE ARE VERY SIGNIFICANT CAVEATS THERE. AND THOSE CAVEATS ARE THAT THE MONEY, THE ADDITIONAL MONEY SPENT IS ACTUALLY TARGETED AND, AND MEASURED, AND RESULTS ARE, ARE OBTAINED, UH, BY MEASUREMENT AND BY INTENSE WHITE HOT INTENSITY ON WHAT YOU WANT TO IMPROVE. UM, BEFORE WE CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER, YOU KNOW, MORE MONEY IS, IS, IS ASSOCIATED WITH BETTER EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, WE HAVE TO ASK, ASK, YOU KNOW, WELL, ACTUALLY, UH, WHAT I'M I'M GONNA SAY IS THAT THE, THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS A CONDITIONAL STATEMENT. IT DEPENDS ON HOW THE ADDITIONAL MONEY IS SPENT, AND IT'S, IT'S, I THINK, WIDELY KNOWN, BUT, BUT AT LEAST AMONGST PEOPLE WHO ARE PAYING ATTENTION THAT THE, THE ENROLLMENT STUDENT BODY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN WARREN COUNTY ARE, HAVE PEAKED AND ARE EITHER LEVEL OR DECREASING. UM, AND THERE ARE MULTIPLE VENUES FOR PEOPLE, CHILDREN TO GET EDUCATED THESE DAYS. UM, THERE ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, WHICH ARE STILL THE VAST MAJORITY. THERE ARE PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND THERE ARE HOME SCHOOLS. AND, UM, IT'S, IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANT TO, I WANT POINT OUT. UM, AND I, I'M, I KNOW I'VE, I'VE BEEN IN DISCUSSIONS WITH ALL MY COLLEAGUES. I KNOW THEY AGREE WITH ME THAT A HEALTHY PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM IS A BENEFIT TO ALL OF SOCIETY, WHETHER, WHETHER YOU HOMESCHOOL OR PRIVATE SCHOOL OR WHATEVER. 'CAUSE UM, WE NEED AN EDUCATED CITIZENRY. AND IT'S NOT A, A A, YOU KNOW, I PERSONALLY HOMESCHOOLED MY CHILDREN. IT, IT HAS, I, BUT I WENT TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. IT HAS NO BEARING ON HOW I APPROACH THE, THIS, THIS FUNDING [02:05:01] SITUATION WE HAVE. UM, SO I WANT THAT TO BE, TO BE CLEAR AND UNDERSTOOD BY EVERYBODY. UM, BEFORE WE CAN ANSWER THE, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION ABOUT HOW ADDITIONAL MONEY WILL BE SPENT, WE SHOULD BE SATISFIED THAT THE CURRENT LEVELS OF FUNDING ARE BEING USED AS EFFECTIVELY AS POSSIBLE FOR ACTUAL EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. AND WE NEED, WE NEED TO BE CONFIDENT OF THAT. IT'S AS A, AS AN APPROPRIATOR, I NEED TO BE CONFIDENT THAT THAT IS THE CASE. I MADE A COMMENT IN OUR PRIOR, UH, JOINT MEETING THAT THE STATUS QUO DOESN'T GO. UM, IT, I, I CAN'T THINK OF THIS IN A STATUS QUO WAY. THIS WHOLE PROCESS FEELS VERY STATUS QUO. I'M, IT'S MY FIRST TIME THROUGH IT, BUT IT FEELS STATUS QUO FROM, FROM THE SCHOOL SIDE. UM, BEFORE WE CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION, WE NEED TO HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE PERFORMANCE AND A COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE BOARD. AND I'M, I'M HAVE BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE OF THESE LARGE OVERRUNS THAT ARE GETTING PAID FOR, AND WE'RE STILL FINISHING YEARS WITH SURPLUSES SO THAT THERE ARE QUITE QUESTIONS. THEY'RE NATURAL QUESTIONS. THEY SHOULDN'T BE, UH, VIEWED WITH SKEPTICISM. UM, AND YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM THAT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP IS THAT WE DO HAVE FOUR OUT OF 10 SCHOOLS THAT ARE NOT MEETING FEDERAL STANDARDS. UM, THAT'S 40%. UH, COINCIDENTALLY, AND I THINK THIS IS ALSO RELATIVELY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND, 40% OF OF THE SCHOOL BOARD DID NOT SUPPORT THIS BUDGET. UM, THAT'S FAIRLY RELEVANT BECAUSE THAT'S, YOU KNOW, 40% OF THE PEOPLE THAT REPRESENT THEIR CONSTITUENTS HAVE DECLINED TO SUPPORT THIS BUDGET. SO THAT'S, THAT'S NOTABLE. UM, EVERYBODY AGREES. DR. BALLINGER JUST MENTIONED EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT HAS TO BE THE PRIORITY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND WHEN, WHEN FOUR TO 10 SCHOOLS ARE DESIGNATED AS FAILING TO MEET FEDERAL STANDARDS, IT'S APPROPRIATE TO TURN TO THE LEADERSHIP AND, AND ASK WHO'S ACCOUNTABLE. AND THE, YOU KNOW, THE LEADERSHIP IS, STARTS WITH THE SUPPORT OF SUPER, THIS SCHOOL BOARD THAT GOES TO DR. BALLINGER, IT GOES TO HIS STAFF AND SO ON. AND YOU KNOW WHAT, THIS, WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS TO NOT FAIL OUR CHILDREN. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT TOOLS DO WE HAVE? I MEAN, TEACHERS HAVE TOOLS, THEY HAVE CURRICULUMS. UM, PRINCIPALS HAVE TOOLS. SUPERINTENDENTS HAVE TOOLS. EVERYBODY HAS SOMETHING THAT THEY NEED TO USE TO GET THEIR JOB DONE WELL. UM, COMPENSATION IS JUST PART OF LIFE. WE ALL ARE COMPENSATED FOR THE WORK WE DO. UM, HOWEVER, IT'S ODD FOR ME AS A, AS A PRIVATE SECTOR, UH, PERSON TO SEE THAT THERE'S A, IT'S A PATTERN OF GRANTING RAISES ACROSS THE BOARD IN SYSTEMS WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF ROLE RESPONSIBILITY OR RESULT. AND THAT'S FOREIGN TO ME. I, I THINK THE ABSENCE OF, OF SOME MECHANISM FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE ROLE THEY HAVE ARE FAILING THE RESPONSIBILITY THEY HAVE AND THE RESULTS THAT THEY ACHIEVE. WITHOUT THAT, IN THE PICTURE ACROSS THESE, ACROSS THE BOARD RAISES TO EVERYBODY, UH, CUT ACROSS THE GRAIN OF MY SENSIBILITY. AND I THINK, I THINK THEY CUT ACROSS THE GRAIN OF A LOT OF PEOPLE'S SENSIBILITY. IF YOU, YOU KNOW, I'M A CONTRACTOR. IF I DON'T SATISFY MY CLIENT, I DON'T HAVE THAT CLIENT ANYMORE. I DON'T HAVE ANY INCOME. UH, IF YOU'RE, WHATEVER YOU PICK A JOB, A FLOORING CONTRACTOR, A PLUMBER, A, A HOME BUILDER, IF THEY DON'T PERFORM THEIR JOB, THEY HAVE NO INCOME. SO IN LARGE SYSTEMS, ALL HUMAN, ALL HUMAN SYSTEMS, NOT JUST SCHOOL SYSTEMS, LARGE CORPORATIONS, GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO PERFORM THE BEST AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO PERFORM THE WORST. AND IF YOU'RE NOT DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN ROLE RESPONSIBILITY AND RESULT, AND YOU'RE THROWING ACROSS THE BOARD RAISES DOWN ON EVERYBODY, YOU WON'T SEE IT CHANGE. UM, I'M AWARE OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL THAT'S BEEN FEDERALLY FAILING SINCE 20 , APPARENTLY WITH THE SAME PRINCIPLE THE ENTIRE TIME. I CAN'T FATHOM THAT. I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT AT ALL. UH, THERE, THERE SEEMS TO BE FROM EVIDENCE THAT SCHOOL BOARD [02:10:01] MEETINGS ARE RAMPANT DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS IN THESE VIOLENCE. I HAVE A CONSTITUENT, UM, WHO IS, HAS LAMENTED AT LENGTH TO ME HOW, HOW THE DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS HAVE ESSENTIALLY LED HER TO THE CHOICE TO REMOVE HER TWO CHILDREN FROM THE SCHOOLS. NOT BECAUSE HER AS, AS WE SAW, LIKE IN, IN ONE CASE, A VI A PARENT OF A CHILDREN, A CHILD WHO WAS VIOLENTLY ASSAULTED, BUT IN THE CASE OF A, OF HER, HER CHILDREN BEING IN CLASSROOM SITUATIONS WHERE THERE IS A DISTRACTION AND THERE'S NO SUPPORT IN THE ADMINISTRATION TO DEAL WITH THAT INCESSANT DISTRACTION, WHICH RUINS THE CLASS FOR THE TEACHER. IT RUINS IT FOR ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS, BUT THERE'S NO ABILITY OR WILLPOWER TO DEAL WITH IT. NOW, I DO, I DO RECOGNIZE I WAS RAISED IN AN EARLIER ERA, AND AS, YOU KNOW, SITTING HERE AS A 58-YEAR-OLD, BEING THANKFUL FOR, FOR MY HISTORY TEACHER, MR. JENKINS, WHO HAD A, EVERY BOY IN THE SHOP CLASS MADE PADDLES THAT THEY HOPED MR. JENKINS WOULD USE, YOU KNOW, AERODYNAMIC AND DRILLED WITH HOLES AND, AND STUFF LIKE THAT. AND, UM, I'LL SAY I WASN'T ONE OF 'EM, BUT, BUT 15-YEAR-OLD BOYS WOULD COME BACK CRYING. OKAY, I UNDERSTAND WE DON'T LIVE IN THAT ERA, BUT, BUT, AND I'M NOT, I'M NOT SITTING HERE , I REALIZE IT WOULD BE FUTILE TO ADVOCATE, BUT NEVERTHELESS, DISCIPLINE CAN BE HANDLED IN, IN MANY WAYS. AND, UH, THIS, I THINK THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS A PROBLEM DEALING WITH, WITH DISCIPLINE OR NOT DEALING WITH IT. UM, THIS ENTIRE SCHOOL BOARD AND THE SUPERINTENDENT HAVE BEEN SUED. I MEAN, YOU'RE, YOU'RE UNDER YOU, YOU'RE UNDER LEGAL SUIT, CAN'T, YOU PROBABLY CAN'T TALK ABOUT IT. PROBABLY DON'T. UM, AND I MEAN, AS I MENTIONED, I HAVE A CONSTITUENT THAT'S PULLED YOUR KIDS OUT FOR, FOR DISCIPLINARY MATTERS THAT ARE RELATING TO THAT WERE IMPACTING HER CHILDREN. SO, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY IS LEADING THE, THIS, THIS BOARD IS ELECTED TO LEAD. YOU ARE AN OVERSIGHT OF A SUPERINTENDENT WHO IS AN OVERSIGHT OF A STAFF. THERE'S A HIERARCHY. UM, WHEN I LOOK AT RAISES IN THE BUDGET, IT'S ACROSS THE BOARD. AND I, I GOT A SPREADSHEET, DO A LITTLE MATH. SEE, THE 35 ADMINISTRATORS REPRESENT 4% OF THE HEADCOUNT, BUT 8% OF THE PAYROLL, NATURALLY THEY, THEY MAKE HIGHER SALARIES. I MEAN, THAT, THAT'S NOT REALLY AN ISSUE. BUT, BUT, UM, WHAT THIS, THIS IN, WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE CHOICE TO DO BLANKET RAISES ACROSS THE BOARD RATHER THAN THE TEACHER CORE, WHICH RESULTS, WHICH IS PROBABLY 85%, I, I WISH I HAD THAT STATISTIC. MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE TEACHERS. THE, THE RAISE POOL IS ESSENTIALLY DRAWN AWAY FROM, FROM INSTRUCTIONAL PEOPLE INVOLVED IN INSTRUCTION IN THE SCHOOLS. WHO ARE THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE COUNTING ON TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN DISPROPORTIONATELY A TWO TO ONE. SO, AND IN, IN, IN EVERYWHERE ELSE IN IN THE WORLD, UM, MANAGEMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RESULTS. SO I DO NOT BEGRUDGE MANAGERS AND ADMINISTRATORS RAISES, BUT I THINK THAT THERE SHOULD BE BASED ON ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND RESULTS. AND AS I SAID, THERE ARE SOME PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW IN THE SCHOOLS IN TERMS OF FEDERAL STANDARDS. UM, QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE RHETORICAL FOR TONIGHT. I'M NOT EXPECTING THE ANSWER RIGHT NOW, BUT HAS THE SCHOOL BOARD ASKED WHY THE SUPERINTENDENT AND TOP ADMINISTRATORS ARE RECEIVING ANNUAL RAISES THAT ARE ABSORBED OR DISPROPORTIONATE PERCENTAGE OF THE RAISE POOL MONEY WHEN 40% OF THE SCHOOLS AREN'T MEETING FEDERAL STANDARDS? DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME. I'M NOT SAYING THAT NO ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD GET A RAISE. I'M SAYING THAT THIS BOARD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ASCERTAINING WHO IS PERFORMING WELL AND WHO IS NOT PERFORMING WELL, UH, IN THE ADMINISTRATION. THE ADMINISTRATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ASCERTAINING WHETHER TEACHERS ARE PERFORMING WELL OR TEACHERS ARE NOT PERFORMING WELL. UM, A WILLINGNESS TO MAKE CHANGES AND REQUIRE BETTER RESULTS IS BADLY NEEDED. IF, IF WE HAVE A POINT OF STASIS, IF WE HAVE A FEDERALLY FAILING A SCHOOL THAT'S NOT MEETING FEDERAL STANDARDS. AND ONE OF THE THINGS I READ, I, I DID SOME READING AND UM, AND ONE OF THE ACTION ITEMS WAS THAT ONCE A SCHOOL IS DESIGNATED AS FEDERALLY FAILING, THEN IT APPLIES FOR A FEDERAL GRANT TO GET SOME MONEY [02:15:01] TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. UM, THAT JUST STRUCK ME AS ODD. I MEAN THE, THE SUPERINTENDENT'S JOB AND HIS ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OR WHATEVER THAT IS, IS TO MOVE THOSE PEOPLE AROUND, MAYBE EVEN TO MOVE THEM OUT OF A JOB. BUT THE, ARE THERE, I DON'T KNOW, I'M, I'M RHETORICALLY ASKING THE QUESTION. UH, HAS THE SCHOOL BOARD CONSIDERED INSTITUTING A SYSTEM FOR ADMINISTRATIVE RAISES THAT CORRELATE RAISES WITH PERFORMANCE REVIEWS THAT FOCUS ON ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND RESULTS? THAT IS SOMETHING THAT SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATORS WILL APPRECIATE. 'CAUSE THEY'RE DOING A GOOD JOB. UM, I, I'M, I'M NOT GONNA NAME NAMES OR SCHOOLS, BUT I'M AWARE OF, OF SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE DOING VERY GOOD WORK, BRINGING PROJECTS IN UNDER BUDGET, UM, MANAGING THEM, YOU KNOW, OR FINISHING EARLY. THERE'S GOOD STUFF GOING ON. AND THIS, YOU KNOW, THIS, THERE'S A TENDENCY, AND I KNOW IT BECAUSE I'M SUB I'M SUBJECT TO THIS, THIS TYPE OF THING TO FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVE. AND, UM, BUT THE, THE FACT IS THAT SOME NEGATIVE THINGS HAVE TO BE DISCUSSED OPENLY. AND IF WE DON'T TALK ABOUT 'EM AND ADDRESS 'EM, WE'RE NOT SERVING THE CHILDREN. WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE DIRECTING OURSELVES INTO THAT EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. SO, UM, YES, SOME, SOME HARD QUESTIONS. UM, ALL OF THIS STUFF ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BLANKET RAISES SHOULD LEAD THE SCHOOL. I MEAN, I, I BELIEVE THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SHOULD COMMENCE LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR MERIT COMPENSATION SYSTEM FOR ALL NON-TEACHING POSITIONS FIRST, AND THEN FIGURE OUT A WAY OVER TIME TO BRING THAT OVER INTO THE TEACHER RANKS. 'CAUSE AS WITH ADMINISTRATORS WHO PERFORM EXTREMELY WELL AND THEY GET 3%, AND ADMINISTRATORS WHO PERFORM EXTREMELY POORLY AND THEY GET 3% WHEN THERE'S A, WHEN THERE PEOPLE ARE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE, THEY'LL BE HAPPY. AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT MEETING THE RESULTS SOMETIMES NEED TO FIND ANOTHER CAREER. I MEAN, AND EVEN IF THEY WORK FOR A SCHOOL SYSTEM, IF THEY WORK FOR A COUNTY GOVERNMENT, IF THEY WORK FOR A PRIVATE CORPORATION, IF THEY WORK FOR A SMALL COMPANY, SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE. AND THAT THERE'S NO HUMAN ENDEAVOR IN WHICH THERE'S NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE TOP AND PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE BOTTOM. RIGHT? I WAS, UM, A MEDIOCRE ATHLETE IN, IN HIGH SCHOOL. I DIDN'T MAKE THE TENNIS TEAM. I, I WAS ALLOWED TO BE AROUND AND PRACTICE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY GOT TO PLAY THE COMPETITIVE MATCHES. SO I WAS ON THE TEAM, BUT I WASN'T, ALRIGHT. I LEARNED TO LIVE THAT. UM, I'VE HAD, I'VE HAD FAILURES. I, I'VE, AND I THINK THAT IT'S OKAY, YOU KNOW, TO ACKNOWLEDGE IN A SYSTEM AS IMPORTANT AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM, THAT WE REALLY NEED TO REWARD THOSE WHO PERFORM WELL AND RECOGNIZE THEM, IDENTIFY THOSE WHO ARE NOT PERFORMING AND, AND ADEQUATELY AND INVITE THEM TO FIND ANOTHER CAREER. AND I HAVE AN ESPECIALLY SPECIFIC, UM, SUGGESTION REGARDING, UH, SECOND CAREER TEACHERS. BECAUSE IN, IN MY OPINION, UM, THAT SHOULD BE A TARGET TO FIND FORMER MILITARY, FORMER FIRST RESPONDERS, UH, PEOPLE WHO, WHO WOULD LOVE TO IMPART THEIR KNOWLEDGE ON, ON CHILDREN. I KNOW THERE ARE MECHANISMS FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE TEACHING CERTIFICATES FROM COLLEGES OF EDUCATION TO GET INTO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS. I RECOMMEND VERY AGGRESSIVE RECRUITMENT OF, OF THOSE COMMUNITIES. 'CAUSE THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIFE EXPERIENCES AND SKILLS, NOT TO MENTION FAMILIARITY WITH ORDER AND DISCIPLINE INTO THE TEACHER RANKS, TO START ADDING VALUE TO THE SYSTEM. AND, AND IN, IN AN AREA IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT'S VERY MUCH NEEDED. UM, THE, THE IDEA OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS IS, IS DIFFICULT. I, I'VE, YOU KNOW, I'VE ALWAYS HAD A SMALL COMPANY. I'M A SMALL BUSINESS GUY AND IT'S A EXCRUCIATING FOR ME TO, IT HAS BEEN EXCRUCIATING FOR ME TO DO PERFORMANCE REVIEWS WITH EMPLOYEES. UM, 'CAUSE NOBODY WANTS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A, THERE'S A, A TERM THAT I, I I, I DUNNO IF IT'S A REAL TERM, BUT IT'S A, IT'S CALLED, I CALL IT POSITIVISM. AND I, I [02:20:01] KNOW THAT POSITIVISM IS VERY POPULAR. IT'S, IT'S EASY. WE CAN ALWAYS EMPHASIZE THE GOOD, LET YOU KNOW, BUT IT'S NOT A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. POSITIVISM DOESN'T CUT IT. AND, UM, PERFORMANCE REVIEWS HA HAVE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF, OF USEFULNESS. THIS, THE PRINCIPLE ONE, WHEN THEY'RE DONE PROPERLY AND IRREGULARLY, IS TO IMPROVE, TO HELP THE PERSON IDENTIFY WHERE THEY'RE WEAK AND STRENGTHEN THEMSELVES. THERE'S A LIMIT TO THAT THOUGH. ALL, ALL CORPORATIONS, ALL, ALL PLACES WHERE THESE THINGS ARE SUCCESSFUL, SUCCESSFUL, UH, USE THE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS FIRST TO HELP THE STAFF. THEN SECONDLY, TO HAVE A, A RECORD THAT ESTABLISHES, WE IDENTIFIED, WE TRIED TO HELP, WE IDENTIFIED AGAIN, WE TRIED TO HELP, WE IDENTIFIED AGAIN, IT'S TIME FOR US TO TRY SOMEONE ELSE. UM, SO EVERY ROLE, WHETHER IT'S AN ADMINISTRATOR, A SUPPORT STAFF, LIKE THE, THE MECHANICS POOL OR WHATEVER, WHOEVER'S RUNNING THAT MECHANIC SHOP, IF HE HAS A GUY, A JUNIOR GUY COME IN AND HE, HE FORGETS TO PUT THE OIL BACK IN A COUPLE ENGINES, I THINK THAT GUY, I THINK HE'LL, HE'LL FIGURE OUT HOW THAT HE, HE CAN'T USE THAT GUY ANYMORE. SO THE SAME THING APPLIES EVERYWHERE. IT SHOULD SCARE, WELL, IT, IT SHOULD SCARE SOME PEOPLE BECAUSE IF, IF, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE MAYBE AREN'T, AREN'T GONNA BE IN THE, IN THE PROFESSION IN THE FUTURE. BUT I, I'M SO RATHER SORRY, BEING REDUNDANT NOW, BUT, UM, IT'S NECESSARY. AND I, I REALLY ENCOURAGE THIS BOARD TO GET ON A TRACK THAT STARTS THINKING IN THESE TERMS AND NOT THROWING THESE, THESE BLANKET PERCENT RAISES DOWN THE LINE TO EVERYBODY THAT DISTINGUISHES NOBODY IN THEIR ROLE, RESPONSIBILITY OF RESULT. UH, WHAT CAN HAPPEN THIS YEAR? UM, WELL, I DON'T KNOW. UM, UM, WE'LL HAVE, WE'LL HAVE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THAT, WHAT WHAT CAN THIS, UH, SCHOOL BOARD DO TO LOOK AT WHETHER THEY REALLY WANT TO TRY TO PUSH THE, THE, THE RAISES THAT HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED IN THIS BUDGET FORWARD, OR WHETHER THEY MIGHT WANT TO, TO REVISIT THAT AND ENSURE THAT, UM, THAT YOUR LINE STAFF, PEOPLE ARE IN CONTACT WITH THE, WITH THE KIDS ARE THE FIRST PRIORITY BECAUSE THE KIDS ARE THE FIRST PRIORITY. UM, YOU KNOW, I, I'M, I HAVE TO TO MENTION A COUPLE THINGS. UM, THIS, THIS IS, I, I'M GONNA GRANT IN ADVANCE THAT THIS IS SOMEWHAT SLANTED, BUT, BUT, UM, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA BRING IT UP. I LOOKED AT, UH, THE 20 23, 20 24 BUDGET BOOK. AND, AND, UM, THERE'S 23 NEW POSITIONS, 23 AND A HALF NEW POSITIONS, UH, TWO OR TEACHERS. ONE WAS AN INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANT, UM, SOMEWHERE IN JANUARY THERE WAS A, A PRESENTATION MADE IN A WORKING SESSION TO THE SCHOOL BOARD ABOUT, ABOUT WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF, IF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TOOK OVER THE SUBSTITUTE MANAGEMENT. AND WHAT WAS SHOWN WAS A THREE ADMINISTRATORS, A SUPERVISOR, A COORDINATOR, AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, $80,000 SOFTWARE. SO ALL ROLL, ALL THAT UP WITH SALARY AND BENEFITS, $380,000 OF ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD, UH, TO DEAL WITH THE SUBSTITUTES INTERNALLY. THAT WAS NOT A PROPOSAL, IT WAS JUST A HYPOTHETICAL AS WHAT IT WOULD LOOK POTENTIALLY LOOK LIKE IF THE SCHOOL TOOK IT OVER. THAT WAS DOWN REVISED TO, UH, A COORDINATOR AND A SECRETARY FOR $240,000. AND, YOU KNOW, AND I'VE TALKED, I'VE TALKED TO PEOPLE, UM, AND THIS USED TO BE DONE BY THE PRINCIPAL STAFF IN THE SCHOOLS AT SOME POINT, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHEN, BUT, BUT THE, THE COST FOR SUBSTITUTES JUMPED FROM 400, 500,000 A YEAR TO NOW WE'RE ON IN THE MILLION THREE RANGE OR, OR MORE. UM, BRINGING THINGS DOWN INTO THE BE TO BE SOLVED IN THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY'RE, WHERE THE PROBLEMS ARE EX ARE CLOSEST IS, IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED. UM, THE SCHOOL BOARD APPROVED, THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION POSITION. UM, I, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THIS WAS PRINCIPALLY JUSTIFIED BY THE LARGE FOIA DEMANDS. UM, THE, WHAT'S [02:25:01] THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE FOIA DEMANDS? UH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A, SO WHAT WAS PASSED OVER, I KNOW IT'S BEEN DISCUSSED AND IT'S ENCOURAGING TO HEAR, BUT AG AG TEACHERS ARE PASSED OVER. UH, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT AN HVAC PROGRAM WAS PASSED OVER THIS YEAR. UM, THESE ARE, THESE ARE WHAT OUR KIDS NEED. THEY'RE IN DEMAND, THEY'RE WHAT OUR KIDS NEED. UM, THE, THE, THIS LIST THAT I'M GOING THROUGH INDICATES THERE'S AN EMPHASIS ON ADMINISTRATION. THERE'S AN, A WILLINGNESS TO ENTERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. I SAID A WILLINGNESS TO ENTERTAIN THEM. I, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT THAT DECISION WASN'T MADE TO DO THAT, UH, WITH REGARDS TO THE SUBSTITUTE MANAGEMENT. BUT WHAT I, AND, AND I THINK MY CONSTITUENTS WANNA SEE IS MONEY FOR EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, NOT FOR ADMINISTRATION. ADMINISTRATION NEEDS TO BE TIGHTENING THAT BELT. IF, IF THERE'S MONEY TO BE SPENT, IT SHOULD BE EXPANDING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES OR ENHANCING THEM. UM, IF IT MEANS RECRUITING TEACHERS FROM NON-TRADITIONAL BACKGROUNDS DO THAT, IF IT MEANS, UH, LETTING SOME PEOPLE, INVITING SOME PEOPLE TO CHANGE CAREERS, IDENTIFY IT AND MAKE IT HAPPEN. UM, I BELIEVE THAT IS, THAT'S THE CONCLUSION OF MY FIFTH 40,000 FOOT COMMENTS. UM, YEAH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WELL, I JUST, I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, MY GOVERNMENT TEACHER, MR. MASON, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANYBODY IN HERE THAT HAD MR. MASON, IT WAS HIS FIRST YEAR TEACHING. AND ABOUT THE FIRST 15 MINUTES OF CLASS WAS TRYING TO IMPRESS UPON THE BOYS IN THE BACK THAT WANTED TO ROUGHHOUSE AND DO ANYTHING BUT PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO TEACH, THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EDUCATION. AND I WAS RATHER BACKWARD. AND IT TOOK ME ABOUT A WEEK TO GET UP THE, THE NERVE TO STOP AT THE END OF CLASS AND SAY TO MR. MASON, WILL YOU PLEASE QUIT WASTING MY TIME WITH THESE KIDS THAT DON'T CARE? AND HE LOOKED AT ME AND HE, HE SAID, OKAY. I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THAT. THAT, YOU KNOW, HE WAS TRYING SO HARD TO MAKE THEM WANT WHAT THE REST OF US WERE WANTING TO GET. BUT HE WAS, THEY WERE TAKING UP OUR TIME. AND I THINK, I FEEL FOR THE TEACHERS, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT'S A LOT OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE CLASSROOMS NOW. YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT, THE KIDS ARE NOT THE SAME. WHERE THE WORST THOSE KIDS DID WAS, I THINK THEY TOOK THE TEST OFF THE TEACHER'S DESK ONE DAY WHEN THEY WENT OUT IN THE HALL. UM, BUT NOW THE KIDS ARE SO DISRESPECTFUL, AND NOT ONLY VERBALLY DISRESPECTFUL, BUT PHYSICALLY ABUSIVE. I, YOU KNOW, GOD BLESS YOU TEACHERS FOR PUTTING UP WITH THIS. AND, AND I, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT WORRIES ME. I, I WANT YOU TO HAVE THE SALARY THAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO LIVE A NICE LIFE. BUT I WORRY MORE ABOUT HOW WE SUPPORT YOU IN THE CLASSROOM TO DO THE JOB THAT YOU, YOU WANNA DO. IF YOU, IF YOU DIDN'T LOVE WORKING WITH KIDS AND, AND TRYING TO TEACH THEM SOMETHING, YOU WOULDN'T BE IN THIS JOB. I DON'T THINK. SO THAT'S, THAT'S MY BIGGEST CONCERN NOW, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO COME UP WITH FUNDING. IT MAY NOT BE EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT IT TO BE, BUT I WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IS, IS WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO THESE TEACHERS NOW, THE SUPPORT AND THE SAFETY IN GETTING THEIR JOB DONE. BECAUSE MAYBE SOME OF THESE FAILING SCHOOLS, SCHOOLS ARE NOT BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE TEACHERS. IT'S JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN'T CONTROL THE DARN ROOM WELL ENOUGH TO GET THE JOB DONE TO THEIR BEST BE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND WHAT ARE WE DOING THERE TO SUPPORT THEM AND GETTING THEM TO WHERE, AND THE KIDS AND THE PARENTS TO WORK TOGETHER SO THAT IT IS A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT INSTEAD OF A FREE FOR ALL FOR THESE TEACHERS. SO THAT, I JUST HAVE TO SAY THAT BECAUSE I, I CAN'T IMAGINE THE FRUSTRATION THEY MUST FEEL TRYING TO DO AND THEN HEARING THE SCHOOLS ARE FAILING AND, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF THING. YEAH. AND I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERLINE SOMETHING THAT IS, THAT I, IN MY, IN MY OPINION AND [02:30:01] FROM, FROM FROM SOME COMMENTS THAT HAVE MADE TO ME, MANY TEACHERS WOULD ALMOST, IF YOU HAD TO ASK 'EM, WOULD YOU LIKE A 3% RAISE OR WOULD YOU LIKE THIS LIKE, LIKE A SUPPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION IN TERMS OF DISCIPLINE, THEY WOULD CHOOSE THE DISCIPLINE AND THE SUPPORT, SUPPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION BECAUSE THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO REACH SO MANY KIDS THAT ARE NOT RECEIVING WHAT THEY NEED, BECAUSE ONE, MAYBE TWO KIDS OR NOT BEING DEALT WITH, YOU KNOW, IN A WAY THAT, THAT JUST, THAT CAUSES HAVOC FOR EVERYBODY. SO, WELL, LIKE I SAID, I JUST, I WHAT, WHAT I MEANT, WHAT I MEANT TO CONVEY WAS THAT, UM, MANY, THERE CAN BE MANY REASONS FOR A CHILD FAILING, AND ONE OF THEM IS A LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND ORDER IN THE CLASSROOM. NOT, IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY IMPLY THAT TEACHER'S INADEQUATE. THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO ADDRESS. NO, I WASN'T. BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME TEACHERS THAT WEREN'T MEANT TO BE TEACHERS, AND THEY FIND THAT OUT AT SOME POINT. UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, I'M A NURSE AND THERE I'VE WORKED WITH NURSES THAT I THOUGHT, LORD MERCY, WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET INTO THIS? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOOD AT THIS. SO IT'S, THAT GOES WITH ANY OCCUPATION, NOT THROWING ANY SHADE ON ANYBODY. IT'S, IT'S JUST THE WAY IT IS. YOU THINK YOU WANNA DO SOMETHING AND YOU ARE ALL ENTHUSIASTIC AND THEN YOU FIND OUT YOU USE SPORTS. YEAH, I, I'M NOT, I WASN'T BUILT FOR DOING A LOT OF THESE SPORTS. UM, I SURPRISED MYSELF WHEN I ACCOMPLISHED DOING THE HURDLES WITHOUT BREAKING A BODY PART AND WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT THAT I WOULD NEVER RUN TRACK. SO I, BUT I JUST NEED TO SAY THAT BECAUSE I, I, I THINK THESE TEACHERS ARE DOING THE BEST THEY CAN IN A LOT OF SITUATIONS WITH, WITH THE CLASSROOM STRUCTURE. AND, UM, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THEY CAN'T TEACH. WELL, IT'S IF, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE KIDS COOPERATING WITH WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO. AND THE OTHER THING, AND I HAVE TALKED TO MY DELEGATE, WELL, SHE'S NOT MY DELEGATE, MINE'S TODD GILBERT, BUT, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO DO AWAY WITH SOLS. I THINK THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT CAUSE HAVOC IN THEIR HARD ON THE TEACHERS, THEIR HARD ON THE STUDENTS. AND I DON'T SEE WHERE THEY'VE DONE A DARN THING. I, I REMEMBER DOING, I THINK THEY WERE SRO DOT TEST. I DIDN'T END UP HATING SCHOOL WHEN I GRADUATED WITH A, WITH A, YOU KNOW, MY DIPLOMA. THESE DARN THINGS ARE MAKING EVERYBODY MISERABLE. AND YOU THEN YOU CAN'T, YOU, YOU'RE TEACHING WITHIN A BOX. AND I THINK OF ALL THE THINGS THAT I, I LEARNED AND MY TEACHERS DID OUTSIDE OF THE BOX THAT I WOULDN'T, THAT THESE KIDS MAY NOT BE IN EXPERIENCING NOW, IT JUST FRUSTRATES ME. AND I JUST THINK WE NEED TO THROW 'EM AWAY AND FIGURE SOMETHING ELSE OUT TO FIND ALL THE, ALL THE LINE ITEMS THAT COME FROM THE STATE AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THIS SHEET AND DO WITHOUT THEM. AND THEN WE CAN, WE CAN, I AGREE WITH YOU. BUT, BUT THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ARE, THE WAY THEY'VE SET IT UP, THEY CONTROL THE MONEY. WELL, I PUT MY 2 CENTS WITH THE DELEGATE TO, SHE'S ON THE EDUCATION WHATEVER COMMITTEE. SO I FIGURE I, I JUST THINK THEY'RE AWFUL. BUT ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING? AND YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN QUIET, . WELL, I APPRECIATE EVERYONE COMING OUT TONIGHT AND GOING OVER THESE, MR. VALENTINE. YOU ALWAYS DO A GOOD JOB AT THAT. I APPRECIATE THAT. UM, GOT A FEW NUMBERS WE DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE. I APPRECIATE EVERYONE THAT HAS STAYED THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT BACK THERE. UM, AND AGAIN, GOD BLESS YOU FOR DOING THE JOB YOU DO. SO, YES, SIR. DR. DALEY, IF THE, IF THE BOARD HAD A COUP FEW MORE MINUTES TO TOLERATE US, WE WILL HAVE YOU OUT OF HERE BY EIGHT O'CLOCK. BUT WE COULD GO OVER A COUPLE OF OTHER BUDGET ITEMS. OKAY. DO YOU WANNA THEY'RE, THEY'RE WELCOME TO SAY, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE. OKAY. I WAS GONNA SAY, I DIDN'T WANT YOU DISMISSING EVERYBODY. I WANT TO ADJOURN THEM BECAUSE I'M SURE THEY WANT TO BE ADJOURNED, BUT I APPRECIATE YOU ALL COMING REQUESTING A TWO MINUTE BREAK, SIR. THERE WE GO. OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT HAS, UH, LIST OF REQUESTS AND I CHANGED THE SCHOOL REQUEST TO RE TO REFLECT THEIR REQUEST THAT THEY GAVE US THIS POINT. SO THAT'S WHY THIS NUMBER IS DIFFERENT FROM [02:35:01] THE NUMBER ABOUT 7.3 I BELIEVE THE LAST, THE BOTTOM. THIS IS 7.1. UM, CSA, WE ARE GOING TO RECOMMEND $500,000 INCREASE WITH THE CAVEAT THAT WE MAY HAVE TO COME BACK LATER IN THE YEAR AND ADD TO THAT. SO IT'S, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO SEE THAT THIS HAS BEEN A HIGHLY UNUSUAL YEAR AND WE'RE HOPING THAT A COUPLE OF THINGS KIND OF SETTLE DOWN, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD. SO IS OUR CONTINGENCY GO UP RIGHT NOW? THE CONTINGENCY FUND IS STILL THAT 500 BUCKS. 500, OKAY. SO WE'LL JUST ABSORB IT'LL WELL, WE'VE GOT A COUPLE OF GOOD THINGS. THE BILLS HAVE GONE OUT. UM, WE'VE GOTTEN OUR EVA PAYMENTS FOR MR. BUTLER'S CAR WASH, MY DRAG STRIP. AND SO THERE, THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO LOOK AT WITH THE WHOLE REVENUE PICTURE. UH, WE HAVE INCLUDED THE SIX, UH, FIRE AND RESCUE EMTS AND THEN THE THREE FLOATERS, THE, THE FOUR DEPUTY POSITIONS. THE EIGHT VEHICLES ACTUALLY IS A LITTLE BIT HIGHER AT 730,000. UH, WE HAVE THE OTHER ASSETS AND IF YOU LOOK ACROSS WHERE I DREW THE ARROW, YOU CAN SEE HOW THOSE ARE BROKEN DOWN AS TO WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THERE. AND THEN THE MERIT POOL, I'VE LEFT SCHOOL BLANK FOR THE TIME BEING. SO THIS WILL THEN GO INTO THE MAIN BUDGET AND THERE WILL JUST BE ONE, ONE NUMBER TO WORK TOWARD TO BRING UP AND DOWN. SO WE'LL BE DONE WITH THAT. UM, WITH THAT. UM, WHAT'S THE RELATION OF THIS TO THIS? WE'LL GET THERE. OKAY. I PROMISE. UM, THIS IS, THIS IS ALYSSA. SHE DOES THIS AND SHE'S GONNA TALK ABOUT IT IN A MINUTE. WE'LL BE ABLE TO TELL YOU. THIS RELATES TO THE REVENUES WE'VE ADDED TO THE BUDGET AND WHAT THINGS YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT YOU WANTED TO USE, YOU WANTED TO FOCUS ON. UM, WE LOOKED AT SOLID WASTE THIS PAST WEEK AND, UH, MR. BUTLER LOOKING AT THE COST, WE HADN'T LOOKED AT THE INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD AND WE SHOULD HAVE, BUT WE DIDN'T IN WHAT MR. BARRY PRESENTED. AND THAT LOOKS LIKE ABOUT EIGHT AND A QUARTER IS WHAT IT WOULD BE. AND WE THINK THAT'S A LITTLE HIGH. SO WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO COME BACK AND RECOMMEND A MUNICIPAL FEE OF $40 AND THAT WOULD BE ABOUT $4 AND THAT WOULD CUT THAT IN HALF. AND THEN THE BOARD HAS SOME ROOM TO PRO TO BRING IT UP NEXT YEAR IF IT NEEDS TO, TO LEVEL IT. SO TAKE THIS IN TWO YEARS TO BRING IT THERE. WOULD THAT AT LEAST COVER THE INCREASE ON THE TOWN WASTE, UH, FOR THE, UM, BATTLE CREEK LANDFILL FEE GOING UP, THEIR TIPPING FEE GOING UP BY 30 OR WHATEVER IT WAS. MR. HAM'S STILL WORKING ON THAT. OKAY. AND, UM, HE CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT ENCLOSED SESSION AT THIS TIME. 'CAUSE THERE ARE STILL NEGOTIATIONS THERE. OKAY. UM, WE ARE SERIOUS QUESTION WHY WE SHOULD PAY MORE THAN JURISDICTIONS IN MARYLAND. YEP. UM, AND THE OTHER ITEM THAT WE'VE, MR. HAM IS LOOKING AT FOR US IS, UH, SHENANDOAH COUNTY IS WORKING ON A CIGARETTE TAX AND THAT HAS SOME POTENTIAL DEPENDING UPON WHEN THE TOWN ADOPTS ONE. 'CAUSE IF THE TOWN ADOPTS IT, IT'S LIKE THE MEALS TAX. IF THE TOWN ADOPTS IT, THEN WE LOSE IT INSIDE THE TOWN LIMITS. BUT WE DO HAVE THE, UM, CORRIDOR OUT 5 22 AND SEVERAL OTHER PLACES. AND THAT MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE UP ENOUGH TO ADDRESS BATTLE CREEK, AS YOU WERE MENTIONING THERE, AND NOT HAVE TO PUT ALL OF IT ON THE FEE IN ONE [02:40:01] YEAR. UM, SO WHAT'S THE RE WHAT WOULD BE THE REVISED REVENUE FROM FROM TIPPING FEE? THE REVISED REVENUE FROM TIPPING FEE WOULD BE ABOUT 400, JUST UNDER 400,000. AND WE'RE, WE'RE STILL WORKING THAT NUMBER, UH, A LITTLE BIT, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THAT NUMBER WOULD BE ABOUT 400,000. AND SHENANDOAH IS LOOKING AT, UM, CIGARETTE TAX IN EFFECTIVE JANUARY, EXCUSE ME, GENERATING ABOUT $350,000. WE THINK OURS WILL BE, AND THAT WOULD BE THEIR ANNUAL PROJECTION. WE THINK OURS WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER BECAUSE THE, THE ONLY REAL PLACE THEY HAVE TO COLLECT IT THAT'S GONNA BE SIGNIFICANT THEY FEEL IS TOM BROOK BECAUSE THEIR TOWNS HAVE THE CIGARETTE TAX ALREADY. BUT WE HAVE THE CORRIDOR OUT HERE. YOU DON'T HAVE AN ESTIMATE ON THAT? NOT YET. WE'RE AND IS THAT JUST SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN LAYING OUT THERE THAT WE HAVEN'T EVER DONE? WELL, IT, IT'S BEEN DONE IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA. UH, WE DID ONE IN WINCHESTER, UH, 30 YEARS AGO NOW. UM, AND WE WERE THE FIRST CITY OUT IN THIS AREA TO HAVE ONE CALLED CITY. WELL, YES, EXACTLY. AND, UM, IT'S A TAX THAT, UM, WE CAN LOOK AT AND WE CAN GENERATE IT. IT COMES OUT AT 2 CENTS A PACK IS WHAT IT IS. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT PROBABLY MEANS $200,000 THIS COMING BUDGET AND 400,000 IN 26, BECAUSE 25 WOULD ONLY BE HALF A YEAR. UM, A COUPLE OTHER JURISDICTIONS ARE LOOKING AT IT ALSO, AND WE'RE GOING TO SEE WHETHER WE DO THIS, UM, BY OURSELVES OR WE CONTRACT IT. AND BY THAT, NORTHERN VIRGINIA HAS A CONSORTIUM AND EACH CONSORTIUM PAYS A CERTAIN AMOUNT INTO THE POOL BASED ON THEIR USAGE. AND THAT USAGE, THAT CONSORTIUM HANDLES ALL THE ADMINISTRATION AND THE ENFORCEMENT AND, UM, SENDS THEM A CHECK. AND THAT MIGHT BE EASIER, UM, RATHER THAN HAVING THE FINANCE OFFICE, UH, HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, THEY ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO IT. AND WE DON'T, TO BE HONEST. DR. BAILEY, DID YOU SAY THE TAX WOULD BE 2 CENTS A PACK? YES, SIR. AND IT WOULD GENERATE 200,000 IN A YEAR. 200,000 IN THE SIX MONTH PERIOD, PROBABLY 400,000. OKAY. A YEAR. OKAY. I'M QUESTIONING THE MATH ON THAT UNLESS I'M, UNLESS MY MATH IS BAD. A CIGARETTE, CIGARETTES, CIGARETTES, OH, 2 CENTS FOR CIGARETTE. OKAY. EXCUSE ME. EXCUSE ME. OKAY. YES SIR. THANK YOU. OH, PER, YOU'RE RIGHT. 2 CENTS A CIGARETTE. SO THAT'S 40 CENTS A PACK. OKAY. YEP. 2 CENTS A CIGARETTE. I'M SORRY. PEOPLE SMOKE. YOU GOT IT. YOU'RE RIGHT, SIR. YEAH. UM, 2 CENTS. AND THAT'S, THAT'S BECAUSE MR. HAM SAID WE HAVE TO SHOW THE TAX PER CIGARETTE. AND I'M, I ALWAYS THINK PER PACK RATHER THAN PER CIGARETTE. OKAY. SO, UH, I'M JUST, DO WE, HOW, HOW DO WE FIGURE THAT? DO WE TAKE OUR POPULATION AND, AND FIGURE, UH, THAT A CERTAIN PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE ARE BUYING A PACK A WEEK OR WHAT, WHAT, OR A PACK A DAY? WHAT IS IT? WE'RE, WE'RE FIGURING THIS RIGHT NOW UNTIL WE GET SOME EXPERIENCE. OKAY. WE'RE FIGURING IT BASED ON SHENANDOAH, WHICH IS BASING IT ON THE CONSORTIUM ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY'RE EARNING PER POPULATION. UH, AND IT'S AN ESTIMATE. UH, BUT VIRGINIA HAS, UM, QUITE FRANKLY, VIRGINIA HAS CHEAP CIGARETTES AND THEREFORE, UH, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THE LOCALITIES HAVE BEEN TAXING. SO WE WANT TO LOOK AT THAT AND MAY BRING YOU SOMETHING BACK ALONG WITH [02:45:01] REVISING THIS SANITATION FEE PROPOSAL. UM, AND THOSE WE WOULD BRING BACK ON THE 14TH ALONG WITH, UM, THE AUDIT. UM, OKAY. SIR. , WHAT, WHAT ALL RIGHT. SMART. ARE YOU TEA ME ? WE HAD DISCUSSION ONCE ABOUT, UM, THE PROPERTY. YES. I GOT REALLY EXCITED ALL THAT YOU STARTED TELLING US DON'T GET TOO EXCITED OR YOU, YOU SENT OUT AN EMAIL ABOUT PROPERTY SALE. YES, SIR. TREASURER HAD AN EXCELLENT SALE LAST FRIDAY THAT, THAT SAILING PROPERTY OF PEOPLE WHOSE PROPERTY WAS TAKEN BY COUNTY. WELL, WELL, WE DON'T ACTUALLY TAKE THE PROPERTY. WHAT WE DO IS THEY OWE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND I BELIEVE ANYTIME AFTER THREE YEARS, I MAY BE WRONG. I BELIEVE IT'S, IF THEY'RE MORE THAN THREE YEARS DELINQUENT AND THERE'S A NOTIFICATION PROCESS AND THEN YOU HAVE 30 DAYS AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER NOTICE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. BUT AFTER THREE YEARS AND ABOUT SIX MONTHS, WE CAN AUCTION THE PROPERTY AND IT IS SOLD FOR TAXES IF THE OWNER HASN'T REDEEMED IT. AND EACH TIME, EACH STEP, MEANING THAT IT WAS SOLD AND WHATEVER WAS OUT ON PROPERTY IS TAKEN AND WHOEVER BOUGHT IT GETS YES. THEY GET POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY. SO, SO I, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT, THAT IT IS AUCTIONED. THEY HAVE TO PAY WHATEVER THE AUCTION IS, BUT THEN PART OF THAT PACKAGE IS ON TOP OF THAT THEY HAVE TO PAY THE BACK TAXES? NO, THE WHAT THEY SELL, WHAT THEY BID ON THE PROPERTY, UHHUH , THAT GOES TO THE COUNTY. OKAY. FOR THE TAXES, THE WHOLE AMOUNT. BUT WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO EARN MORE THAN THE TAXES. OKAY. SO, SO WHY AREN'T WE DOING THIS WITH SOME OF THE PROPERTIES THAT ARE 20 YEARS AND ARREARS? AS I SAID, THE THE TREASURER HAD, HAD CAME IN AND TOLD YOU IN JANUARY THAT THAT WAS ONE OF HER PRIORITIES. YES. AND THIS WAS HER FIRST SALE AND IT WAS A VERY GOOD SALE. UM, THAT WAS MORE THAN WE HAVE SEEN ON ANY OF THESE IN RECENT TIMES. AND THERE'S, THEY GO TO A LEGAL CORPORATION THAT PROCESSES THEM AND THERE'S ALWAYS A GLITCH. IT'S KINDA LIKE PUTTING, UM, SOMEBODY WHO EMBEZZLED MONEY FROM THE COUNTY IN JAIL. YOU KNOW, THERE'S ALWAYS A GLITCH AND THERE'S GOTTA BE ANOTHER HEARING AND THERE'S THIS AND THERE'S THAT. AND THEN TODD GETS A NEW NEIGHBOR AND ALL THIS, THERE'S ALL, THERE'S ALWAYS A GLITCH TO IT. AND THE SAME IS TRUE. IT'S INTENDED TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE LOSES THEIR PROPERTY BY ACCIDENT, THAT THEY HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS AND TO REDEEM THEIR TAXES. BUT IN THESE CASES, THESE PROPERTIES SOLD AND THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL. WE USUALLY GET IN TERMS OF 60 TO $80,000. AND THIS WAS 200. SO DOES SHE HAVE A SCHEDULE NOW SET UP? SHE'S SEE THIS GOING'S, SHE'S GOT A SCHEDULE. UH, WE'LL HAVE SOME, UM, PERSONNEL CHANGES. UM, UH, THE CONTRACTORS NO , SO IT, IT'LL, WE'LL HAVE TO KEEP IT GOING, BUT IT WILL KEEP GOING. AND THERE WILL BE MONEY THAT WILL GO BACK TO THE COUNTY'S RESERVE. WE DON'T BUDGET THAT IT GOES TO YOUR RESERVE, BUT SHE DID TAKE A GOOD CHUNK OUT OF IT, APPROXIMATELY 10%. AND THE BAD SIDE IS THERE'S 90% TO GO. THE GOOD SIDE IS THAT TOOK A BITE KINDA LOT LIKE WATCHING THE GATOR EAT THE TURTLE. YOU TAKE A BITE AND THEN GOES ON TO THE NEXT. SHE HAS SCHEDULE. SHE'S TOLD YOU SHE HAS SCHEDULE. SHE'S, SHE'S WORKING AT IT. YOU SHOULD GET A MONTHLY, WE CAN GET YOU A MONTH, BUT YOU ONLY SEE THESE APPROXIMATELY FOUR TIMES A YEAR. OKAY. YOU WON'T HAVE A MONTHLY SALE. THE COMPANY DOESN'T PROCESS 'EM THAT FAST. OKAY. AND WE HAVE TO GIVE NOTICE AND THEN WE HAVE TO GIVE ANOTHER NOTICE, AND THEN WE HAVE TO GIVE ANOTHER NOTICE. AND THEN WHAT, HOW, HOW BIG A BIKE SHE'S GONNA TAKE THE COMPANY, THEY DECIDE, [02:50:01] THE COMPANY DECIDES HOW MUCH THEY'RE, HOW MUCH RESOURCES THEY'RE WILLING TO PUT INTO IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO, THEY BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT EVERYBODY'S BEEN PROPERLY NOTIFIED AND THAT THEY'VE DONE ALL THE LEGAL WORK REQUIRED, ET CETERA. SO IT REALLY IS A, IT'S A METERED PROCESS. IT'S A, IT'S A METERED PRO, BUT THIS, UM, THREE OF THESE SALES LIKE THIS A YEAR ARE GONNA MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE AS OPPOSED TO THREE AT 60,000 A YEAR. YEAH. EXCEPT FOR THAT 200,000. HOW MANY, UH, INDIVIDUAL DWELLINGS OR, OR, UH, PARCELS WERE SOLD? SOLD? I'M NOT SURE. 63 63 PARCELS. WOW. HOW PARCELS, HOW MANY? IT WAS A GOOD SALE. HOW MANY PARCELS ARE SO, SO THEN THERE'S LIKE 600 PARCELS THAT ARE, ARE BACK TAXES. 'CAUSE YOU SAID IT WAS 10%. WELL, THE, THE LAST TIME WE LOOKED AT THE LIST, APPROXIMATELY $2 MILLION WAS THE BACK TAXES OWED. SO THIS IS ABOUT 10% OF IT. OKAY. UM, AND WE HAVE LOTS OF THEM THAT ARE INDIVIDUAL GROUP LOT, LIKE LOTS IN SHENANDOAH FARMS WHERE THERE'S OODLES OF LOTS THAT THE WAY THEY'RE CONSTRICTED RIGHT NOW, THEY CANNOT BE DEVELOPED. THEY'VE GOT TO BE REPLANTED AND, AND THEN SOMEBODY'S GOTTA BUILD A ROAD AND SOMEBODY'S GOTTA WORK THE UTILITIES, ET CETERA. MM-HMM. . SO IT BECOMES WHETHER IT'S WORTH IT FOR THE DEVELOPER TO DO IT. BUT NOW THESE INDIVIDUALS, SOMEBODY HAS BOUGHT THESE LOTS AND THEY'LL MAKE USE OF 'EM. HOW MANY OF THOSE LOTS OR PARCELS THAT WERE IN THE 63 ACTUALLY HAD A HOME ALREADY ON THEM? NONE OF THEM I DON'T THINK. OKAY. I KNEW IT WAS FEW, IF ANY, BUT OKAY. UM, THE RE I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WERE NONE AT ALL. THEY WERE ALL VACANT LOTS THEN. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THESE WERE LOTS IN, IN AREAS LIKE CHAND SHORES WHERE SOMEBODY CAME ALONG YEARS AND YEARS AGO, DECIDED TO BUY IT AND THEN HAS SOMEHOW JUST FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT. OR JUST IT'S, UM, THEY LOST INTEREST IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT. THEY DECIDED IT WAS GOING TO COST MORE TO DEVELOP THAN IT WAS WORTH. SO THEY'VE LET IT SIT AND, UM, THE TAX LAWS FAVOR THE DELINQUENT PAIR. I MEAN, THE GAME, IF YOU LOOK AT PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD IN WINCHESTER, THE GAME WAS TO BUY UP THE PROPERTY AND HOLD IT UNTIL YOU HAD THE DEVELOPER WHO WAS GOING TO PUT THE MARTINS, THE WALLY WORLD, THE TARGE, ET CETERA. AND THEN YOU TOOK IT OUT OF TAXES TO SELL IT. BUT THE CITY WOULDN'T GET ITS MONEY FOR 3, 4, 5 YEARS. AND WE WOULD START THE PROCESS AFTER THE THREE YEARS, BUT THAT STILL TAKES ANOTHER THREE YEARS BEFORE ITS PROCESSED. SO THE DEVELOPER COULD STAY ONE ONE YEAR AHEAD ON US. BUT THAT'S PRO IT WAS PROGRESS. WE WERE VERY PLEASED. WELL, I THINK IT'S PRETTY IMPRESSIVE THAT WE HAVE A NEW TREASURER AS OF JANUARY ONE, AND HERE BY APRIL 30TH, WE'VE ALREADY SOLD OFF 10% OF THE DELINQUENT UH, PROPERTIES. UM, SO YES, IT, SHE, SHE'S DONE VERY WELL WITH IT. AND SHE HAD AN EMPLOYEE WHO WORKED THAT WAS DEDICATED TO IT AND WORKED VERY CONSCIENTIOUSLY ON IT. I DID WANNA SAY, UM, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO HEAR THAT NONE OF THEM HAD HOMES. UH, BECAUSE WHAT I'M THINKING OF IS, UH, FIRST OF ALL, IT WELL, IF THERE IS A, AN OCCUPIED DWELLING THAT WE WERE MAKING EXTRA SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, PUTTING A FAMILY OUT ON THE STREET. BUT SECONDLY, ASSUMING THAT'S NOT THE CASE, UM, I'D WANNA MAKE EXTRA SURE THAT THE MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE HAVING WITH FAMILIES WHO ARE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, CAN SOMEHOW BE NOTIFIED OF THESE AUCTIONS AND NOT HAVE 'EM GET SUCKED UP BY, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, BIG, UH, LANDLORDS, ESPECIALLY OUT OF THAT DON'T RESIDE IN WARREN COUNTY, YOU KNOW, SO WE UM, WE DID PUT ONE OUT ON THE STREET LAST WEEK AND THEY MOVED OVER. WAS TODD OH YEAH, YEAH. THAT'S HOT STREET. YEAH. . BUT, UH, AS, AS A RULE, THESE ARE ALL, IF THERE'S A VA STRUCTURE AT ALL, IT'S VACANT. YEAH. HIGHLY UNUSUAL THAT THERE WOULD BE AN OCCUPANT IN THE HOUSE. THEY WOULD COME IN AND THE TREASURER'S ALWAYS WILLING TO WORK OUT PAYMENTS WITH THEM. MM-HMM. . OKAY. SO WE, THAT'S, WE WATCH THAT, BUT THAT'S [02:55:01] WOULD BE VERY, VERY UNCOMMON. OKAY, COOL. VERY UNUSUAL FOR THAT TO HAPPEN. I'M GONNA, I THINK I'M GONNA START WALKING THE NEIGHBORHOOD . SURE. , UM, CHANGING SUBJECTS WITH THAT. UM, ASK ALYSSA TO UPDATE YOU ON THE ASSETS. THIS IS THE BREAKOUT, UM, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUGGESTION IN REDUCING SLIGHTLY THE IT ASSET REPLACEMENT. SO YOU'LL SEE THE BLUE IS THE HIGHLIGHTED AS THE FY 25 REVISED REQUEST. AND THEN RIGHT TO THE LEFT IS THAT FY 25 INITIAL REQUEST. SO IT TOOK IT DOWN FROM 85,000 TO 50,000 FOR SERVER AND NETWORK REPLACEMENT AND FOR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, 117,500 TO 67,500 SECURITY EQUIPMENT, UH, WENT DOWN 10,000. AND AS YOU GO DOWN THE LIST, WE HAVEN'T ADJUSTED ANYTHING FOR THE ELECTIONS EQUIPMENT. AND THE SHERIFF'S VEHICLE REPLACEMENT PER THE SUGGESTION OF, UH, TWO BOARD MEMBERS WAS TO PUT THAT AT 730,000. THE, UH, POLICE EQUIPMENT IS AT 15,500. RADIO EQUIPMENT UPGRADE IS 190,000. CANCER PREVENTION IS 250,000 AND THE EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT IS AT 50,000. SO THAT TAKES US TO A TOTAL OF 1.5 MILLION. SO THE, YOU ASKED ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP DR. JAMISON, THIS REFLECTS THE CHANGES FROM HERE. OH, OKAY. SO GOING BACK TO THE VEHICLE REPLACEMENTS FOR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, YOU SAID TWO BOARD MEMBERS REQUESTED IT TO GO UP, IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? SO I HAVE, UM, THE REQUESTED 600,000 THAT THAT WAS TAKEN DOWN AND TO FULLY FUND IT, UM, AND REPURPOSE THE 130 FROM CONSOLE EQUIPMENT. SO THAT WAS, UM, IN THE E 9 1 1 SYSTEM, THAT 130,000, THERE WAS A SUGGESTED SHIFT FROM THAT LINE ITEM UP TO THE VEHICLE REPLACEMENT. SO AGAIN, I THOUGHT DID, SO YOU SAID TWO BOARD MEMBERS REQUESTED IT OR THIS IS JUST, SO LET'S SAY I REQUESTED IT, I WAS GIVEN SUGGESTION BY THE BOARD MEMBERS. OKAY. BUT I REQUESTED, OKAY, SO ONE THING ABOUT THAT, I UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING, BUT IF YOU, THE, THE QUANTITY HAS NOT CHANGED. SO WE WERE GONNA GET EIGHT VEHICLES FOR 600 K. SO NOW WE INCREASE, INCREASED IT BY 130 K BECAUSE WE REDUCED FROM THE, I GUESS WAS THE COUNCIL OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO ARE WE GONNA CONTINUE TO PURCHASE EIGHT VEHICLES OR NOW WE ARE UP TO NINE VEHICLES. SO IF YOU REMEMBER THE REQUEST WAS FOR 15 TEAM AND I CUT IT IN HALF. AND KNOWING THAT THAT CREATES PROBLEMS IN THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND SHE SHOWED YOU SOME OF THOSE ISSUES, WE WILL KEEP WORKING THROUGH THIS AND OTHER WAYS THAT WE CAN EVEN IT OUT. WE'RE NOT GOING TO, WE'RE NOT GONNA BUY HER VEHICLE AND SAY SHE HAS TO BRING HER OWN WHEELS. WE WILL NO, I I WE WILL COME OUT TO ROUND VEHICLES. AGAIN, THE QUESTION IS ARE WE GONNA BE BUYING EIGHT VEHICLES OR NINE VEHICLES OR ARE WE BUYING 10 VEHICLES? AND THE ANSWER IS RIGHT TONIGHT, I'M NOT SURE I'VE GOT EIGHT AND PARTIAL VEHICLES IN HERE. IF WHEN WE FINISH PUTTING THIS BUDGET TOGETHER, I CAN GET UP TO NINE. I'M GONNA PROPOSE IT. IF I CAN COME UP AND TELL HER WITH MONEY SHE'S GOT LEFT THE END OF THIS YEAR THAT SHE CAN BUY TWO VEHICLES, I'M GONNA PROPOSE THAT AND THEN MAYBE TRANSFER THAT ONE 30 TO RESERVE IT FOR THERE. OKAY. I I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT ALL THE VEHICLES THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED AND WE CANNOT REPLACE THEM ALL AT ONCE. NO, WE DON'T HAVE IT. NO, NO. I UNDERSTAND THAT. THE CLOSER I CAN COME TO GETTING MORE, MORE THAN WHAT'S TOWARDS WHAT SHE WANTS. SO, UH, THE BETTER WE'RE GOING TO BE AND AS WE, AS THIS YEAR ENDS AND WE SEE WHAT'S HERE AND WHAT SHE HAS LEFT IN HER BUDGET, THAT SHE CAN COME TO THE BOARD AND ASK TO TRANSFER. WE TRANSFER BY LINE ITEMS THAT YOU HAVE TO [03:00:01] APPROVE. WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE SCHOOL BOARD BEFORE AND THE SCHOOL BOARD DOES NOT, BUT WE WILL BRING YOU A TRANSFER IF YOU LOOK CHANGE IN SUBJECT FOR JUST A SECOND. IF YOU LOOK BACK AT IT, PART OF THE REDUCTIONS IN IT ARE BASED ON WHAT MR. JONES SAID HE COULD DO WITH HIS MONEY THIS YEAR THAT HE WON'T HAVE TO SPEND NEXT YEAR. AND IF AT THE SAME, IF I CAN GET ANOTHER VEHICLE OR SHE CAN GET ANOTHER VEHICLE, IT'S HER BUDGET. IF SHE CAN GET ANOTHER VEHICLE OUT OF THIS YEAR'S REVENUE, THE MONEY THAT SHE ALREADY HAS BUDGETED FROM HER OTHER LINE ITEMS, THEN WE WOULD PROPOSE THAT TO YOU. YEAH. AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH ALL OF THAT. UH, SO I AM, SO FOR ME, LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, I'M GONNA IGNORE EIGHT SHERIFF VEHICLES. I'M ONLY GONNA BE LOOKING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BUDGET RIGHT NOW. RECOMMENDED RIGHT NOW. 730 K. YES MA'AM. THAT'S EXACTLY OKAY. THAT'S ALL I WANTED TO KNOW. SO IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NUMBERS ANYMORE. AND IF, IF THEY GET, UM, WE'VE GOT $730,000 IN THERE FOR VEHICLES AND IF WE GO TO THE, GO TO THE MARKET AND WE CAN GET A BETTER PRICE ON 'EM AND MAYBE THEY COME DOWN $20, A 20,000 A VEHICLE, WE MAY END UP WITH MORE. YEAH, NO, THIS, THIS ONE UP. I UNDERSTAND. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT'S, THAT'S ALL. WE PAY CASH FOR THE VEHICLES. NO. AND THEY WON'T TAKE MY DISCOVER CARD . THEY WON'T TAKE IT. PAY EVERYTHING. NOW WHEN YOU GET YOUR VEHICLE IN TWO YEARS FROM NOW, NO, NO. WE PAY CASH UPON DELIVERY OF THE VEHICLE. YEAH. ON DELIVERY. ON DELIVERY. WHEN IS DELIVERY GONNA BE? WELL THAT'S PART OF THIS CHART THAT THE SHERIFF IS WORKING ON AND WE'VE GOT A DRAFT AND WE'RE GONNA GO BACK AND TALK WITH HER AGAIN THIS WEEK. BUT HOW, WHEN THEY WILL COME DUE AND IN WHAT BUDGET? YEAH, THAT THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. 'CAUSE VEHICLES WE ORDER NOW SHOULD BE HERE. DO WE EMPHASIS ON THE WORD SHOULD? I'M SORRY? DO WE MAKE A DEPOSIT? WELL, WHAT CASH DO WE NEED? YEAH. WELL WE WANT TO KEEP, WE WANNA HOLD CASH BECAUSE IF WE NEED TO SPEND IT NEXT YEAR, BY JUNE 30 OF 25 BEFORE NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, IF THEY DON'T COME, IF THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE HERE TILL OCTOBER 25, THAT KICKS IT OVER A YEAR. RIGHT. IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN WE DO FOR THE FIRE AND RESCUE. RIGHT. WITH THE TANKERS AND STUFF. WELL, THE DIFFERENCE THERE IS WE HAVE TO PUT A DEPOSIT. OH, OKAY. THOSE, WE PUT EXAMPLE, THE ONE WE DID WITH SOUTH WARREN, THEY PUT 300,000 AND WE PUT 300,000 ON IT LAST YEAR AND WE OWE ABOUT THAT MUCH WHEN IT COMES IN THE, THE OFFICER VEHICLES, THEY ARE DUE WHEN THEY ARRIVE AND SOMETIMES THESE CONTRACTS ARE CANCELED. YEAH. AND SO WE HAVE BOUGHT, WHEN A DEALER SAYS, HEY, I HAVE SIX UH, SHERIFF'S VEHICLES, THEIR FORDS, THEIR CHEVYS, WHATEVER, AND THIS IS HOW THEY'RE OUTFITTED AND THEY CANCELED THE CONTRACT, DO YOU WANT THEM? YEP. AND WE MIGHT BUY A COUPLE OF THOSE. ABSOLUTELY. THAT WOULD BE THE REASON TO GO AHEAD AND ALLOCATE THE MONEY IN THIS BUDGET. YES. SO THAT IT'S THERE. OTHERWISE WE SAVE IT, OTHERWISE WE'RE GONNA SAVE IT FOR NEXT YEAR. WHAT MY, MY POINT IS I UNDERSTAND THAT REASON. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD REASON. IF WE KNOW IT TAKES TWO YEARS TO RECEIVE. YEAH. WE WOULDN'T BE PUT PUTTING THE MONEY. WE COULD NOT, WE DON'T NEED TO BUDGET THAT MONEY THIS YEAR. IF WE KNOW IT'S TWO YEARS, WE COULD BUDGET THAT MONEY NEXT YEAR. RIGHT. AND THEN CORRECT. BUT THE, THE OUTLIER IS 20 MONTHS THAT IT MIGHT TAKE UP TO 20 MONTHS TO GET A VEHICLE A LOT MORE THAN TROUBLE. WELL, IT IS MORE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THE SUPPLIES CHANGE ALL THE TIME. IT'S A MOOT POINT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO HAVE THE CASH THERE IN CASE A DEAL COMES UP AND IF THE YEAH. THAT'S WHY YOU WANT THE CASH. WE'VE BEEN REAL FORTUNATE IN CAPTURING THOSE. OKAY. AND IF THE, IF YOU BUDGET IT AND PUT THE CASH WITH IT THIS YEAR, IF YOU DID HAVE TO WAIT THE ENTIRE TIME, YOU CAN HAVE THAT MONEY INVESTED WITH THE STATE AND YOU CAN BE EARNING 5% ON IT EVERY DAY. OKAY. EVERY DAY. EVERY NICE. IT'S DAY IN, DAY OUT. IT'S DAY WAS NOT COMPOUND . IT'S 5% DAY. LEMME IN ON THAT. WELL, NOT COMPOUNDED. AND THEY DON'T TAKE PRIVATE INVESTORS. SORRY ABOUT YOUR BAD LUCK, BUT IT'S FUNNY GETTING BACK TO THE TWO, TWO SUPERVISORS. I DON'T CARE WHO THEY WERE. YOU DID ASK FOR US TO GIVE YOU OUR, I'M STILL WAITING FOR SOME BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS [03:05:01] FROM SOME OF YOU. I'VE, I'VE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SENDING ME LINE ITEMS SO I KNOW WHAT TO CUT OUT. WE'RE WE'RE EACH SUPPOSED TO SEND HIM WHAT WE WANT CHANGED. SO IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THE TWO WERE. THAT'S 'CAUSE UH, JUST I WAS ONE OF THEM. THOSE TWO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. I MEAN, I, I SENT OUT MY, MY BOX REVISIONS TO EVERYBODY. SO I THINK IT'S NO SECRET JOB. I WAS ONE OF THEM. GOOD JOB. THANK YOU. BUT, UM, I, I DO, AS FOR THE GOING FROM 600 TO SIX 30, I BELIEVE THAT THE SHERIFF ASKED US TO MOVE THE ONE 30 FROM THE E 9 1 1 CONSOLE INTO THE VEHICLES BECAUSE THE PRICE HAD GONE UP FROM THE ORIGINAL 75 FOR VEHICLE. SO WE, WE MAY NOT, WE MAY OR MAY NOT GET ANY MORE VEHICLES WITH THE SEVEN 30, BUT THE, THE ISSUE IS, IS THE SEVEN 30 RATHER THAN HOW MANY WE BUY. YEAH. WELL IN THE, THE, THE THING ABOUT COUNTY VERSUS TOWN, I GUESS IF THE TOWN'S CARS STARTED DROPPING, THEY COULD PUT 'EM ON A BICYCLE. WE CAN'T DO THAT IN THE COUNTY. THEY CAN WALK A BEAT. MY BROTHERS WALK A BEAT. YOU CAN'T WALK A BEAT IN THE COUNTY, SO THEY GOTTA HAVE CARS. WELL, YOU CAN DO LAPS AROUND THE TOWN ALL DAY LONG AND YOU'VE ONLY GOT A HUNDRED MILES. RIGHT. BUT IF YOU GO VERY FAR OUT IN THE COUNTY, YOU'RE GONNA BE OVER THAT A HUNDRED MILES PRETTY QUICK. THAT AND THE TERRAIN, SOME OF THESE PLACES THEY GO UP, THEY'RE LUCKY THAT THEY DON'T, UM, TEAR UP MORE VEHICLES THAN THEY DO, HONESTLY. ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE GOING IN A BIT OF A HURRY BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION THEY NEED TO GO TO. SO ANOTHER PIECE WE ARE LOOKING AT IS ANY VACANCIES, UH, IN THE, UM, IN THE COUNTY STAFF. UM, AS, AND AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TWO HERE, UM, THAT WE'LL LET, UH, JANE TALK ABOUT FOR A MINUTE. UH, WE'RE ADVERTISING THEM TO SEE WHAT WE'RE KIND OF GOING SHOPPING TO SEE WHAT MIGHT BE THERE. AND IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BOARD TO LOOK AT THE POSITION AND HOW YOU WANT TO MAYBE STRUCTURE IT DIFFERENT. AND BEFORE YOU START I DID, UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU, I DID SEND THE EMAIL STATING THAT WE WANTED TO LOOK AT THESE AND UM, SO THAT'S WHERE WE'RE STARTING TONIGHT. AND SO LAST WEEK AFTER WE RECEIVED NOTICE OF THE TWO OPENINGS, UM, ED AND I BRIEFLY HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UM, AND TOURISM DIRECTOR. UM, JUST BECAUSE OF THE STRUCTURE FOR THAT POSITION, IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE ASSESSED AS TO WHAT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR IT. UM, SO WE HAVE THE JOB DESCRIPTION. UM, WE DO WANNA KEEP THE POSITIONS POSTED SIMPLY TO GET TRACTION. UM, BOTH OF THESE POSITIONS WILL BE VERY CHALLENGING TO RECRUIT FOR. UM, AND TO ATTRACT THE RIGHT CANDIDATES. UM, WE WILL NEED STRONG CANDIDATES. THEY'RE NOT REALLY DEVELOPMENTAL POSITIONS THAT YOU CAN COME IN BLIND AND LEARN AS YOU GO. WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE PEOPLE FOR THEM. UM, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT AS A WHOLE WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE AS TO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR FOR THE POSITIONS. UM, THE DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS PROBABLY THE MOST CHALLENGING ONE IN DEFINING, YOU KNOW, THE FOCUS. I THINK IN THE COUNTY YOU PROBABLY SEE AND HEAR A LOT FROM THE CONSTITUENTS ABOUT WHAT THEY DO AND DON'T WANT REGARDING DEVELOPMENT. UM, AND SO TOURISM IS A GREAT SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR US. SO THAT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE LARGEST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AREAS FOR US. UM, SO KIND OF HOW YOU WANT TO FOCUS THE POSITION, SOMETHING THAT WE NEED YOUR INPUT. UM, WITH THE OTHER POSITION, I THINK THE WAY THAT IT'S STRUCTURED, IT VERY MUCH SERVES, UM, THE POSITIONAL NEEDS. UM, SO MR. BERRY NEEDS A NUMBER TWO WHO REALLY HANDLES A LOT OF THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS. MR. COLE FELT HUGE LOSS FOR THE COUNTY. HUGE GAIN FOR LOU RAY. UM, WE THINK HE'LL BE FANTASTIC AS THE ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER, BUT VERY SAD TO LOSE HIM HERE. YOU CAN PUT IN PARENTHESES BELOW BENEATH THAT MR. FELDS, UH, JOB DESCRIPTION LIGHTNING ROD. YES. YES. THAT POSITION. UM, WE THINK RIGHT NOW WE'RE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT FILLING THAT QUICKER. MM-HMM. AND WE'LL, WE'LL BE BACK TO YOU BEFORE ANYTIME WE DO IT. BUT THAT POSITION IS MORE CRITICAL. MM-HMM. , WE BELIEVE THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POSITION HAS QUITE FRANKLY DONE A LOT OF ADMIN WORK FOR THE EDA AND A LOT OF THAT'S GONNA WIND DOWN. NOW HERE, UH, THEY'RE DOWN TO, UM, 1, 2, 3 [03:10:02] PROPERTIES, UM, AND POTENTIALLY TWO OTHER PROPERTIES ALONG WITH UH, FAITH WAY. UM, BUT THAT TAKES A LOT. THE BANK WORK IS GOING TO, UH, BE DROPPING BACK. THE LEGAL WORK IS GOING TO BE DROPPING BACK AND WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT SOMEBODY MORE FOCUSED IF WE, WHEN, IF AND WHEN WE DECIDE TO FILL IT. SOMEBODY WHO CAN HELP US IN TOURISM WHERE THERE IS THE POTENTIAL TO, TO ADD TO REVENUE. YEAH. I I JUST WANNA UNDERSCORE WHAT'S BEEN SAID. UM, I REALIZE WE ARE STILL IN THE MODE OF FUNDING THE EDA. SO YES. SO WE KIND OF HAVE, WE, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE IN TRANSITION RIGHT. WITH WITH A POSITION THAT'S AN EMPLOYEE OF THE COUNTY AND THE EDA AND WE NEED TO KNOW WHERE THE EDA IS GOING IN TERMS OF WHAT ITS MISSION IS. MM-HMM. . SO MAYBE AN UPDATE ON THAT. I THINK THEY, UH, NEED TO BE REINVENTED. PARDON? THEY NEED TO BE REINVENTED. YEAH. AND, AND, AND IF THEY HAVE, THEY HAVE THE WILL TO REINVENT AND TELL US WHAT THAT REINVENTION IS. UH, WE NEED TO HEAR IT. MM-HMM. UM, YEAH. WHAT ALSO, JUST 'CAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S SOME CHURN ON THE BOARD THERE AND, UH, WITHOUT JOE PETTY AND WITH CHURN ON THE BOARD, I'M WONDERING IF WE'LL HAVE THE RESOURCES WE NEED TO CLOSE OUT THE LINGERING ISSUES, UM, BEFORE THAT REINVENTION CAN HAPPEN. I WILL, UH, I WILL BE THE INTERIM. EDA DIRECTOR. YEAH. . THAT'S GONNA BE FUN. . ALRIGHT. UM, REMEMBER THAT'S WHERE I STARTED BACK OVER THERE. THAT'S THE OTHER THING IS I WANNA, I WANT TO SORT OF PLAY OFF OF SOMETHING I HEARD CHERYL SAY THE OTHER NIGHT, WHICH IS THAT SOME OF THE COUNTIES SURROUNDING US ARE CRUSHING IT AND TOURISM AND WE NEED TO GET LIKE WHAT ARE WE MISSING? WHAT IS OUR PLAN TO CRUSH IT AND, AND THEN INFORM OUR POSITION BASED ON THAT. SO, SO TWO, TWO THINGS. WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE ADA'S PATH? SO I GUESS THE CURRENT CHAIR, UH, JD MM-HMM. WILL, WILL SORT OF INFORM US OF HOW MUCH, WHAT HIS ENERGY AND WHAT HIS, HIS VISION IS. I MEAN, AND, AND THE BOARD. AND THE BOARD. I KNOW THAT, UH, UM, JIM, JIM IS PARTYING. YES. YOU KNOW, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHO ELSE MIGHT BE PARTYING. SO, SO IT JUST, IT'S JUST TWO THINGS IF WE, I THINK WE DON'T WANT THE SAME FUNCTIONALITY FOR SURE. RIGHT. I DO, I DO APPRECIATE CHERYL'S OBSERVATION. SO IF SHE KNOWS OTHER COUNTIES ARE CRUSHING IT, LET'S FIND OUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING. THAT'S SO GOOD. AND WHAT WE'RE, WE ARE, UM, A BIT BEHIND OTHER COUNTIES IN TOURISM. MM-HMM. IS WHERE WE ARE. UH, PAGE COUNTY IN PARTICULAR REALLY PUSHED TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 10 YEARS AGO. MM-HMM. , WE REALLY GOT STARTED IN ALL THESE CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS AND ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO. MM-HMM. . AND THEY REALLY STARTED BUILDING, UH, AFTER 2020 WHEN YOU CAME ON THE BOARD THAT THERE WERE SO MANY. AND THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF THE TOURISM IS. UH, AND THE OTHER PLACE THAT QUITE FRANKLY DOES EXTREMELY WELL, TOURISM IS THE TOWN LOOK AT THEIR MEALS TAX. I'M NOT, I DON'T MEAN THAT CRITICAL AT ALL, BUT THAT'S, IF YOU'RE COMING HERE TO BE A TOURIST, IF YOU'RE COMING TO SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO EAT. SO THAT PART OF TOURISM IS GOING VERY WELL AND WE'RE ADDING TO, WE GET MORE OF THE LODGING AND THAT'S, THAT'S COMING, UH, THE CONTRACT, THE BOARD APPROVED AT THE LAST MEETING IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO START, UM, IF I GO TO THE PAGE COUNTY WEBSITE AND GO TO WHERE TO STAY, AND THEN IT WILL SHOW ME DOZENS AND I MEAN, DOZENS MM-HMM. OF B AND BS. AND I CLICK ON WHICHEVER ONE MEETS WHAT I WANT AND IT'LL SHOW ME THE CONTACT AND WHAT THE RATE IS AND WHEN IT'S AVAILABLE. AND IF I DON'T LIKE THAT, I'LL GO BACK TO THE SITE AND GO CLICK ON ANOTHER ONE. YEP. AND IT REAL, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BUILD ON OUR WEBSITE. GREAT. OUR TOURISM WEBSITE IS BEING ABLE TO PICK AND CHOOSE WHERE YOU WANT TO GO WITH THESE CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS. [03:15:02] WE LOSE ON A LOT OF REVENUE. THE, THE LEAF PAPERS COME IN, THEY GET IN THAT LONG LINE. AND FROM WORKING THE BOOT DRIVE, UM, SEVERAL PEOPLE SAID, WHERE'S THE FIRST PLACE WE CAN EAT WHEN WE GET UP THERE? AND I'M LIKE, HOPE YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY, BECAUSE THAT'S WAY UP THERE. SO THE ONE THING THAT WE NEED TO DO, BECAUSE THEY COME HERE AND THEY GET ON, THEY EAT IN PAGE COUNTY. MM-HMM. WHEN THEY COME OFF THE DRIVE. YEP. SO WE NEED TO SAY EAT FIRST. YOU WON'T BE IN LINE AS LONG AND IT, YOU WON'T BE HUNGRY IN LINE AT LAY. SO WE'RE LOSING A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE OF THAT. THERE'S VERY FEW THAT STARTED P AND COME DOWN IS OLD JOEL'S STEAKHOUSE, IS THAT IN OR OUTSIDE? THE, IT'S IN, THAT'S IN. OKAY. IT'S IN THE TOWN, BUT THERE ARE, THERE ARE SITES WHERE WE CAN LOOK AND TRY TO DEVELOP RESTAURANTS IN THE COUNTY AND THERE ARE PLACES WE CAN LOOK. SO, UH, GOING BACK TO THESE, UH, JOB DESCRIPTIONS. MM-HMM. . SO WHAT, WHAT IS THE ASK TO REVIEW THESE, TO LOOK AT THESE? AND IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, WELL, WHY CAN'T WE HAVE THIS PERSON DO THIS? OR WHY DO WE HAVE THIS PERSON DOING THAT? SEND US A NOTE. JUST SEND US A NOTE AND ASK, SAY, I'D LIKE, I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE EMPHASIS ON THIS, OR LESS EMPHASIS ON THAT OR SOMETHING. THIS IS WHEN WE'RE FILLING THE POSITION, IS THE TIME TO CHANGE THE JOB DESCRIPTION. SO THIS IS WHY WE ARE ASKING YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT 'EM AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK. WELL, THE ONLY COMMENT THAT I HAVE WITH THE DIRECTOR OF ECONOMICS, I, I KNOW, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY BEFORE I CAME ON BOARD, I WAS TOLD THE REASON WHY WE HAD A DIRECTOR, THE COUNTY PAID FOR THE DIRECTOR POSITION, IS TO SEPARATE THE, UM, THE ROLES BETWEEN THE EDA AUTHORITY AND THE COUNTY AS FAR AS FINANCIAL, UM, NO TRANSACTIONS AND THINGS. I DON'T KNOW. DO, DO. UH, AND I LOOKED AT THAT WHEN I HEARD THAT I, I, I LOOKED AT IT AS A, UH, CORRECTIVE ACTION OF WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE. SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT STANDS OR NOT. IF THE BOARD HAS THE GOLD, THE BOARD SHOULD SET THE RULES. THE BOARD SHOULD NOT BE GIVING THE MONEY TO ANOTHER AGENCY TO DO SOMETHING OPPOSITE OF WHAT THE BOARD HAS IN MIND. OH, ABSOLUTELY. AND, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A MEETING THIS WEEK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS CREATED OUTSIDE THE BOARD LIMITS MM-HMM. UH, THAT SOMEBODY WANTS TO HOLD THE BOARD RESPONSIBLE FOR AND THE BOARD DIDN'T DO IT. AND, UH, SO THEREFORE THIS, WE MOVE THE POSITION OVER. SO IF WE'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THEM, THEN THE BOARD IS, THEY'RE GONNA BE REPORTING BACK TO THE BOARD. NOW WE GOT INTO MORE ADMIN OVER HERE WITH THE EDA THAT WAS INTENDED. RIGHT. UH, AND WE CAN, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT BECAUSE, UH, THE EDA DOES NOT NEED ALL THAT. OKAY. THAT'S ALL WE HAVE. MA'AM. CAN YOU REMIND ME WHEN IS THAT MEETING, SIR? WHEN, WHEN IS THAT OTHER MEETING? THIS WEEK? I DIDN'T HAVE THAT ON MY CALENDAR. IT'S, UM, MR. JAMESON AND MYSELF. OH, OKAY. THANK YOU. YEAH. YEAH. THE REST OF YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK, . ANYTHING ELSE? IF NOT, ARE WE READY TO ADJOURN? THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU EVERYBODY HAVE A SAFE TRIP HOME. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.