* 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. [00:00:01] I WOULD LIKE TO CALL TO THE ORDER [Board of Supervisors on February 18, 2026.] THE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH, 2016, UM, MEETING OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. I WANNA SAY GOOD EVENING TO ALL OF YOU. GLAD IF ALL OF YOU THOUGHT ENOUGH TO COME AND HEAR ABOUT YOUR COUNTY. WE ARE GONNA START OFF WITH OUR INVOCATION, AND IT'S BY REVEREND VICTOR, UH, DRUMMOND. DRUMMOND. OH, IT YOUR PASS, ISN'T IT? YES. . OKAY. REVEREND VICTOR DRUMMOND III. HE'S THE PASTOR OF ADAMS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, COORDINATOR OF CHURCH VITALITY, COASTAL VIRGINIA, UH, CHURCHES OF THE UNITED METHODIST, CHURCHES OF EASTERN SHORE, VIRGINIA. ASK HIM, DO YOU INVOCATION WANT YOU TO REMAIN STANDING? AND FOR OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE? AMEN. PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYER. GRACIOUS AND SOVEREIGN GOD, WE PAUSE IN THIS MOMENT WITH GRATITUDE FOR THE GIFT OF THIS DAY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER IN SERVICE TO THIS COMMUNITY. WE RECOGNIZE THE WEIGHT AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS WORK, AND WE DO NOT TAKE LIGHTLY THE TRUST PLACED IN THOSE WHO LEAD. WE ASK THAT YOU GIVE US WISDOM AND GIVE THESE SUPERVISORS WISDOM THAT THEY DELIBERATE AND DECIDE, CLEAR THEIR MINDS AND STUDY THEIR HEARTS, GUIDE THEIR CONVERSATION, MAY DISCERNMENT RISE ABOVE DIVISION AND UNDERSTAND AND PREVAIL OVER ASSUMPTION. HELP THEM LISTEN CAREFULLY. S SPEAK THOUGHTFULLY AND ACT COURAGEOUSLY FOR ALL FOR THE GOOD. WE ACT THAT YOU BLESS THIS COUNTY. ITS FAMILY, ITS BUSINESSES, SCHOOLS, FARMS AND WATERS IN EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTED HERE. STRENGTHEN THOSE WHO ARE WORRIED. PROVIDE FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED AND PROTECT THOSE WHO SERVE QUIETLY AND FAITHFULLY EACH DAY. AS WE BEGIN THIS MEETING, FILL THIS PLACE WITH CLARITY, PEACE, AND THE SPIRIT OF UNITY. MAY THE WORK ACCOMPLISH HERE CONTRIBUTE TO THE WELLBEING AND FLOURISHING OF THIS ENTIRE COMMUNITY WITH HUMBLE HEARTS. WE OFFER THIS PRAYER. AMEN. AMEN. THANK YOU. A LEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INDICATION. I THINK I FAILED TO ASK IF YOU HAVE YOUR CELL PHONES. WOULD YOU SO KINDLY PUT THEM ON MUTE OR BETTER YET? OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH OUR AGENDA. WE DON'T HAVE TO CONSIDER REMOTE PARTICIPATION. ONE OF OUR MEMBERS ISN'T HERE, BUT, UM, HE'S TRAVELING SO HE'S NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO REMOTE PARTICIPATION EITHER GO. SO THE NEXT THING ON OUR AGENDA IS ADOPT THE AGENDA. MOVE IT. MADAM CHAIR, I WOULD ASK THAT. 3.1. RECOGNIZED AS A VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY FOR 100 YEARS OF SERVICE TO BE CONTINUED NEXT YEAR. I MEAN NEXT YEAR, NEXT MONTH. UH, THE PRESIDENT WHO'S GONNA BE IN PRESIDENT TO, UH, TO RECEIVE THE, UH, RECOGNITION IS, UH, IS ILL TODAY. OKAY. SO ASK THAT BE REMOVED. MADAM CHAIRMAN, I'LL INCLUDE THAT. INCLUDE THAT IN YOUR MOTION HERE. A SECOND. SECOND. IT'S A MOVE. AND PROPERLY SECOND WITH THAT, UH, DELETION OR CONTINUOUS, I SHOULD SAY. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THE MOTION? HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE A. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. UH, DID ANYONE SIGN UP FOR THE PUBLIC? NO, MA'AM. OKAY. WE'RE DOWN TO THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOVE IT SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVING PROBABLY SECOND THAT WE, UH, APPROVE OUR CONSENT AGENDA. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION IS CARRIED. NEXT ONE. OUR AGENDA IS TO RECEIVE THE FY BUDGET REQUEST FROM THE MACK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND I THINK OUR SUPERINTENDENT IS HERE. LEMME JUST START BY SAYING THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UM, HEARING US TONIGHT. WE ARE HERE TO PRESENT THE MACK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL'S BUDGET, PROPOSED BUDGET. UM, WE WILL ALSO BE ASKING FOR THE APPROPRIATION OF THE CARRYOVER FUNDS. AND OUR CHIEF OPPER OR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, MS. BETH, ONLY WILL BE PRESENTING TONIGHT. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. GOOD EVENING. SO I'VE GIVEN ALL OF YOU A BUDGET BOOK FOR LATE NIGHT READING. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO HELP YOU GO TO SLEEP. I'M NOT GONNA BE GOING OVER THE DETAILS OF THAT BOOK, BUT IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO US. UM, I AM GOING TO GO OVER AN OVERVIEW OF THAT, WHICH I'VE ALSO PRINTED OUT FOR YOUR REFERENCE. 'CAUSE I KNOW WITH ME SOMETIMES IT'S EASIER TO SEE THINGS IN FRONT OF ME. EXCUSE ME. [00:05:01] SO I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF A BACKGROUND ON AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP. THE FIRST SLIDE YOU CAN SEE, OH, THAT'S UP TO ME. SORRY. THIS IS A HISTORY OF OUR AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP SINCE 2015. UH, AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP IS A ROLLING AVERAGE OF NOT ENROLLMENT, BUT HOW MANY, HOW MANY SEATS, HOW MANY SEATS ARE OCCUPIED? I DON'T WANNA SAY THE ACRONYM THAT THEY USUALLY SAY FOR THAT, BUT HOW MANY CHILDREN ARE IN SEATS DAILY? WE LIVE AND DIE BY WHAT WE HAVE ON MARCH 31ST. SO WHATEVER THE MARCH 31ST REPORT IS, IS WHAT GOES IN. AND SO FOR MARCH 31ST, 2026, THAT WILL BE THE FINAL REVENUES WE WILL RECEIVE FOR ALL REVENUES BASED ON A DM FOR THE 25 26 SCHOOL YEAR. SO I WILL SHOW YOU IN A FEW MINUTES HOW MANY REVENUE ACCOUNTS ARE ACTUALLY DEPENDENT ON THIS A DM. BUT I WANTED YOU TO SEE, EXCUSE ME, THAT WE HAVE HAD, AS OF LAST YEAR, 2025, A DECREASE OF OVER A HUNDRED CHILDREN. AND THIS IS NOT SPECIFIC TO ACK COUNTY. WHEN DR. MILLER AND I ARE AT CONFERENCES AND EVEN ON ON VIRTUAL MEETINGS, WE ARE HEARING THAT THIS IS A STATEWIDE TREND. SO THIS IS NOTHING SPECIFIC TO MACK. SO THE NEXT PAGE IS JUST THE ANALYSIS THAT WE PUT IN TO DECIDING WHAT A DM FIGURE WE WILL USE AND ESTIMATING OUR 26 27 BUDGET. SO AS I, AS I SAID, A NUMBER OF REVENUE ACCOUNTS ARE BASED ON A DM. THE STATE GIVES YOU A PROJECTION AND YOU JUST SEE THAT WE DECIDED TO USE THE STATE'S PROJECTION. UH, THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON AS THE STATE AS A WHOLE. SO THE BOTTOM LINE, 42 79 0.350, I'M SORRY, I FORGET TO HAVE THIS. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE USING AS OUR STATE PROJECTION FOR 26 27. UM, WE FEEL IT'S BETTER TO BE CONSERVATIVE. WE DON'T WANT TO PUT AN INFLATED NUMBER IN THERE. AND THEN IN MARCH OF 27, FIND OUT WE DON'T HAVE THAT MANY IN A DM AND LOSE FUNDING THAT WE WERE COUNTING ON. THE NEXT GRAPH IS SOMETHING, I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE F FAMILIAR WITH THE LOCAL COMPOSITE INDEX. IT IS THE STATE'S MEASUREMENT OF THE WEALTH OF THE COUNTY. SO BASICALLY THE LOWER THE NUMBER, THE MORE STATE DOLLARS YOU RECEIVE. SO IF YOU LOOK AT OURS, IT'S GONE UP A LITTLE BIT. THIS, SO WE HAVE, YOU WANT YOUR A DM TO GO UP AND YOU WANT YOUR LCI TO GO DOWN AND YOU SEE WE ARE OPPOSITE OF THAT. SO IF I USE A FIGURE OF 0.33, THAT MEANS THAT THE STATE CALCULATES THAT OF EVERY DOLLAR NEEDED FOR SOQ FUNDED POSITIONS AND, AND BENCHMARKS THAT THE STATE WILL PROVIDE ROUGHLY 67%. AND THE LOCALITY SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR 33%. WE SEE THIS TIME IT'S 0.3548. SO A NUMBER OF REVENUE ACCOUNTS ARE ALSO ADJUSTED BY LCI AND THE LCI CHANGES EVERY BIENNIUM. SO WE WILL HAVE THIS LCI FOR FY 26, I'M SORRY, FY 27 AND FY 28. SO THESE ARE THE ACTUAL, UH, STATE REVENUE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY A DM AND LCI. SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THESE TWO NUMBERS HAVE A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON OUR STATE REVENUE. THIS NEXT SLIDE IS A LITTLE OLD BECAUSE THINGS ARE CHANGING DAILY WITH THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. UH, DR. MILLER'S GETTING WEEKLY UPDATES, LEGAL UPDATES, BUT THIS IS WHERE IT STOOD. WHEN WE ORIGINALLY MADE THIS PRESENTATION, UH, THE GOVERNOR RELEASED THE CABOOSE BUDGET. THAT WOULD BE GOVERNOR YOUNGIN. UH, HE PROPOSED THE STATE SHARE. SO WHENEVER THEY STAY, THE STATE SHARE THAT IS BASED ON LCI AND IT'S BASED ON SOQ POSITIONS. EVERY SCHOOL DIVISION IN THE COMMONWEALTH HAS A HIGHER NUMBER THAN SOQ POSITIONS. IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE BASEMENT. IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE, THE LOW BENCHMARK. SO IF IN A PARTICULAR SCHOOL THE, UH, OQ SAYS YOU SHOULD HAVE FOUR OR THREE FOURTH GRADE TEACHERS, WE MIGHT HAVE FOUR. SO WE, WE ARE ABOVE THE OQ STANDARDS. SO WHEN THEY SAY THEY'RE GONNA GIVE YOU A BONUS OR A COMPENSATION SUPPLEMENT, IT IS ON, IT IS BASED ON SOQ POSITIONS. AND IT IS BASED ON THE STATE SHARE, WHICH IS BASICALLY ONE MINUS THE COMPOSITE INDEX. UH, WE WERE VERY HAPPY TO SEE THAT IN THAT BUDGET. THE MACK NORTH HAMPTON DISTRIBUTION WAS INCLUDED AND AN AMOUNT VERY SIMILAR AS TO WHAT WE'VE RECEIVED IN PAST YEARS. UH, THIS BOARD AS WELL AS THE SCHOOL BOARD, FOUGHT ACTIVELY IN RICHMOND TO TRY TO SECURE THOSE FUNDS. AND [00:10:01] I WAS PLEASED THAT THEY'RE STILL INCLUDED. IT ALSO INCLUDED THE STATE SHARE OF A 2% COMPENSATION SUPPLEMENTS IN BOTH OF THE NEXT TWO YEARS. AND IT LOWERED THE CONTRIBUTION RATES FOR THE BIENNIUM FOR THE VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEM. SO THAT'S NOT, ALRIGHT, PAUL. OH, SORRY. THAT'S ALL YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE TIMED OUT. I WAS LIKE, OH MY GOSH. I DIDN'T TURN IT OFF. SORRY. SO, A, A REDUCTION IN THE VRS RATES HELPS TO OFFSET AN INCREASE IN COMPENSATION SINCE VRS RATES, WHETHER IT'S VRS, WHETHER IT'S RETIREE HEALTHCARE CREDIT OR WHETHER IT'S GROUP LIFE, THEY'RE BASED ON YOUR SALARIES OF YOUR FULL-TIME POSITION. SO THAT WILL HELP OFFSET WHATEVER RAISE WE GIVE, UH, THE LOWER, THE LOWER A DM AND THE HIGHER LCI HAVE COMBINED TO GIVE US REVENUES, STATE REVENUES OF $679,000 LESS THAN WHAT WE HAVE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR. SO THE NEW ITEMS THAT WE HAVE INCLUDED IN THIS BUDGET, UM, SINCE THE 2% IS WHAT HAS BEEN PROPOSED. AND THAT'S CHANGING. DR. MILLER CALLED ME TODAY AND THERE'S THREE PROPOSALS OUT ON THE TABLE. SO WHO KNOWS WHAT WE'LL END UP GETTING. UH, BUT WE PUT IN A 3% SALARY COST OF LIVING INCREASE. UH, IF THE GOVERNOR IS FUNDING 2% OF THE STATE SHARE EVERY SCHOOL DIVISION, AND THE STATE'S GONNA GIVE AT LEAST A 2%. AND WE'RE TRYING TO NOT GET BEHIND, UH, THE 1.21% DECREASE IN THE BRS RATES. UH, WE HAVE INCREASED WHAT WE HAVE BUDGETED FOR LEGAL FEES IN SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS. WE PUT IN $150,000 EVERY YEAR BECAUSE OUR HEALTH INSURANCE CONTINUES TO GO UP. WE, UH, WE REALIZED A REDUCTION TWO YEARS AGO BECAUSE WE WENT OUT FOR RFP. WE MADE IT THROUGH THIS YEAR. WE'RE IN NOW BECAUSE WE NEGOTIATED A RATE CAP OF 11.5%. BUT NEXT YEAR IS ANYBODY'S GUESS. AND WE'RE GONNA GO OUT FOR RFP. WE'VE ALREADY HAD THE PRELIMINARY MEETING. WE'RE GONNA GO OUT FOR RFP THIS SPRING. SO OUR, OUR, UM, MEDICAL INSURANCE, DENTAL AND VISION IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN YOURS IN THAT YOUR, YOUR POLICY YEAR STARTS JULY 1ST. OUR STARTS OCTOBER 1ST BECAUSE OF NEW TEACHER HIRES. WE ALSO INCREASED, UH, THE ALLOTMENTS AND SPECIALS. WHEN I SAY SPECIALS, YOU'RE TALKING ART, MUSIC, BAND, THAT TYPE OF THING. UH, THREE FULL-TIME ATHLETIC DIRECTORS. THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY ACTUALLY COST. BUT AT DOING, AT HIRING THREE FULL-TIME ATHLETIC DIRECTORS FOR THE THREE HIGH SCHOOLS, WE NO LONGER NEED THE ATHLETIC SU ATHLETIC DIRECTOR SUPPLEMENT FOR MALE AND FEMALE SPORTS IN EACH SCHOOL. SO THAT HELPED OFFSET THAT COST. SO THE TOTAL NEW DOLLARS THAT WE'VE INCLUDED IN THIS BUDGET IS $1,193,000. SO THE LAST PAGE IS A SUMMARY. THERE'S THE DECREASE IN STATE REVENUES. UM, MIKE AND LESLIE SHARED WITH ME THAT THE INCREASE IN LOCAL REVENUE WITH THE FUNDING FORMULA SHARE IS, WHICH AROUND 52 50 3% IS $632,000. UH, WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE IN PERKINS. SO THAT LEAVES US $42,000 DOWN IN REVENUES. THE PROPOSED EXPENDITURES HAS 1 1 9 3. SO THE SHORTAGE IS 1.235 MILLION. YOU WILL ALSO SEE THIS FIGURE IN YOUR BOOK ON PAGE EIGHT WHEN WE'RE TALKING REVENUES. 'CAUSE YOU DON'T WANNA DISTRIBUTE A BUDGET WHERE REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES DON'T AGREE WITH EACH OTHER. SO YOU'LL SEE THAT NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE REVENUE PAGE IS WHAT WE ARE STILL SHORT AND HAVING A BALANCED BUDGET IS THE 1.235. SO THAT'S KIND OF OUR BUDGET IN A NUTSHELL. ARE THERE ANY, AND PLEASE FEEL FREE TO WA TO REACH OUT TO, TO ME OR TO DR. MILLER IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY, AND WE'LL BE GLAD TO EITHER ANSWER THEM OR DIRECT YOU TO THE RIGHT PERSON. MADAM CHAIR, SHE ASKED THAT'S FINE. GO AHEAD. THANK YOU, MS. ONLY. AND, UH, DR. MILLER, THANK, UH, WHAT? OH, SHE THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AGAIN, FOR BEING HERE AGAIN. UH, THIS MS ONLY, UM, UH, BACK IN 2019, AS YOU'RE AWARE, DR. MILLER MIGHT NOT BE AWARE THAT THE BOARD ADOPTED A, UH, CARRYOVER SCHOOL DIVISION CARRYOVER PO UH, FUND POLICY. MM-HMM . WHEREAS YOU MINUS THE ENCUMBRANCES THAT THE COUNTY WOULD KEEP 50% OF THE CARRY OVER AND 50% WOULD REVERT TO THE, UH, TO THE SCHOOL BOARD. AND DURING THAT TIME, COVID POPPED UP AND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS DECIDED NOT TO ENFORCE THAT POLICY BECAUSE OF THE UNKNOWN. NO ONE KNEW WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN DURING COVID. SO I TAKE [00:15:01] IT WITH THE, UM, WITH YOUR PLANS, WITH THE CARRY OVER FUND, UH, THIS YEAR, YOU'RE, IT APPEARS YOU'RE ASKING US FOR TO NOT ENFORCE THAT AGAIN THIS YEAR. IS THAT THAT BE CORRECT? YES. AND, AND JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS. SURE. MY MEMORY IS NOT PERFECT, BUT I THINK IN 29 19 WHEN WE DID IT, WE WERE ALLOWED OUR ENCUMBRANCES AND THEN I THINK WE WERE ALLOWED A 1.25%. YOU'RE, YOU'RE CORRECT. SO ANYTHING OVER THE 1.25% CONTINGENCY WOULD THEN BE SPLIT MODEST, THE AC CONFERENCES RIGHT. WOULD BE 50 50. RIGHT. 50 50. EXACTLY. AND SO THAT'S MY RECOLLECTION OF THE AGREEMENT. AND THEN, LIKE YOU SAID, IN 2020, WE HAD TO CLOSE SCHOOLS IN MARCH OF 2020. MM-HMM . UH, THEN WHEN WE WENT BACK IN THE 20 20, 21 SCHOOL YEAR, WE WERE ACTUALLY AMONGST ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN SCHOOL ATTENDANCE DIVISIONS IN THE STATE. BUT CHILDREN STILL ONLY WENT TWO DAYS A WEEK AT MOST. SO THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, 11 KIDS ON A BUS. WE HAD THE TIERED RUNS AND ALL THAT. SO WE HAD THE UNCERTAINTY OF THAT AND HOW TO SPEND THOSE FUNDS. UM, I THINK ANOTHER, ANOTHER FACET OF THE CARRY FORWARD WAS THE MACK PRIMARY SCHOOL RENOVATION. SURE. TO, TO HAVE THAT. BUT YES, THAT IS CORRECT. AND, AND JUST, JUST TO CONTINUE, UH, THAT AMOUNT AT, AT THE PRESENT TIME IS LIKE 29 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS, CORRECT? YES, SIR. GIVE OR TAKE A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS . AND, UM, I JUST, I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A HEADS UP. UH, THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IS, WE'RE FACING AN IMBALANCE IN ONE OF OUR TAX FUNDS. AND THAT'S THE EMS TAX FUNDS. IT'S LOOKING LIKE EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS WE'RE HAVING TO INCREASE THE TAX RATE TO KEEP UP WITH THE, UH, WITH THE FUND, TO BALANCE THE FUND. AND, UH, AND I HAVE ASKED THE BOARD TO CONSIDER, UH, FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS, IT WOULD BE THE TWO REMAINING YEARS OF THIS TERM, AND THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEXT TERM, UH, TO NOT TAKE, NOT DO THE 50 50 WITH THE, UH, WITH THE, UH, CARRYOVER FUNDS, BUT OF THE 29 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE BOARD TO KEEP $2 MILLION TO PLUG THE DEFICIT THAT WE HAVE NOW WITH THAT EMS TAX FUND TO GIVE THIS BOARD AT TI AMPLE TIME TO TRY TO RESTRUCTURE THAT EMS TAX FUND FOR THE TAXPAYERS. THEY CAN'T AFFORD A TAX INCREASE EVERY OTHER YEAR. IT WOULD BE EASY TO PASS THIS DOWN TO ANOTHER BOARD, BUT, BUT I WOULD LIKE, AND I HAVE ASKED THE BOARD TO CONSIDER, TO CONSIDER, UH, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SUPPORTING A 50 50 SPLIT, BUT I'VE ASKED THE BOARD TO CONSIDER KEEPING $2 MILLION OUTTA 29 AND A HALF MILLION TO CARRY US OVER THE THREE YEARS WITHOUT RAISING TAX, WITHOUT RAISING DEBT TAX SO THAT WE CAN RESOLVE THIS, UH, THIS TAX SITUATION FOR, UH, FOR THE FUTURE. AND, AND IF WE CAN DO THAT, THAT'LL HELP THE SCHOOLS BECAUSE THE, YOU KNOW, THE MORE, THE MORE WE TAX PEOPLE, THE MORE THEY'RE HURT. AND, UH, AND THE, AND THE FASTER THE DEBT FUND RUNS A DEFICIT, UH, THEN THE CHANCES OF HAVING TO TAKE MONEY FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS TO FILL THAT, UH, THAT, UH, DEFICIT, UH, INCREASES. SO I JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A HEADS UP OF WHAT I'VE ASKED, UH, THE BOARD TO CONSIDER. WELL, I, I UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE YOUR POSITION, BUT IT'S, IT'S MY POSITION THAT I'M SUPPOSED TO ADVOCATE FOR THE SCHOOLS YOU HAVE TO AND ADDRESS FOR THE NEEDS OF THE FACILITIES AND INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF AND THE EMPLOYEES. I'D BE DISAPPOINTED IF YOU DID. YES. . SO I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT, UM, I UNDERSTAND. I UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR. OKAY, MR. DEWI. WELL, AFTER FOLLOWING THAT, MY QUESTION SEEMS VERY SMALL, . UM, WHEN YOU SAY YOU HAVE THREE FULL-TIME ATHLETIC DIRECTORS IN MY PAST HISTORY, HISTORY, YOU IN THE DARK AGES WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL, THE ATHLETIC DIRECTORS WERE TEACHERS WHO DID THAT AS AN ADDITION. ARE THESE GUYS GONNA BE ONLY ATHLETIC DIRECTORS AND NOT TEACHERS AS WELL? AND, AND THAT IS WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. OKAY. WE HAVE TEACHERS WHO ARE, MAYBE WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT TEACHERS. IT VARIES PER SCHOOL. RIGHT. UH, EVERY SCHOOL'S DIFFERENT. WE HAVE TWO ATHLETIC DIRECTORS AT EACH HIGH SCHOOL, ONE FOR FEMALES, ONE FOR MALES, AND THEY GET A SUPPLEMENT. UH, SOME ARE TEACHERS, SOME ARE NOT. SO THIS WOULD BASICALLY, THIS WOULD BE A FULL, A FULL-TIME JOB BECAUSE, UM, YOU JUST REFER TO HOW FAR, HOW FAR BACK. YOU RECOLLECT THIS FROM TALKING TO MY STAFF. I'M SORRY. NO, I'M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. THAT'S, I'M SURE I'M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. BUT IN TALKING TO MY STAFF, WE'RE ONE OF THE FEW DIVISIONS IN THE STATE THAT DOESN'T HAVE THIS AS A FULL-TIME POSITION. AND I THINK THAT DR. MILLER COULD SPEAK BETTER ON THAT THAN ME. BUT THAT'S WHY THE BOARD FELT THIS WAS A REAL NEED. SO WE HAVE SOMEBODY TEACHING THREE BLOCKS A DAY. YOU HAVE ONE BLOCK OFF, WHICH IS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW. RIGHT. AND THEN THEY'RE DOING ALL THE SCHEDULING AND THE GOING TO THE GAMES AND ALL THAT, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF WORK TO IT. THAT'S FINE. AND, AND YOU'RE RIGHT, I GRADUATED IN 1971, [00:20:01] SO THAT WAS ALMOST LIKE A DIFFERENT, I GRADUATED IN THE SEVENTIES ALSO. SO, , THANK YOU FOR YOUR, YOU'RE WELCOME. MADAM CHAIR. MR. PARKS. MS. OLEY. MM-HMM . CAN WE, SO I, I I LIKE TO BREAK THINGS DOWN AND BE REALLY CLEAR. MAYBE IT'S 'CAUSE I'M THICK, BUT, UM, CAN YOU GO OVER WHERE, SO THE DE DECREASE IN STATE REVENUES IS THE FY 27. YOU'RE EXPECTING 678,982 DECREASE IN STATE REVENUES BECAUSE OF WHAT? A COMBINATION. IT'S EXACERBATED BY THE COMBINATION OF THE INCREASE IN THE LCI AND THE DECREASE IN A DM. THAT'S WHY I GAVE YOU ALL THOSE REVENUE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY THAT. AND IF YOU LOOK AT PAGE EIGHT IN YOUR BOOK, IT'S A LINE ITEM DESCRIPTION OF EVERY REVENUE THAT WE RECEIVE FROM THE STATE. IT'S WHAT WE RECEIVE FOR FY 26, OR WHAT WE'RE PROJECTED TO RECEIVE AND WHAT WE ARE PROJECTED TO RECEIVE FOR FY 27. BUT THE DECREASE IS BEING CAUSED BY THOSE TWO FACTORS. WELL, IF, IF I MAY GO, SO MY RECOLLECTION IS THAT THERE'S MULTIPLE WAYS THE STATE PROVIDES FUNDING TO THE SCHOOLS. SO IS THIS ON ONE LINE, ONE ONE VENUE OF THAT FUNDING? OR IS IT ACROSS MULTIPLE, ACROSS MULTIPLE OF THOSE OF THOSE REVENUE ACCOUNTS THAT I LISTED UP THERE. OKAY. AND IF YOU LOOK AT PAGE EIGHT, YOU'LL SEE EVERY STATE REVENUE ACCOUNT AND YOU'LL SEE THE INCREASE OR DECREASE FROM THE CURRENT YEAR. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OH, I'M, I'M MOVING ON. YOU CAN MOVE IT ON. YES, I HAVE. SORRY IF IT, IS THERE A HOOK SOMEWHERE? NOT NO, NO, YOU'RE FINE. SO LAST NIGHT OUR SCHOOL BOARD HELD A PUBLIC HEARING FOR CARRY FORWARD FUNDS. UH, AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU. UM, AND AS DR. MILLER STATED PREVIOUS TO ME, WE ARE ASKING FOR AN ALL, UH, AN APPROPRIATION OF THAT. AND TO, UH, IT, THERE'S NO WAY ALL THESE PROJECTS WILL BE DONE IN, IN ONE YEAR. IT, THESE PROJECTS TAKE SEVERAL YEARS. LOOK AT MACK PRIMARY. UM, I THINK THEY'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT MACK PRIMARY FOR 30 YEARS. SO, AND THAT IS, BY THE WAY, SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED. FINGERS CROSSED. MARCH OF 2027. SO THAT IS THE FIGURE SHERIFF CROCKETT THAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO. SURE. THE TOP NUMBER AT THE TOP. IT WAS, UH, BASED ON THE JUNE 30TH, 25 AUDITED ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. I REQUESTED THAT AMOUNT IN JANUARY. 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, WE WERE BUSY TRYING TO GET THE AUDIT OUTTA HERE AND DID BETTER THAN WE HAD IN YEARS. UH, KUDOS. AND THAT IS WHERE IT ENDED UP. AND I FOUND THIS OUT IN JANUARY. UM, THIS AMOUNT INCLUDES THE TWO AND A HALF MILLION THAT THE COUNTY PLEDGED TOWARDS MACK PRIMARY SCHOOL. SO THE TWO AND A HALF MILLION IS, IS IN THIS NUMBER. UH, IT AFFECTS THE CURRENT PRESENTATION OF CARRY FORWARD BECAUSE OUR SCHOOL BOARD HAD A PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS LAST MARCH, APRIL, AND APPROVED IT THEN. BUT THE BULK OF IT, IT WAS ALL TO BE SPENT BASICALLY IN 20 FY 26. SO THEREFORE WE DIDN'T COME FOR APPROPRIATION UNTIL WE HAD THE FINAL AMOUNT AFTER 25, SINCE IT WOULD AFFECT THAT TOTAL. SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE SOME PROJECTS THAT I HAVE EITHER AN ASTERISK OR A NUMBER SIGNED BY THE ASTERISK INDICATES THAT SOME OF THOSE FUNDS WERE SPENT FOR THAT PROJECT PRIOR TO JUNE 30TH OF 25. SO THEY'RE NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL AND THE NUMBER SIGN INDICATES COMPLETED PROJECTS. AND SOME OF IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE, WHY ARE WE GOING IN THIS ORDER? THE REASON THAT WE'RE GOING IN THIS ORDER IS FOR THOSE IN THE PUBLIC OR ON MY SCHOOL BOARD, WHO ARE LOOKING AT WHAT WAS PRESENTED LAST APRIL AND COMPARING IT TO THIS ONE. SO THEY GO LINE FOR LINE FOR A WHILE AND THEN THEY BRANCH OUT. SO THE ORIGINAL BUDGET WAS 10 MILLION. WE DID SPEND QUITE A BIT ON AAC PRIMARY SCHOOL. WE DID SPEND QUITE A BIT PRIOR TO JUNE 30TH OF 25 ON OUR ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING FEES. SO THIS IS, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE ARE ONLY 79,000 IN THIS 'CAUSE. THAT IS ALL THAT REMAINS ON THE CONTRACT AFTER JUNE 30TH OF 25. FOR DI'S ARCHITECT, THE, UH, ARCHITECT FIRM WE SELECTED THROUGH AN RFP. THESE ARE, EXCUSE ME, AFTER IT SAYS REMAINING ARCHITECT AND ENGINEERING FEES, THESE ARE ITEMS THAT HAVE COME UP DURING DEMOLITION. AND YOU CAN IMAGINE WHEN WE ARE DOING A, A DEMOLITION OF A BUILDING OF THAT AGE, YOU'RE GONNA COME UP WITH THINGS. SO THIS IS BETWEEN OUR FACILITIES DIRECTOR TALKING TO OUR CONTRACTOR, TST, AND THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE ANTICIPATING. UH, WANTED TO ADD AN EXTRA A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO THE CONTINGENCY WHEN YOU'RE, WE LEARNED THIS WHEN [00:25:01] WE DID THE REMODELING OF SHIG, HIGH KETE AND TIG, WHEN YOU ARE REMODELING AN OLD SCHOOL, YOU NEED A CONTINGENCY. THIS SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN THE 1930S. SO THAT IS WHERE WE ARE ON REMAINING FUNDS FOR MACK PRIMARY, UH, RENOVATION. AND THAT'S A, A RENDITION OF WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE, EXCEPT WE WILL HAVE THE BIG TREES IN THE FRONT. SO NOBODY GET UPSET. THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE CUT DOWN. THIS IS JUST FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. CAN YOU SAY THAT AGAIN? ? THERE WILL BE NO CUTTING OF THE SYCAMORE TREES IN THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. SO, UH, THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS WE WERE ASKED. WHY ARE THERE SMALL TREES HERE? , SO I UNDERSTAND. BUT IT WAS JUST A, A RENDITION. AS YOU KNOW, WE ARE CONSTRUCTING TWO GYMS. WE DID RECEIVE ABOUT 2.8 MILLION FROM THE STATE TO COMPLETE A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT. THIS AMOUNT IS IN OUR CARRY FORWARD BECAUSE WE WERE GIVEN YEARS TO SPEND IT. UH, WE ENDED UP SPENDING THAT ON ABOUT ONE OF THE GYMS, BUT WE ARE DOING TWO. THESE ARE THE REMAINING FUNDS TO COMPLETE THOSE GYMS. THE TOP ONE IS, UH, NAN A HIGH SCHOOL. IT'S AN AUXILIARY GYM. IT WILL BE ABLE TO HOUSE A FULL-SIZE BASKETBALL COURT AND NOT MUCH ELSE, BUT THAT WILL ENABLE THEM TO PRACTICE BASKETBALL IN THERE ON A FULLS SIZE COURT. THE SECOND ONE, IT SHOWS HOW THE ENTRANCE TO TIG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. YEARS AGO, WE BUILT A GYM AT KEA TANK AND PONCA TIG NEVER GOT ONE. SO THIS IS, UH, AN ATTEMPTED EQUITY IN OUR SCHOOLS, WHICH IS WHAT WE STRIVE FOR. WE TOOK THE ITEMS OUT OF OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. WE SUBMIT THAT PLAN TO YOU TOWARDS THE END OF A CALENDAR YEAR, EVERY YEAR. UH, THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT WE PICKED LAST SPRING THAT WERE TO BE COMPLETED IN THIS SCHOOL YEAR. YOU'LL SEE THE ASTERISK MEANS THAT SOME OF THE FUNDS WERE SPENT BEFORE JUNE 30TH, 25. AND THE NUMBER SIGN IS THAT IT HAS SINCE BEEN COMPLETED. SO THESE ARE, UH, THE ONE AT THE TOP, A STORAGE OPERATION BUILDING. YOU KNOW, THAT WE UTILIZED, UH, BAILEY HALL FOR A LONG TIME. WE DO NOT HAVE ADEQUATE STORAGE FOR DRY FOOD PRODUCTS, CUSTODIAL PRODUCTS, HVAC FILTERS. WE NEED SOME SORT OF A WAREHOUSE. WE ARE CURRENTLY USING, UH, WHAT WAS A CAREER AND TECHNICAL CLASSROOM AT NANDU HIGH SCHOOL FOR THAT. SO THAT IS TO, UH, ADD A WAREHOUSE BUILDING. AND THAT'S THE PROJECTED ARCHITECTURAL FEE. UM, THE OTHER THINGS ARE KIND OF SELF-EXPLANATORY, SO I'LL MOVE ON UNLESS THERE'S QUES THERE ARE QUESTIONS. SO WHEN WE WERE COMING UP WITH THE LIST LAST SPRING FOR CARRY FORWARD, WE LOOKED THROUGH, WE HAVE EVERY SCHOOL AND DEPARTMENT SUBMIT A BUDGET REQUEST TO US EVERY YEAR TOWARDS THE END OF THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR. SO WHEN WE ARE LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE THIS, WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL OF THOSE BUDGET REQUESTS AND WE'RE PICKING ITEMS OUT THAT COULD BE CAPITAL IN NATURE. SO EVERY ONE OF THESE CAME FROM EITHER A DEPARTMENT HEAD OR A SCHOOL ON ITEMS CAPITAL IN NATURE THAT THEY WANTED FOR THEIR SCHOOL. SO WE INCLUDED THOSE LAST SPRING AS WELL AT THE BOTTOM HISTORY TEXTBOOKS WE HAVE, AND WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO BUY THEM BECAUSE THE STATE HAS NOT PROVIDED A LIST AT THIS POINT. SO WE WERE EXPECTING TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM BEFORE. NOW. AND ONCE AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT, DR. MILLER'S IN A BETTER POSITION TO ANSWER THAN ME. BUT THE STATE BASICALLY RELEASES A LIST OF APPROVED TEXTBOOKS. WE HAVE A COMMITTEE, WE GO THROUGH THEM ALL. WE TALK TO REPRESENTATIVES. WE PICK A TEXTBOOK, WE ADOPT. WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE LIST FROM THE STATE. SO I THINK EVERYTHING ELSE IN THERE IS TAG, TALENTED AND GIFTED IN EDUCATION. WE USE ACRONYMS ALL THE TIME. SO IF THERE'S ONE THAT THAT YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, ONCE AGAIN, THIS CAME FROM LAST SPRING. SO WE WERE GONNA FUND A RETENTION AND A SIGN-ON BONUS THAT WA WAS APPROXIMATELY $1.8 MILLION. WE HAD USED SOME OF OUR ESSER FUNDS FOR RETENTION BONUS AND WE THOUGHT IT WOULD DO US WELL AND SERVE US WELL IN TRYING TO KEEP TEACHERS. THEN THE STATE CAME UP WITH THAT. WE COULD GIVE EVERYBODY A BONUS. AND IT HAD TO BE DONE PRIOR TO JUNE 1ST. SO THIS NUMBER FELL WAY SHORT OF WHAT WE ORIGINALLY CALCULATED IT TO BE. 'CAUSE IT'S BASICALLY ONLY SIGN ON BONUSES. THE SHIG GYM CONSTRUCTION. THIS IS ALSO AN EQUITY ISSUE. WE HAVE HAD DISCUSSIONS WE HAVE [00:30:01] TAKEN, UM, WE OWN THE PLANS FOR THE PONTI GYM AND YOU KNOW THAT MACK COUNTY SCHOOLS LOVES TO REUSE PLANS. LOOK AT THE ANNEXES. WE HAVE THREE OF THEM. LOOK AT, UM, KAGA TANK, PONCA TIG, LOOK AT MACK, ME TOMPKIN, THE TWO MIDDLE SCHOOLS. SO THE PLANS FOR THE PONTI SCHOOL AFTER SOME DISCUSSION HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT WE OWN THEM. SO WE WOULD LIKE TO PUT THAT SAME GYM AT SHIN ELEMENTARY. SO WE TOOK THE PONTI GYM CONSTRUCTION COST ADDED 10%. THERE'S GONNA BE MORE SITE WORK, UH, MORE SITE WORK ISSUES THERE AND AND SUCH AS THAT. SO I'M NOT BEING RUDE. HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU, BECAUSE WE HAVE A, OH, I'M SORRY. NO, I'LL GO THROUGH IT FASTER. , NO. . NO, NO, NO. I, WHAT I NEED FOR YOU TO DO IS KIND OF LIKE STICK A PEN IN IT OKAY. AND ASK YOU TO COME BACK. I WE HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING THAT'S SCHEDULED AT SIX AND I HAVE TO ADHERE TO THAT. I GOT YOU. OKAY, SURE WILL. ALRIGHT. THIS SHOULDN'T TAKE LONG. OKAY. HAS ANYONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC HEARING? I'M SORRY, I HAD TO DO THAT. NO, MA'AM. OKAY. EASY, EASY. P WE'RE GONNA ASK MR. MR. PROCTOR IF SHE WOULD COME FORWARD. IT'S THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ORDINANCE READOPTING, THE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 56 MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC. THAT IS CORRECT. THANK YOU. MADAM CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. THIS ITEM IS TO CONFIRM THE ADOPTION OF AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 56 DASH TWO OF THE COUNTY CODE, WHICH WAS ADOPTED EARLIER AS AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE ON FEBRUARY 7TH, 2026. I'M SURE YOU ALL REMEMBER THAT. THE REASON IT WAS AN EMERGENCY IS BECAUSE IF WE DIDN'T REWORD THAT, THAT ORDINANCE, WE WOULD STOP BEING ABLE TO COLLECT FINES FOR TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS BASED ON A COURT'S COMMENT. UM, SO THE, THE LANGUAGE HAS BEEN CLEANED UP AND THE EMERGENCY UNDER THE CODE OF VIRGINIA, WE HAVE TO REAFFIRM THAT EMERGENCY ORDINANCE HAS NOW BEEN PROPERLY ADVERTISED. AND IT'S BEFORE YOU FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING. THERE WAS NO ONE WHO SIGNED. I WILL GIVE, UH, THE PRIVILEGE OF ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO THIS SUBJECT. NOW I CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING. UH, WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE, MR. CHAIR? I MOVE. WE APPROVE. SECOND. SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVED PROPERLY. SECOND THAT WE APPROVE. ANY FURTHER DIS DISCUSSION. HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. THANK YOU. SORRY, TECHNICALITIES. YOU GOT A BREAK? OKAY. OOPSIE. I THINK I ADVANCED BY THIS DAY. WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. . OKAY. SO I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE SHAKE A TICK GYM. SO THERE ARE THE NUMBERS ON THAT. UM, THE LAST ONE, ALL IN VIRGINIA, THAT WAS AN INITIATIVE STARTED BY, UH, GOVERNOR YOUNGIN. IT WAS A THREE YEAR INITIATIVE. ONCE AGAIN, THIS MONEY IS IN THE CARRY FORWARD MONEY, EVEN THOUGH IT, IT IS STATE MONEY. THIS IS WHAT IS LEFT TO BE SPENT AFTER JUNE 30TH, 2025. UH, WE HAVE A PLAN TO SPEND ALL OF THAT AS INTENDED BY ALL IN, UM, ALL'S AN ACRONYM, ATTENDANCE LEARNING. I CAN'T REMEMBER THE, ANYWAY, ALL'S AN ACRONYM. UH, AND WE HAVE PLANS TO HAVE THAT COMPLETELY SPENT BEFORE JUNE 30TH. AND, AND SOME OF THIS MONEY, LIKE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION ARE ALL IN. WE WOULD HAVE TO GIVE THAT IF WE DIDN'T SPEND IT, WE'D HAVE TO GIVE IT BACK TO THE STATE CONDENSING WATERLINE UNDER ARCADIA HIGH SCHOOL, UNDER THE OLD PART OF HIGH ARCADIA HIGH SCHOOL. SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO, THIS SUMMER, DRILL UP EVERYTHING. WE'RE HAVING A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH DRAINAGE AND WATER AND SEWER GOING OUT. THAT IS TO REPLACE THOSE LINES. THERE'S GONNA BE AN ASSOCIATED CEILING REPAIR WITH THAT THREE-WAY PIPING. THESE WERE ALL ADDED IN THE SPRING, ALSO AT, UM, NHS AND A BACKSTOP AND FINA THE BASEBALL FIELD OF CHIN HIGH, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED. SO THESE ARE NEW ITEMS AS NEW AS IN AFTER THE SPRING OF 25. UH, YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THIS, IT'S THE OLD BANK BUILDING AT MAXVILLE THAT IS GOING TO BE OUR MACK ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CENTER. UH, IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO HAVE $10 MILLION SPENT ON THIS BUILDING [00:35:01] ON COURTHOUSE AVENUE WITH THOSE TWO TRAILERS NEXT TO IT. AND THIS IS WHERE WE'RE GONNA PUT OUR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION, BECAUSE PART OF DOING MACK PRIMARY IS TO GET RID OF THOSE, THOSE, UH, TRAILERS. AND PART OF THE CHILDREN WHO ARE THERE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE IN A SCHOOL PER SE. THEY CAN BE IN A SCHOOL FACILITY, BUT NOT IN A SCHOOL. SO THESE ARE THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, FIXING UP THE AL MACK ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CENTER. I DON'T SEE ANY, EXCUSE ME. UH, ARE YOU READY FOR QUESTIONS? THAT'S FINE. OKAY. GO AHEAD, MR. WELL, THE OTHER THING I'M JUST ASKING ON THIS, I'M LOOKING AT THE PRICE, THE, ON THE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CENTER, I DON'T SEE ANY NUMBERS FOR FURNITURE BOOKS. IS THAT WE ALREADY HAVE THAT. SO YOU'VE ALREADY ACQUIRED ALL THAT? WE, WE HAVE, WE OPERATE THE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CENTER AND THOSE TWO TRAILERS ON THIS ROAD. YOU JUST GONNA MOVE IT FROM A TO B? YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. YEAH. WHICH WILL BE A MUCH NEEDED IMPROVEMENT. MADAM CHAIR. GO AHEAD. MR. BARTS. MS. ONLY BEFORE THE ACQUISITION OF THIS BUILDING, WHICH IS PRESENT, WHAT WAS THE PLAN FOR THE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CENTER? WELL, ON ONE OF THEM, WE HAD PLANNED TO ACTUALLY PUT IT IN ACK PRIMARY RENOVATION FOR ONE OF THE CLASSROOMS. AND WE WERE LOOKING FOR PLACES TO LEASE FOR THE OTHER ONE. UM, THANK YOU. AND, UM, MS. TURNER ACTUALLY HAD US LOOKING WHEN SHE WAS CHAIRMAN AT QUITE A FEW PLACES. AND IT WAS HARD TO FIND A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE STILL REQUIRED TO HAVE RECREATION MEALS AND, AND OTHER SERVICES. SO EVEN IF YOU JUST FOUND A SPACE, YOU COULDN'T NECESSARILY USE THE SPACE. IT HAD TO BE VERY SPECIFIC, WHICH IS WHAT WE CAN CRAFT THIS INTO. HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? IT VARIES. ROUGHLY, AVERAGE VARIES. I WOULD SAY 16 IN EACH PROGRAM. HOW MANY PROGRAMS? TWO. TWO. THERE'S WHAT WE CALL PROJECT RENE MM-HMM . WHICH IS WHEN, UH, STUDENTS ARE LONG-TERM SUSPENDED FOR TYPICALLY 45 DAYS. AND THEN THERE'S THE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT, UH, THRIVING IN THE NORMAL SCHOOL SETTING. AND WE MOVED THEM THERE FOR A BETTER CHANCE FOR SUCCESS. EXCELLENT. VERY IMPORTANT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . SO THIS IS WHAT WAS IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR THAT WE SUBMITTED TO THE COUNTY. IT'S, UH, AS I HAD A TRAIN REPRESENTATIVE TELL ME WHEN I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL FINISHED WITH HVAC, WHEN WE REPLACED THE CHILLERS, UH, THEY DROVE, DREW A LITTLE STICK FIGURE AND SAID, THE CHILLERS THE BODY, YOU STILL NEED THE HEAD, WHICH ARE THE CONTROLS, THE ARMS, WHICH ARE THE VAVS AND THE ASU. SO WE HAVE A PLAN, A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WITH TRANE. AND THESE ARE HOW WE'RE TRYING TO PHASE THESE IMPROVEMENTS IN. AND YOU SEE BOILER REPLACEMENT THERE AGAIN, JUST LIKE WE WENT THROUGH THE BUDGET REQUEST A YEAR AGO, WE WENT THROUGH THEM AGAIN THIS YEAR AND PULLED ITEMS THAT WE THOUGHT WERE VERY VALUABLE THAT DEPARTMENT HEADS AND, UH, PRINCIPALS, SCHOOL LEADERS HAD CHOSEN. AND THESE WERE THE, THE, UH, YOU SEE, WE'RE CONTINUING WITH THE HVAC HVAC'S. INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE. INCREDIBLY. SO WHERE YOU SEE ONE OF THOSE, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT'S THE, UH, VAVS OR THE ISSUES, I THINK IT'S THE VAVS THAT'S $1.3 MILLION FOR THOSE TWO SCHOOLS. WE'RE BREAKING IT UP IN PHASES. THESE ARE SOME NEW ITEMS THAT WERE ADDED BY INSTRUCTION. AND AGAIN, OUR FACILITIES, UH, SCIENCE TEXTBOOK, THEY'RE COMING UP FOR ADOPTION NEXT YEAR. SO WE WANTED FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM. THEY'RE QUITE TEXTBOOK ADOPTIONS ARE VERY COSTLY. SMART PANELS USED TO BE CALLED WHITEBOARDS, SMART BOARDS. NOW THEY'RE CALLED SMART PANELS. SO WITH THIS, EVERY INSTRUCTIONAL CLASSROOM IN MACK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL HAVE A SMART PANEL. AND THIS IS THE SUMMARY. SO ONCE AGAIN, IT'S A LOT. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO, TO CONTACT MY ME OR DR. MILLER. I CAN DIRECT YOU TO BOBBY BENNETT OR WHOEVER MIGHT BE ABLE TO BETTER ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IF IT'S MORE THAN WHAT I CAN EXPLAIN. UM, BUT WE HAVE PUT A LOT OF TIME INTO THIS AND I UNDERSTAND YOUR POSITION AND WE WOULD JUST LIKE YOU TO CONSIDER APPROPRIATING THESE FUNDS. OKAY. ANY FURTHER QUESTION? THANK YOU. THANK YOU. GO AHEAD MR. MADAM CHAIR. I'M SORRY. I DON'T, I, I LOOKED, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS APPROPRIATE OR NOT. MY, MY ASK WOULD BE UNDERSTANDING AND WELL PRESENTED. [00:40:01] IT'S, IT'S NICE HAVING TO BE HERE, I THINK THREE YEARS NOW TO FINALLY SEE THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL. UM, BUT THESE FUNDS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OVER SINCE 2019. 2020 CODE 2019. 2020. SO, WELL, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A VERY GOOD GRAPHIC THAT THE COUNTY'S PREPARED. OKAY. THAT SHOWS YOU EACH YEAR. GREAT. BUT, BUT THEY WERE SITTING THERE. MM-HMM . SO MY ASK WOULD BE IF THEY COULD GO BACK AND, AND RELOOK THIS AND COME BACK TO RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, IF, IF WE ARE GONNA HAVE TO PULL TWO, TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS, WHERE THAT WOULD COME FROM. AND I'D RATHER THE SCHOOLS MAKE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS TO US THAN RIGHT. I UNDERSTAND THAT. BECAUSE I CAN DO IT AND I'M NO, I I THINK THAT'S THE SCHOOL'S FUNCTION. YEAH. YOU KNOW, IF, IF THEY ARE APPROPRIATED AT A LESSER AMOUNT, OBVIOUSLY IT GOES BACK TO THE SCHOOL BOARD. I WOULD LIKE TO ALSO OFFER THAT THE ACKERMAN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVED A LOT OF CARES MONEY AND ESSER MONEY. AND THAT HAD A SUNSET. AND THE FOCUS WAS TO TRY TO SPEND THAT MONEY BECAUSE THAT HAD A CLEAR SUNSET. I'M NOT SAYING THAT THERE WAS AN AGREEMENT, BUT THAT IS WHAT THE FOCUS HAS BEEN SINCE I THINK WE RECEIVED OUR FIRST, UH, CARES ER MONEY IN THE LATE SUMMER, EARLY FALL OF 2020. AND IT KEPT COMING. SO, NO, I, YEAH, I'M FAMILIAR WITH THOSE FUNDS TOO. AND I, AND I, I'M, I'M NOT TRYING TO DEBATE, BUT I, I WOULD ALSO SAY THE, A LOT OF THESE ARE OPERATING EXPENSES THAT HAVE BEEN DEFERRED OR HAVEN'T BEEN DEALT WITH OUTTA YOUR BUDGET. AND SO NOW WE'VE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY. WE'RE TRYING TO CLEAN THAT UP AND I RESPECT THAT. BUT, BUT AS MR. CROCKETT SAID VERY WELL, WE'VE GOTTA LOOK OUT FOR THE WHOLE COUNTY AS WELL. UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU. OKAY. ANY HELP OVER THANK, THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. THE POSITION IS, I'M SORRY. NEXT ON I GENDER IS TO RECEIVE. HE SAID YOU DID A GOOD JOB. THANK YOU. NEXT ON OUR AGENDA ALSO, I WANNA, BEFORE I GO ON, I WANTED TO BE, I'D BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T THANK THE ACK COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE TONIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I'LL RECEIVE THE, UH, NINE 11 COMMISSIONERS FY BUDGET REQUESTS. MR. EVENING BOARD MEMBERS. UM, REALLY I TEND TO JUST DO TWO THINGS, SAY THANK YOU AND BE HERE FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MAY HAVE. UH, FOR THOSE, UM, WHO MAY NOT KNOW ME, I'M JEFF FLO LOY. I'M THE 9 1 1 DIRECTOR HERE FOR OUR REGIONAL 9 1 1 CENTER. AND AGAIN, I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE THIS EVENING. REGARDING THE FYI 27, UH, BUDGET REQUEST FOR THE NINE ONE COMMISSION, I DO EXPECT TO ALSO BE AT NORTHAMPTON'S, UH, BOARD MEETING NEXT WEEK. UH, FOR A SIMILAR TYPE OF DISCUSSION. ALL THE BUDGET REQUESTS FROM THE NINE ONE COMMISSION FOR FY 27 INCLUDED THE TRADITIONAL ONE THIRD REQUEST TO NORTHAMPTON COUNTY AND TWO THIRD REQUESTS TO AKIMA COUNTY. SEVERAL FY 27 FUNDING REQUESTS. UM, ALL, UH, WERE ONGOING OR REOCCURRING REQUESTS EXCEPT FOR ONE, WHICH WAS A ONE-TIME REQUEST. THEY WERE SUBMITTED TO BOTH COUNTIES FROM THE 9 1 1 COMMISSION. IT IS UNDERSTOOD AFTER REVIEWING THE RECOMMENDED FY 27 BUDGETS, SEVERAL ITEMS ARE BEING RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING AS WELL AS SEVERAL ITEMS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING IN MACK COUNTY NEXT FISCAL YEAR. BUDGET. UH, THANK YOU FOR THE ITEMS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING TO THE NINE ONE CENTER. IT'S UNDERSTOOD THAT ALL REQUESTS CANNOT BE FUNDED. THERE ARE DIFFERENT PRIORITIES THAT MUST BE ESTABLISHED AND DECISIONS MADE WITH LIMITED FUNDS AVAILABLE. SO, AGAIN, MY INTENT FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT IS TO THANK YOU FOR WHAT IS BEING RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING FOR YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT AND REALLY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY HAVE ABOUT THE NINE ONE CENTER AND OUR OPERATIONS. AND I'LL PAUSE NOW IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE NINE ONE CENTER. ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU SO MUCH. YES MA'AM. THANKS, JEFF. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANKS JEFF. UH, AT THIS TIME I'LL RECEIVED AKIMA COUNTY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FY BUDGET REQUEST. BEN, COME ON, MR. FOX. GOOD EVENING. I'M BEN FOX. I'M THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER FOR THE COUNTY. AND TONIGHT I'LL PRESENT THE NEW BUDGET REQUEST FOR THE IT DEPARTMENT FOR FY 27. OUR FIRST REQUEST IS ONE THAT YOU SEE EVERY YEAR. IT'S, UM, AN INCREASE ACROSS THE BOARD AND SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE CONTRACT COSTS. SO IT INCLUDES SOFTWARE USED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY, SUCH AS, UH, THE SOFTWARE THE TREASURER'S OFFICE USES, UH, WEBSITES. IT INCLUDES INCREASES IN, UM, COMPUTER COSTS, HARDWARE COSTS THAT, UH, ALL EMPLOYEES USE. EXCUSE ME. UH, NEXT REQUEST IS TO REPLACE END OF LIFE HARDWARE. YOU USUALLY SEE THIS ONE EVERY YEAR. 'CAUSE WE ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING THAT, UH, IS, IS HEADED TOWARDS, UH, [00:45:01] THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE. AND IN THIS CASE IT IS, UH, NETWORK SWITCHES AND WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS. SO THAT'S ALL ABOUT NETWORK CONNECTIVITY, HOW, UH, ALL THE COUNTY EMPLOYEES CONNECT TO THE NETWORK THROUGH THOSE DEVICES. SO THESE FUNDS WILL ALLOW US TO, TO KEEP THOSE IN SERVICE AND, AND, UM, PATCH PROPERLY, UH, FOR SECURITY VULNERABILITIES AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT. NEXT REQUEST IS LICENSING AND SUPPORT FOR VARIOUS CAMERAS THAT ARE USED ACROSS THE COUNTY. AND ALSO, UH, AN ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM THAT'S USED AT A, A COUPLE LOCATIONS HERE, UH, WITHIN THE COUNTY. AND, UM, SO ESSENTIALLY THAT'S A ANNUAL COST THAT IT JUST, IT PAYS FOR LICENSING AND SUPPORT. SO WITHOUT IT, THOSE DEVICES ARE ESSENTIALLY PAPER PLATES. YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T MANAGE 'EM, REALLY CAN'T USE 'EM WITHOUT, WITHOUT, UH, PAYING THE FEES THERE. EXCUSE ME. ALRIGHT, LAST REQUEST IS, UH, REPLACEMENT OF THE TV TRANSLATOR EQUIPMENT, ALSO KNOWN AS, UM, TRANSLATOR TELEVISION. AND, UH, WE'RE REQUESTING $135,000 HERE. UH, AND ESSENTIALLY THE EQUIPMENT, UH, THAT'S IN USE THAT PROVIDES THE, THE TRANSLATOR TELEVISION SERVICE IS APPROACHING ITS END OF OPERATIONAL LIFE. UH, SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT, UH, HAS BEEN IN USE SINCE 2012, SOME SINCE 2017. AND, UM, SPECIFICALLY THE 2017 EQUIPMENT, THE MANUFACTURER CAN ONLY GUARANTEE PARTS AVAIL AVAILABILITY THROUGH, UH, WAS IT 2028. SO WE, IF WE DON'T REPLACE THIS OR DISCONTINUE THE SERVICES, UH, ALTOGETHER, UM, WE, UH, WE COULD FIND OURSELVES IN A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE SITTING THERE WITH VERY OLD EQUIPMENT. WE, UH, AND NO WAY TO REPAIR IT IF IT WAS TO FAIL. UM, SO IT, UH, COULD RESULT, IF IT'S NOT FUNDED, IT COULD RESULT IN, IN DOWNTIME THAT WOULD EXTEND FOR DAYS OR, OR WEEKS IF WE, UH, CHOOSE TO, TO KEEP THE SERVICES UP AND RUNNING. AND THAT'S IT. YOU HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? OKAY. MR. HART, UH, THE TRANSMITTER TV, ARE WE BROADCASTING JUST FROM THE ONE TOWER NOW? THE, UH, FROM FROM MAPS, SCHOOL MAPS SPILL? CORRECT. SO THE, WE USED TO DO IT FROM MAPS AND VILLE, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S JUST MAPS SPILL. RIGHT. SO NOW IT'S ONLY NEEDED, UM, DUE TO BETTER TECHNOLOGY. WELL, I KNOW, I'M JUST SAYING FROM MAPS. SO WE, WE HAVE EQUIPMENT AT JUST ONE TOWER NOW. CORRECT. OKAY. CORRECT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM MR. FOX? THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ALL RIGHTY. THANK YOU. TIME TO DO AWAY WITH THAT. WE'RE DOWN TO OUR OLD BUSINESS. RECEIVED THE FORMAL MACK, UH, LIBRARY, A HUNDRED PERCENT ADAPTIVE. UH, WE USE PLANS. MR. LEE, MR. LEE'S HOPPING. MR. LEE, YOU HAVE TO STAND TRYING. YOU WERE HOPPING BACK THERE. YEAH, I WAS JUST TRYING TO GET BY. SO, OKAY. UM, LEE, PAM, A DEPUTY COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. I HAVE WITH ME, UM, JEREMY SHIFFLETT, WHO IS A DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS. WE'RE GONNA PROVIDE YOU JUST A REALLY QUICK UPDATE ON THE MACK, UM, LIBRARY REHAB. THIS IS THE SECOND BRIEFING. THE ORI THE FIRST ONE WE DID WAS BACK IN SEPTEMBER OF, UM, SEPTEMBER OF, UH, UH, UH, LAST YEAR, 2025. SO AT THAT TIME, WE BRIEFED YOU ON SOME OF THE EXTERIOR WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE. UH, NOTHING ELSE HAS BEEN DONE FROM AN EXTERIOR STANDPOINT. UH, BUDGET HAS NOT CHANGED. BEGINNING BUDGET WAS, UM, ALMOST 1.5 MILLION. THERE'S, UH, 962,000 REMAINING IN THAT. THERE IS GOING TO BE A BUDGET REQUEST FROM PUBLIC WORKS FOR AN ADDITIONAL 125,000 TO COVER THE UNEXPECTED COST OF, UH, UH, SEPTIC SYSTEM REPLACEMENT. THAT INCLUDES DESIGN, PERMITTING AND INSTALLATION. SO HERE'S WHERE THE UPDATE REALLY, UM, UH, REALLY GET STARTED. SO SINCE SEPTEMBER OF 25, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DEALS ARCHITECTS. WE, UH, AT THAT TIME IN SEPTEMBER, WE HAD RECEIVED THE 35% PLANS. SINCE THEN, WE'D RECEIVED 95% PLANS. AND FINALLY THE 100% PLANS, UH, RECEIVED JUST, UH, UH, ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF, TWO WEEKS AGO. THESE ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR, UH, FOR THE PROJECT. WE HAVE A DEADLINE TO REVIEW THOSE PLANS AND TO GET COMMENTS BACK TO THE, UH, BACK TO THE ARCHITECTS BY FRIDAY. AND, UM, UH, SUBMISSION OF THE, UH, SUBMISSION OF THE SEPTIC SYSTEM PERMIT TO THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH [00:50:01] WAS TO BE DONE. UH, THIS WEEK, ARCHITECTS ADDRESSING THE COMMENTS FROM THE COUNTY'S 100% REVIEW. AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE, UM, NEGOTIATING OF THE PRICING AFTER THAT, ISSUING THE PURCHASE ORDER, AND THEN BEGINNING OF THE CONSTRUCTION, UH, PUBLIC WORKS. AND THE ARCHITECT ANTICIPATE A SEVEN MONTH CONSTRUCTION WINDOW STARTING IN APRIL, AND THEN ENDING SOMETIME IN DECEMBER. AND I'D LIKE TO STRESS THAT'S ANTICIPATED. OH, YIKES. WOW. . THERE WE GO. UM, A COUPLE. NO . THAT WAS FAST. MOVE TO AUR. MOVE YOUR TURN. EXACTLY. SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS ASKED TO HIGHLIGHT WERE SOME, UH, FACTS AND FIGURES REGARDING THE PROPOSED MEETING ROOMS. AND, UH, THIS IS JUST A COMPARISON OF THE, UH, CURRENT BOARD CHAMBERS ALONG WITH THE PROPOSED MEETING ROOMS. IN THE, UH, IN THE, UH, UH, ON THE FLOOR PLAN, WE HAVE BASICALLY THREE PUBLIC MEETING SPACES, UH, I SHOULD SAY TWO PUBLIC MEETING SPACES AND A CONFERENCE ROOM, THE LARGE MEETING ROOM. UH, AND, AND FIRST OF ALL, THE LARGE MEETING ROOMS, ONE AND TWO ARE IN THE, UH, IN THE FORMER, UH, CHILDREN'S SECTION. THE LARGER MEETING ROOM IS TWICE AS LARGE AS THIS ROOM HERE AT, UH, UH, 1,287 SQUARE FEET. THERE IS ANOTHER SMALLER, LARGE MEETING ROOM IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO IT AT 900 SQUARE FEET. YOU SEE HERE ON THE, UH, ON THE TABLE THAT YOUR CURRENT BOARD CHAMBERS ARE 630 SQUARE FEET. AND THEN THE, UM, AND THEN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, WHICH IS RIGHT HERE IS, UH, 424 SQUARE FEET. THIS IS THE, UH, FLOOR PLAN FROM 35% PLANS. AND THE FLOOR PLAN HAS NOT CHANGED. UH, THEY HAVE GOTTEN INTO A LOT MORE DETAIL SINCE THEN. UH, UH, BUT AGAIN, THIS FLOOR PLAN IS THE EXACT SAME ONE THAT YOU SAW BACK IN SEPTEMBER. NOTHING HAS CHANGED AGAIN. UH, LARGE MEETING ROOM ONE, LARGE MEETING ROOM TWO. AND THEN HERE'S THE CONFERENCE ROOM, WHICH, UH, UM, WHICH IS ALSO IN A SECURED AREA. THIS BLUE AREA RIGHT HERE IS THE, UH, IS THE, UH, UH, RECEPTION AREA FOR THE PUBLIC WHERE WE CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE, UH, A RECEPTION AREA OR A PLACE FOR THEM TO WAIT WHILE THEY'RE BEING, UM, YOU KNOW, WHILE, WHILE THEY'RE WAITING IN LINE TO GET SERVICE FROM US. OTHER THAN THAT, WE JUST HAVE THE PICTURES FOR REFERENCE. AND, UM, AND I'M JUST GONNA ASK JEREMY IF YOU'VE GOT ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WANTED TO, UH, TO INCLUDE? UH, NOT REALLY. I MEAN, UM, SORRY. THAT'S ALRIGHT. YEAH. I DON'T HAVE REALLY MUCH TO ADD. UH, SINCE THE, UH, THE BUILDING HAS, THE FLOOR PLAN HASN'T CHANGED MUCH. UH, WE'RE JUST, RIGHT NOW WE'RE JUST TRYING TO NAIL DOWN A PRICE. THE CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN ON SITE SEVERAL TIMES LOOKING AT, UH, DIFFERENT ITEMS AND, UH, HE'S STARTING TO GET HIS PRICE TOGETHER. AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE A MEETING AT BEGINNING OF MARCH. UH, TRY TO NARROW DOWN THE NUMBERS. THAT'S ALL I HAD. OKAY. ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU GUYS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NEXT ON OUR AGENDAS IS TO CONTINUE THE DELIBERATIONS OF OUR, OUR PROPOSED, UH, COUNTY BUDGET AND TAX. WOULD YOU RATHER, UH, FOR ME TO DEFER THAT A LITTLE BIT AND GO THROUGH THE AGENDA? YES. I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE WIDE. I OKAY. GET THE AGENDA FINISHED. YEP. UM, WE ARE DOWN TO NUMBER NINE. WE'RE GONNA COME BACK TO 8.2 9.1 APPOINTMENTS. WE HAVE THE, UH, ECONOMIC EDA, UH, A REAPPOINTMENT FOR AVA, AON. I, I, SORRY, ASH HOPE AND SHE IT IS. AND SHE'S GOOD FOR A REAPPOINTMENT. I THINK THAT'S MY DISTRICT. YES MA'AM IT IS. OKAY. I MOVED THE SECOND. OKAY. IT'S BEEN MOVED. IT PROPERLY MOVES KIND OF HARD DUAL A MOTION CARE ONE. IT'S BEEN MOVED AND PROPERLY. SECOND THAT WE, UH, WE APPOINT, UH, MRS. ASHBY. I'M SORRY, MR. HOPE NO FURTHER DISCUSSION. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED IN THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. NEXT THING IS THE EDA REAPPOINTMENT FOR TERRY STRONG. THAT'S MINE. OKAY. I'D LIKE TO APPOINT TERRY STRONG FOR ANOTHER TERM AS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMISSION. SECOND, MR. MOVING PROPER SECOND THAT WE REAPPOINTMENT MR. STRONG. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION HERE? NONE OF IN FAVOR, LET BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALTHOUGH OPPOSING IN THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. NEXT THING IS CAPTAIN CO. GREENVILLE MOSQUITO CONTROL DISTRICT, UH, WE NEED A NEW APPOINTMENT THERE. UH, MR. RANDALL RANDALL. MR. RANDALL OF YOU, ANTHONY, THAT'S RANDALL CHAPPELLE AND DEBORAH TOME WOULD [00:55:01] LIKE I NOMINATE TO BE THE AT LARGE MOSQUITO CONTROL BOARD COMMISSION. SECOND. SECOND. IT'S BEEN MOVING PROPERLY. SECOND, THAT THOSE NAMES CALLED WOULD BE, UH, PERSONS TO SERVE ON THE, UH, MOSQUITO CONTROL DISTRICT, UH, COMMISSION. ANY, ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. UH, THOSE OPPOSED IN THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED YOU DID DAVID. OKAY. DA DA DUH. UH, YOU SHOULD SHOW A COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD, MADAM CHAIRMAN, UNABLE TO SERVE MS. UH, MEMBERS OF BOARD. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER, UH, MS. PITTMAN. MS. PITTMAN IS A VERY, VERY SPECIAL LADY. UM, WHEN SHE CAME BEFORE US. SHE IS BLIND. SHE, BUT SHE WAS ABLE TO RUN AN ORGANIZATION VERY, VERY WELL. SHE WAS VERY DISTINGUISHED, VERY WELL VERSED. AND, UH, SHE IS NOW, UM, IN A NURSING HOME. SHE IS UNABLE BECAUSE OF HER SITUATION TO CONTINUE. AND SHE DOES LIVE IN MY, SHE LIVES, UH, LIVED IN MY DISTRICT. AND I WOULD LIKE, I'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME MORE TIME. I, I HAVEN'T FELT, BUT I'D LIKE TO FIND SOMEBODY THAT WOULD FIT THAT, THAT WOULD BE VERY GOOD FOR THAT COMMUNITY COLLEGE THAT WOULD REPRESENT OTHER, UH, PEOPLES IN THIS COUNTY. OKAY. INSTEAD OF JUST REGULAR. ALRIGHT. THINK YOU'LL GIMME A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME. OKAY. WE'LL TABLE THAT. AKAMAI COUNTY WETLANDS BOARD, UH, DAVID MONTGOMERY HAS RESIGNED. WHOSE DISTRICT, IS THAT A DISTRICT APPOINTMENT OR IS IT THAT LARGE CITIZEN MEMBER? A CITIZEN MEMBER. ALTERNATIVE, ALTERNATIVE ALTERNATE PAGE. SURE. DID YOU WHAT? NO, I SAID YOU CAN MAKE THAT BIGGER. WELL, HUN, THAT'S NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO THESE GLASSES. OKAY. , I HAVE TO DO LIKE THIS. SHE OKAY. UM, THE AGRICULTURE, WELL, WE'LL TABLE THAT ONE. AGRICULTURE AND FOREST DISTRICT. UH, MADAM CHAIRMAN. SURE. I'M ON THAT. UH, I'M ON THAT COMMITTEE, ON THAT BOARD. AND WE MEET TOMORROW AND WE'LL BE DISCUSSING THIS, UH, SOME REPLACEMENTS THERE. SO I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE THOSE THREE POSITIONS. OKAY. ALL RIGHTY. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, UH, MR. PARKS. YES MA'AM. AIMA COUNTY PARK AND RECREATION. UH, I'LL HAVE TO CONTINUE. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THAT ALL THAT DOES ALL OUR APPOINTMENTS. UM, NEW BUSINESS RECEIVED FY 26 COUNTY, UH, SECOND QUARTER SUMMARY. MADAM CHAIR? YES. YOUR, I JUST WANT TO TAKE A SECOND TO THANK MR. STRONG FOR COMING TONIGHT. UH, AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR REAPPOINTMENT. THANK YOU SIR. OKAY. AND YOU LOVELY. RIGHT. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, MS. LEWIS. GOOD EVENING, MADAM CHAIR, MEMBER OF THE BOARD. OKAY, I'LL BE QUICK. I'M HERE, UM, IN YOUR BOARD PACKET, Y'ALL RECEIVED THE DETAILED SECOND QUARTER FISCAL YEAR, UM, 2026 REPORT TONIGHT. I'M JUST GONNA BRIEFLY GO OVER THE SUMMARY SECTION AND YOU CAN SEE THE TABLE OF CONTENT TO SEE HOW DETAILED THE REPORT IS. AND FOR THE LISTENING PUBLIC, THIS IS ON BOARD DOCS OR THE COUNTY WEBSITE. THE MAJOR REVENUE SECTION. THIS SHOWS THE 88% OF OUR MAJOR REVENUE THAT, THAT MAKES UP 88% OF OUR REVENUE. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE NUMBER ONE IS REAL ESTATE TAX. GOOD NEWS IS FOR THE QUARTER WE ARE ABOVE OF LAST QUARTER AT THE SAME TIME. AND FOR YEAR TO DATE, WHOOPS. WE ARE ALSO ABOVE LAST YEAR. AT THE SAME TIME, AT THE BOTTOM YOU'LL SEE UNDER THE PERCENT CHANGE FISCAL YEAR TO DATE. THE DIFFERENCE FROM PRIOR FISCAL YEAR COMPARED TO CURRENT FISCAL YEAR TO DATE IS 2.2% WE'RE HIT BY 2.2%. THE KIND OF NOT WHERE WE'RE NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE, WE WANT IT TO BE AT 3.7% AT THIS YEAR. THAT'S HOW WE HAD IT BUDGETED. AND AGAIN, AS I JUST SAID EARLIER, YEAR TO DATE, MAJOR REVENUES HAVE INCREASED BY 2.2% COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST FISCAL YEAR. THE FISCAL YEAR 2026, REVENUE FORECAST PROJECTED A 3.7% INCREASE IN MA MAJOR REVENUE OVER THE PRIOR YEAR. AND AS WE'VE, I'VE NOTED THE LAST SEVERAL TIMES I'VE BEEN UP HERE, MAJOR REVENUE CONTINUES TO INCLUDE INVESTMENT EARNINGS, SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS TOTAL, 1.6 MILLION REPRESENTING A DECREASE COMPARED TO THE SAME PERIOD IN 2025. BUT WE DID ANTICIPATE THIS MADAM CHAIR. OKAY. MR. LEWIS, UH, THE 2.2% AND WE BUDGETED ON 3.7%, IS THAT GONNA REQUIRE US TO MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS? UH, DO YOU SEE? SAME QUESTION. NOT AT THIS TIME. I MEAN, WILL, IF, IF SO WE WOULD, SO RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE NO CONCERN. I'M NOT SAYING I ESPECIALLY BUDGET TYPE. I'M NOT SAYING I DON'T HAVE ANY CONCERN 'CAUSE I THINK THIS IS A TIGHT YEAR AND I THINK WE ANTICIPATE, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, ONE OF OURS IS THE PUBLIC SERVICE COURT DROPPED, WHICH WE HAVE NO REALLY NO CONTROL OF THAT. SURE. 'CAUSE YOU UNDERSTAND HOW THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THE CONTROL WOULD'VE TO BE ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE [01:00:01] IF, IF YOU SEE A, IF YOU SEE A PROBLEM. EXACTLY. ALRIGHT. AND WE'RE, AND, AND WE WILL HAVE TO BE BEFORE YOU. I THINK IT'S A GOOD YEAH. TO POINT OUT TO PEOPLE AS THEY'RE ASKING FOR MONEY THAT IT IS A TIGHT SURE THOUGHT. UM, YES MA'AM. MS. LEWIS, UM, WHAT WAS THE AMOUNT BETWEEN THE, MAYBE YOU TOLD US, AND I'M SORRY I MISSED IT. THE, BETWEEN THE 2.2 AND THE 3.7, WHAT AMOUNT OF MONEY ARE WE TALKING? I KNOW WE'RE DOING THE PERCENT. IS THAT THE, IS THAT THE 32,000? NO, IT'S, WHAT IS THE AMOUNT THAT THAT REFLECTS? GO BACK. WHAT MAYBE, UH, I'M TRYING TO DO MATH AND MY LIKE, UH, WHICH TWO LINES? IT, IT DOESN'T REFLECT. IT JUST SAYS WE'RE 2.2 0.2% AHEAD AHEAD. BUT WE WERE JUST PAYING 3.77%. BUT WE DON'T KNOW. DO YOU HAVE, UM, WHAT IS IT LIKE, UH, YEAH, ONE AND A HALF PERCENT DIFFERENCE. YEAH, BUT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY I'M TALKING, BUT WHAT IS THE, I HATE, I HATE TO SAY WHAT EL LIKE WELL YOU DON'T HAVE THAT SHOWING THERE. YEAH, I COULD, YOU JUST, COULD YOU JUST, WOULD YOU PLEASE YES. AND LET THE BOARD KNOW. JUST LET US KNOW DIFFERENT WHAT THE MONEY AMOUNT IS BETWEEN THOSE TWO FIGURES. AND ONE THING I DO WANNA STRESS, IF WE HAVE TO FIND IT OR READJUST, REMEMBER THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR, YOU, UM, BECAUSE OF ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING, YOU ROLL BACK THE YES. THE REVENUE. YES, MA'AM. SO THESE ARETI CAN JUST BE TIMING DIFFERENCE. LIKE WHEN I COME BEFORE YOU, SO NEXT QUARTER IT MAY DIF THIRD MAY DIFFERENT. I THINK EVERY QUARTER BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT. I THINK NEXT THIRD QUARTER IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUARTER THAT THE ONE TO LOOK AT. YES. AND MA'AM, CHAIR MY SIMPLE MATH. MM-HMM . I'M BETTER WHEN, WHEN I GOT EVEN NUMBERS. MUCH, MUCH BETTER. BUT WHAT I'M LOOKING AT THERE IS YOUR, THE EXPECTED REVENUE, TOTAL REVENUE IS 25, UH, 0.1 MILLION. SO 1% OF THAT WOULD BE ONE AND A HALF PERCENT OF THAT WOULD BE WHAT? BY 325,000. MM-HMM . MM-HMM . SO WE'RE, WE'RE A DIFFERENCE OF ABOUT THREE 25,000 THERE. OKAY. THANK, THANK YOU. MAD CHAIR. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. MR. COUNTING. MR. HE'S COUNTING THOSE NICKELS. I'M SEEING MADRE. HE CAN'T COUNT THE PENNIES ANYMORE. HE IS COUNTING THEM NICKELS. THANK YOU, MR. ANYTHING ELSE? ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I LOVE TEASING. OKAY. THANK YOU MR. UH, IT BRINGS US DOWN TO OUR ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. ARE Y'ALL BAD WITH OUR ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR? BLESS HIS HEART. HE'S NOT GONNA SAY A LOT. HE DOESN'T HAVE IT IN TOBACCO. NO. HE HAD, HE, HE GOT SOME ISSUES. BLESS HIM. YOU CAN DO IT QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU, MA'AM. CHAIR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, UH, TO, TO CLARIFY WHAT MY ISSUES ARE, , I, I HAD ORAL SURGERY ON MONDAY, SO I HAVE A FEW STITCHES THAT I'M MATCHING TO NEGOTIATE IN MY, IN MY MOUTH. SO, UH, I'LL TRY TO BE AS BRIEF AS I AS I CAN. UH, FIRST OF ALL, ALL THE, UM, ITEMS UNDER THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT ARE INFORMATIONAL ITEMS OTHER THAN ONE, UH, WHICH IS 12.1, WHICH IS WHERE I, I'M ASKING, UH, THE BOARD FOR SOME DIRECTION. AND, AND TO SUMMARIZE, THE COUNTY'S RECEIVED AN INQUIRY, UH, REGARDING USE OF APPROXIMATELY 95 ACRES OF MOSTLY MARSHLAND THAT WAS, UH, DONATED TO THE COUNTY BACK IN 1990. UM, UH, THE, THE PURPOSE OF THAT PROPERTY REASON WE STILL HAVE IT, HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A POSSIBLE DREDGE SPOIL SITE, UM, FOR DEEP CREEK BREAD DREDGING. AND, UM, UH, ALTHOUGH THE, THE CORE ENGINEERS SEEMS TO DESIRE PLACING THEIR SPOILS ON ANOTHER SITE, IT'S STILL IN THE RUNNING. SO, UM, THAT'S A CONSIDERATION WE'VE GOTTA TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. IF WE WERE TO CONSIDER OFFERING THIS PROPERTY UP FOR, UM, LEASE, UM, TO, TO A, UH, WHOEVER IT, IT MAY BE IN THE END, BUT, UH, THE PROCESS WOULD BE WE WOULD, WE WOULD JUST SOLICIT, UM, PROPOSALS, UM, BIDS FROM, FROM THE PUBLIC TO JUST SEE WHO'S INTERESTED IN LEASING THESE LAND, ASSUMING THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH IT. AND THEN ANY KIND OF LEASE THAT WAS NEGOTIATED WOULD HAVE TO HAVE AN OUT INCLUDED IN IT SO THAT IF THAT PROPERTY WAS DETERMINED BY THE CORE OF ENGINEERS TO BE THE SITE THAT THEY NEED FOR DRIS BULLS, THAT WE COULD QUICKLY TRANSITION BACK TO ITS INTENDED USE BACK YEARS AGO. UM, SO REALLY THE DECISION RIGHT NOW, AND, AND THERE WAS AN AREA IN, IN YOUR AGENDA PACKAGE OF, OF THE LOCATION, OF THIS, OF THIS PARCEL. UM, THE DECISION RIGHT NOW IS, DOES THE BOARD WANT TO OFFER IT UP FOR HUNTING PURPOSES, KNOWING THAT IT COULD BE RE UM, REUSED FOR, FOR, UH, ADDRESSABLE PLACEMENT IF NEED BE? MADAM CHAIRMAN, UM, MR. UH, CROCKETT, THEN MR. GEORGE , MADAM COUNTY ATTORNEY. WOULD THAT [01:05:01] PUT US IN ANY KIND OF LIABILITY? POSSIBLE LIABILITY IF SOMEONE'S INJURED, UH, WHILE HUNTING ON OUR PROPERTY? WE'RE IN A CONTRACT WITH THE, THE LEASE AND ALL. WE WOULD HAVE INDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS IN THE LEASE. AND SO WE WOULD BE INDEMNIFIED. NO, WE WOULD BE PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM LIABILITY. SO IT WOULD BE, WOULD BE GOOD. YES. THANK YOU. MADAM CHAIR, WHICH IS GEORGE. THANK YOU. GREAT MINDS. THINK OF LIFE. THAT WAS MY QUESTION. OKAY. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIRMAN. OKAY. UM, MR. BEING ABBOTT, HUNTER, FISHMAN AND I, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. WHAT THEY ASKED. UM, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW. THIS WOULD BE A BRAND NEW LEASE THAT YOU WOULD'VE TO CREATE, TO COVER ALL THAT, THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, RIGHT? SO, AND THAT, UH, I THINK STUART CAN ANSWER THIS, SO YOU MIGHT ANSWER, THAT'S TOTALLY LANDLOCKED, RIGHT? IT WOULD BE ACCESS ONLY BOTH. I SEE IT, BUT I KNOW IT COMES UP TO THE, UH, SOME OF THE STATE PROPERTY AND I DON'T, UM, SO I JUST, BUT IT IS TOTALLY, OH, THE ACCESS NOW IS BY BOAT. BY, BY BOAT, BY, OKAY. THANK YOU. DO YOU KNOW WHERE, I'M SORRY, MA'AM, GO AHEAD. DO YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS? I DON'T KNOW WHERE THIS IS. GO TO GO TO GO DOWN TO DEEP CREEK AND KIND OF HEADACHE THE CREEK, IF YOU WILL. IT'S A, IT'S A PIECE, IT'S A PARTIAL ON THE LEFT. IT'S A 90. IT'S A RECTANGLE. UH, RECTANGLE. HOW MANY ACRES WAS IT? 96. SO 9 5, 9 6 ACRES. BUT IT'S, IT'S MOSTLY MARSH. IT'S MOSTLY MARSH. IT WOULD BE PROBABLY DUCK, PROBABLY DUCK HUNTING. UM, I GONNA SAY THEY GONNA HUNT AND PROBABLY DEER. PROBABLY DEER. I WOULD, I WOULD PROBABLY SAY IT'S A GOOD SPOT FOR ACTUALLY DUCKS AND DEER. DEER. THIS IS THE PARCEL RIGHT HERE? YEAH. THERE'S THE, OKAY. THAT'S DEEP CREEK. OKAY. YEP. CREEK. AND THIS IS DEEP CREEK? YEP. CREEK. IS THIS THE SOILS FOR DREDGING DEEP CREEK? IS THAT THE COURSE, CONSIDERING THAT? YES. WELL, THAT'S WONDERFUL. THEY HAVE FUNDING FOR THE PROJECT. ACTUALLY HAD IT FOR A COUPLE YEARS, BUT THEY'RE TRYING TO WORK OUT THE DETAILS. KEEP PUSHING THEM NORTH. MM-HMM . . OKAY. IT'S THE PLEASURE OF THE BOARD. DO WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT DECISION TONIGHT? IS IT, IS IT TIME SENSITIVE? CAN WE, UM, OKAY. CAN WE, UM, DO WE, WE WE'LL CONTINUE THAT. AND MADAM CHAIRMAN, DO WE HAVE AN IDEA WHEN THE COURT, WHEN WE, WE WOULD FIND OUT IF HOW IT'S PROCEEDING ON THE DREDGING SITUATION, IF IT'S GETTING CLOSER OR NOT, IS NO. IS THERE ANYTHING WE KNOWED WELL, WHAT, WHAT WE KNOW, AT LEAST WE THINK WE KNOW, IS THIS IS NOT THE PREFERRED SITE. OKAY. UM, THIS IS SORT OF A FALLBACK REALLY FOR THEM. DO WE KNOW WHEN THAT DECISION WILL BE MADE? Y'ALL WHO REPRESENT DEEP CREEK? I'M, I'M NOT TRYING TO STEP ON YOUR TOES. I JUST DON'T KNOW. THAT WOULD BE MY BAIL WORK. WHAT? DEEP CREEK? DEEP CREEK. THAT'S MY BAIL WORK. OH, OKAY. SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, I'M THE NEIGHBOR. SHOULD WE DO ANYTHING UNTIL WE KNOW FOR SURE? YEAH, YOU'RE CROSS THE GROUND. WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THIS. THAT'S WHAT I WAS, THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA, I WAS, NOW I, OKAY. YEAH. THINK ABOUT IT AND JUST, OKAY. THAT'S JUST MY OPINION. WE CAN, I THINK THE CONSENSUS IS JUST TO CONTINUE THIS. YES. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. SEE, WE DO, UH, MOVING ON, JUST AN INFORMATIONAL ITEM. IT, IT'S NOT COMMON FOR ME TO APPEAR BEFORE YOU AND, UM, COMMENT ON, UH, FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS THAT ARE GETTING READY TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY THE COUNTY. BUT IN THIS CASE, UM, LAST YEAR, UH, THE BOARD, UH, INCREASES CIGARETTE TAX, UM, AND DEDICATED A PORTION OF THOSE PROCEEDS TO, UH, VOLUNTEER FIR AND RESCUE. UH, DURING THAT TIME, THE, UH, UH, DIRECTIVE WAS TO SEPARATE THE FUNDS SO THAT WHEN, WHEN THOSE CHECKS ARE RECEIVED, IF YOU WILL, BY THE VOLUNTEER FIRE AND RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS, THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT I'LL REFER TO AS THE, THE REGULAR REOCCURRING REVENUE STREAM THAT'S PROVIDING FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND THE NEW CIGARETTE TAX. SO THIS IS JUST THIS PURPOSE OF THIS BEING ON THE AGENDA, IS TO JUST SAY, WE'RE GONNA HONOR AND DO WHAT THE BOARD DIRECTED US TO DO, AND SEPARATE THOSE OUT. AND THOSE CHECKS WILL BE, UH, DISSEMINATED SHORTLY. UM, LAST ITEM IS, UH, JUST WANTED TO CONVEY SOME COUNTY COMMENTS THAT WERE POSTED IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSED CEDAR ISLAND RESILIENCE PROJECT. THESE COMMENTS WERE SENT TO VMRC. IN FACT, THEY WERE POSTED ON THE VM C'S WEBSITE. UH, THIS, UH, I MADE THIS, UM, I POSTED THIS INFORMATION PROBABLY ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF AGO. DIDN'T NEED, I DIDN'T BELIEVE I NEEDED TO CONTACT THE BOARD BECAUSE YOU'VE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED LETTERS OF SUPPORT FOR THE PROJECT. SO THIS WAS JUST, UH, ANOTHER ADDITIONAL WAY OF EXPRESSING YOUR SUPPORT. AND I POSTED THAT INFORMATION, UM, OUT THERE AND JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW, UH, WHAT INFORMATION, UH, HAD HAVE BEEN PUT OUT THERE FOR THE PUBLIC'S CONSUMPTION. UM, SO THAT WAS, THAT WAS 12 THREE. UM, I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD UNDER 12 FOUR. SO THAT, THAT BASICALLY CONCLUDES MY REPORT. OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, MR. MASON [01:10:02] BRINGS US DOWN TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COMMENT, PERIOD. MR. HART? NO MA'AM. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING. UH, MR. WASHINGTON? YES, I HAVE A COUPLE THINGS. UM, ONCE AGAIN, I HAD A, ONE OF MY CONSTITUENTS IN, UH, MY DISTRICT, WHOSE NAME IS RODNEY MERRICK, AND HE STAYS AT 2 8 1 5 7 GAR THE LANDING ROAD. UH, HE REACHED OUT TO ME ABOUT WATER STANDING IN DITCHES, UH, DOWN IN THAT AREA. UH, AND IT'S NOT DRAINING AS WELL AS THE ROAD, UH, IN POOR CONDITION, UH, NEEDING SOME REPAIRS. SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT UP TONIGHT. UH, I DID TAKE A RIDE DOWN AND TAKE A LOOK AT IT, AND HE'S CORRECTED SOME THINGS GOING ON THERE. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING AS FAR AS GETS MAINTENANCE GO, BUT I TOLD HIM I WOULD ADDRESS THAT TONIGHT, UH, WHEN I GOT HERE. AND, UH, THE SECOND THING THAT I WANT TO, UH, SAY TONIGHT IS MY SON IS HERE TONIGHT. ARIUS IS HERE, AND DARIUS, WASHINGTON, HE IS HERE. HE'S ON ASSIGNMENT TONIGHT. UM, IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HE HAD TO DO FOR ONE OF HIS CLASSES. UM, HE WILL BE GRADUATING, UH, HOPEFULLY GOD SAYS. SO, UH, THIS YEAR, UH, IN MAY, WELL, HE'D ALREADY GRADUATED IN 2024. HE GRADUATED FROM REGIS UNIVERSITY WITH HIS, UH, DEGREE IN, UH, UH, LIBERAL IN, UH, COMMUNICATIONS OR COMMUNICATIONS WITH HIS BACHELOR'S. BUT NOW HE'S WORKING ON HIS MA, EXCUSE ME, HIS MASTER'S. HE GOT THAT TALENT FROM HIS FATHER. YEAH. YEAH. . SO HE'S WORKING ON HIS MASTER'S RIGHT NOW. AND SO HE HAD TO COME IN TONIGHT TO SOME OF OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS JUST TO SEE HOW THOSE THINGS ARE RUN. SO HE CAME HERE TONIGHT, SO COME MAY HE'LL BE GRADUATING WITH HIS MASTER'S DEGREE IN, UH, IN JOURNALISM. AND HE'S, UH, CURRENTLY NOW DOING HIS, UH, INTERNSHIP AT W-M-D-T-T-V, UH, IN SALISBURY. AND SO HE'S GOING OUT NOW AND FILMING THE BASKETBALL GAMES AND GOING BACK, MIXING REPORTS AND ALL. HE'D ALSO DONE AN INTERNSHIP OVER AT WAVY TV 10 AS WELL. AND SO I JUST WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE HIM TONIGHT. AND YOUR ALL RIGHT. AND YOUR TUITION PAYMENTS WILL SERVE, BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. SO I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIM TONIGHT 'CAUSE HE'S HERE. YOU'RE WELCOME. GREAT. THANK YOU. WELCOME. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT. UM, MR. CROCKETT? NO, MA'AM. MR. JOHNSON. VICE AS, AS, UH, JACKIE WOULD SAY, VICE CHAIR. , UH, MR. UH, NO MA'AM. OKAY. MADAM CHAIR, I DO WANT POINT OUT THAT WE'RE EXPECTING A, UH, ROCKET LAB TO LAUNCH ANOTHER HASTE ROCKET, I BELIEVE NEXT WEEK, SOMETIME AROUND THE 23RD. SO WATCH THE SKIES. OKAY, MR. DGE? WELL, THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS I'D LIKE TO SAY, BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD NOT TO SAY 'EM BECAUSE I'LL GET IN TROUBLE. SO I'LL BE A GOOD BOY. I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY. DEAL. I, OKAY. WE'RE NOT GONNA LET YOU STAY HOME ONE DAY. YEAH. REALLY? . UM, AND THE CHAIR, UH, HAS NO COMMENT TONIGHT. ALL RIGHT? OKAY. UH, CONSIDER APPROVING RESOLUTION TO AMEND. MOVE SECOND. SO MOVING PROPERLY. SECOND. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION HERE? NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. DO YOU CERTIFY? ALL RIGHT. IT'S BEEN CERTIFIED. I PAY EM. SECOND, MOVE. FIVE SECOND, THEN WE PAY OUR BILL. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? UH, HEARING NONE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALL. ALTHOUGH OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED. WE DON'T HAVE A CLOSED SESSION, SO I'M GOING BACK TO 8.2. UH, WE ARE GONNA CONTINUE OUR DELIBERATIONS ON PROPOSED F 27 COUNTY BUDGET AND TAX RATE. ARE WE, WE'RE GONNA GET INTO THIS NOW. YES. MADAM CHAIRMAN, COULD WE HAVE A COUPLE MINUTES FOR BATHROOM AND TO GET, GET MATURE? I LEFT MINE IN THE CAR. I DIDN'T REALIZE WE WERE DOING IT. OKAY. I'LL GIVE YOU, CAN WE HAVE LIKE FIVE MINUTES? UH, I'LL GIVE YOU FIVE MINUTES. DO WE NEED THIS? YOU CAN SEE IT. OPEN SESSION. WELL, WE KNOW WE'RE ENCLOSED, BUT FOR THE PUBLIC WE WEREN'T. ENCLO. WE'RE BACK IN SESSION PERIOD. MR. UH, THANK YOU. THANK YOU MA'AM. CHAIR, MIKE MASON, COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR. SO, UM, STAFF IS PREPARED TO WALK THROUGH, UM, THE PROPOSED BUDGET ADDITIONS AS WE HAVE IN THE PAST. UM, JUST SORT OF, KIND OF SET, SET THE STAGE HERE. YOU DO HAVE A MEETING, UM, SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW EVENING, SHOULD YOU NEED IT FOR BUDGET, UH, DECISIONS TO BE MADE. UM, IF YOU CONCLUDE, UH, YOUR INITIAL DELIBERATIONS BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE WEEK, THE COUNTY STAFF WILL MOVE TOWARDS, UH, PREPARING AN AD AND SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING, UM, BASED ON THE SCHEDULE THAT WE PREVIOUSLY HAVE DISSEMINATED. UH, JUST AS A, AS A REMINDER, AND, AND THE BOARD I'M SURE IS AWARE OF THIS, BUT, UH, YOU CAN ALWAYS, WHEN YOU ADVERTISE THE BUDGET AND TAX RATES, YOU CAN ALWAYS BRING THE RATE DOWN. CAN'T GO UP, BUT, BUT YOU CAN'T GO UP WITHOUT SCHEDULING ANOTHER [01:15:01] PUBLIC HEARING. SO I JUST ALWAYS PLANT THAT SEED. JUST SO YOU UNDERSTAND. UH, MR. HYATT CAN THE, UH, BUDGET ITSELF YOU CAN RAISE ARE LOWER? JUST THE RATE IS THE ONE YOU CAN'T GO UP, RIGHT? IT, IT'S THE RATE. SO THE BUDGET, YOU CAN ACTUALLY GO UP OR DOWN AFTER THE BUSINESS. OKAY? OKAY. GOT IT. SO, UM, WE CAN WALK THROUGH, UH, THIS WORKSHEET, WHICH YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH, WHICH IS THE WORKSHEET THAT SHOWS EACH DEPARTMENT'S REQUEST. AND THEN OVER HERE TO THE RIGHT, THESE ARE THE OPERATING AND CAPITAL FUNDS THAT WERE RECOMMENDED BY, UH, MYSELF. WHEN I PRESENTED MY BUDGET TO YOU A COUPLE MONDAYS AGO, MADAM CHAIRMAN, MR. LOT, MAY I MAKE A SUGGESTION OR MAY I MAKE A, JUST FOR THE BOARD, WHAT SUGGESTION? UH, WE REALLY OWN MY OPINION. WE REALLY ONLY NEED TO DISCUSS THE ONES WHERE WE DISAGREE WITH WHAT MIKE'S DONE. IF WE DISAGREE WITH HIM, THEN WE NEED TO DISCUSS, BUT IF NOT, I'M JUST SAYING IF WE DISAGREE WITH WHAT THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR HAS SUGGESTED, THEN WE NEED TO DISCUSS THAT. BUT UNLESS WE DISAGREE WITH THAT'S A POINT, AND WE'VE ALWAYS DONE THAT AND IT WORKS. NO, WE'VE DONE THAT. RIGHT. SO WHAT, WHAT IS, I'M JUST SAYING IT MAKES IT QUICKER, EASIER AND CONCRETE IF WE JUST DEAL WITH HIS SUGGESTION. IF HE, WE DON'T LIKE WHAT HE SAYS AND WE CAN, HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH MONEY WE GOT TO PLAY WITH NOTHING AND RIGHT. WE'RE IN THE WHOLE 99, 2 7, JUST IT'S, I SHOULDN'T USE THE COLOR FONT RED, BUT YOU HAVE 92 TH UH, $9,278 LEFT TO ALLOCATE. OH, LEFT. YES. SO WE DO HAVE A LITTLE BIT, I HAVE A QUESTION, MA'AM. CHAIR. UH, GO AHEAD, MR. CHAIRMAN. I MEAN, MR. ETT, MR. MR. MASON, AT WHAT POINT WOULD WE DISCUSS THE SCHOOL CARRYOVER? I BE, YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR DISCUSSIONS THIS EVENING IF YOU PREFER. I MEAN, WHERE WOULD YOU PUT IT? WOULD YOU JUST ADD IT TO THE, SO, SO THIS IS THE BUDGET THAT YOU HAD BEFORE YOU, THE PROPOSAL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FY 27 SCHOOL CARRIER, RIGHT? EXACTLY. UH, IT, THE, THE CARRIER THEY'RE REQUESTING WAS THE FUNDS THEY HAD AT JUNE 30TH OF 25. THEY ARE NOW ASKING FOR YOU TO REAPPROPRIATE THOSE. AND, AND, AND MY, MY QUESTION IS, IF WE, IF WE CHOSE TO, INSTEAD OF GOING WITH THE 50 50 SPLIT THAT WE JUST REMOVED 2 MILLION FROM THAT, WHERE WE GONNA PLUG IT IN? IF, IF, IF THAT IS THE BOY'S PREFERENCE, WHAT IT REALLY DOES IS DRIVES UP THIS UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE NUMBER MM-HMM . WHICH IN IS NOT USING ANY OF THOSE FUNDS. IT'S, AND, AND THAT WOULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE EMS FUNDS, RIGHT? THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD GET TO THE M YOU WOULD JUST MAKE WHATEVER MOTION AND STAFF UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO. AND WE WOULD REFLECT IT IN THE BUDGET DOCUMENT ACCORDINGLY. MS. MS. JONES. OH, SURE. MR. GEORGE. WELL, JUST FOR CLARITY, DO WE NEED TO MAKE A PROPOSAL TO EITHER DO AWAY WITH THE TWO 18 PASSAGE OF THE ORDINANCE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? OR DO WE NEED TO MAKE SOME SORT OF MOTION TO ACTUALLY NOT TAKE BACK THE HALF THAT LEGALLY IS, IS SUPPOSED TO BE TAKEN BACK? DO WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THAT ISSUE? FOR ONE, BEFORE YOU COULD EVEN ENTERTAIN A REAPPROPRIATING, ANY FUNDS TO THE ECAC COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING. THAT AMOUNT IS SUFFICIENT ENOUGH. 'CAUSE IT CAN REQUIRE A BUDGET AMENDMENT. AND SO THAT, THAT HAS TO GO IN FRONT OF, UM, IN THE FUTURE FOR A HEARING. UM, YOU, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE ANY ACTION AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, REGARDING THAT POLICY. THIS IS SIMPLY, THERE IS A SET AMOUNT OF FUNDS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE GENERAL FUNDS. THEY ARE QUOTE UNQUOTE COUNTY FUNDS. RIGHT. AND THE SCHOOLS ARE ASKING FOR THOSE FUNDS TO BE REAPPROPRIATED. THE SOURCE OF THOSE FUNDS IS UNSPENT FUNDS FROM THE SCHOOLS THAT HAVE ACCUMULATED OVER A SERIES OF YEARS. CORRECT. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW THE, OUR OWN GUIDELINES THEN. NO, NOT LEGALLY. YOU HAVE A POLICY THAT YOU'VE ADOPTED AND YOU HAVE, UM, BEEN VERY, UH, UH, SUPPORTIVE OF THE SCHOOLS AND ALLOW THEM TO CARRY FUNDS FOR, FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. NOW YOU'RE KIND OF JUST REPORTING THAT MIGHT END UP IN JEOPARDY AT SOME POINT LATER WHERE SOMEONE WOULD COME UP AND NO REAPPROPRIATION THIS OF THESE FUNDS. AND WHATEVER AMOUNT YOU DEEM APPROPRIATE IS TOTALLY 100% WITHIN THE BOARD'S PURVIEW. UH, MR. CROCKETT, MR. MASON. UH, SO WE, WE WOULD PUT THE PLACE, THE 2 MILLION IN THE UNDERSIGNED. SO, SO, AND THEN WE WOULD TRANSFER THOSE TWO MILLIONS TO THE EMS FUND. OKAY. THANK YOU MADAM. PLEASE. MADAM CHAIR, MR. UM, HOT. SHE THINKS I'M, YOU KNOW, , , UM, THE, THE MONEY THAT WE'RE, THE, THE FUNDS THAT MR. CROCKETT THAT IS TALKING ABOUT, AND THE, UM, THE AGREEMENT THAT MR. DE GEORGE IS TALKING ABOUT, THAT AGREEMENT IS ACTUALLY STILL [01:20:01] IN FORCE. THAT BOARD, OUR BOARD HAS JUST CHOSEN NOT TO, I MEAN, IT'S ACTUALLY ON THE BOOKS. IT'S JUST NOT BEING ENFORCED. CORRECT. SO I WOULD NOT REFER TO IT AS AN AGREEMENT PER SE. OKAY. I WOULD REFER, I WOULD REFER TO IT AS A POLICY THAT BOARD ADOPTED POLICY. THERE IS NO, NO TWO PARTIES DID NOT COME TOGETHER AND SIGN A DOCUMENT THAT SAY WE WERE GONNA HAVE. SO THERE'S NO MOU IT'S OUR POLICY, BUT IT'S A POLICY OF THE BOARD. CORRECT. NOW, DO YOU HAVE ANY, AND SO THIS BOARD AT THE END OF JUNE 26 CAN ENFORCE THAT POLICY AND TAKE THE 50% OF THE WHAT IS CARRYOVER FOR THIS CURRENT BUDGET YEAR. CORRECT. DO WE HAVE ANY ANTICIPATION OF WHAT THE CARRYOVER WILL BE AT THIS POINT FOR JUNE 26TH? I, THAT WOULD BE A A A THAT WOULD BE A QUESTION THAT THE SCHOOLS WOULD HAVE TO RESPOND TO. SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW UNTIL IT'S OVER AND EVERYTHING'S DONE IN YEAH, WE, WE CAN ONLY IDENTIFY WITH CERTAINTY THE AMOUNT THAT WAS AVAILABLE AT JUNE 30TH, 2005. OH 2025. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. MAD CHAIRMAN. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I MADAM CHAIR, I WOULD JUST ADD THAT MY ASK TO THE, TO MS UH, ONLY BEFORE THEY LEFT WAS FOR 2.5 FOR THEM TO FIND 2.5. 2.5. YES, MA'AM. I THINK, AND I, I THINK, UH, MR. CROCK, UH, I GET IN HIS OPINION IS 2 MILLION. HE'S STILL 2.5. I MEAN, HIS ASS IS 2.5. HOW ABOUT IF I, UH, PUT OUT 2 MILLION AND IF HE WANTS TO AMEND THAT . RIGHT. WE'RE NOT GONNA VOTE ON IT NOW, BUT WE'RE NOT GONNA VOTE. IT'S A WORKING, IT'S A WORKING. I WORKING, I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT FOR CLARITY THAT I I SAID 2.5 TO THEM. SO RIGHT. AND NOT 2 MILLION MADAM CHAIR. YES. I WOULD LIKE FOR THE BOARD TO CONSIDER, UH, TAKING THE 2 MILLION FROM THE CARRYOVER FUNDS THAT WERE, THAT WAS SPOKEN OF EARLIER AT OUR, AT OUR, UH, MEETING WITH THE, UH, THE SCHOOL BOARD. PLACE IT INTO THE UNASSIGNED, UH, LINE THERE. AND THAT WOULD THEN BE TRANSFERRED TO THE EMS, UH, EMS FUND. AM I OH, WE DID. AND THIS IS ALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF WE'RE WORKING IT THIS WORKING, WORKING AND COMING UP WITH A, A FINAL BUDGET. OKAY. IT'S NOT A VOTE. I UNDERSTAND THAT ALL FOR MY POINT. OKAY, GO AHEAD. SORRY. ALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADVERTISING A BUDGET. UM, ARE YOU ASKING WHAT WOULD THAT DO FOR CONSENSUS? IS MADAM CHAIRMAN, IS HE ASKING FOR A CONSENSUS OR FOR, IS HE MAKING A MOTION? NO. NO. HE'S NOT MAKING A CONSENSUS TO PUT IT IN THERE. IS IT A CONSENSUS THAT WE START WITH 2 MILLION? ANYBODY HAVE A PROBLEM DOING THAT? WELL, CONSENSUS THAT WE WANTED THE FUNDS RECEIVED FROM AP PS WE WANT PUT IN UNFUNDED TO GO TO EMS TO THE E EM S FUND. THE 2,000,002 MILLION, THOUGH I'M ASKING TWO, 2.5. I WOULD SAY THAT THE OTHER 0.5, I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME OTHER EMS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT RELATED AREAS THAT COULD CONSIDER IS THE CONSENSUS. OKAY. LEMME PUT IT THIS WAY. 2 MILLION. I'M GOOD. 2 MILLION. WE'LL DO, I'LL PLUG. OKAY. COULD YOU PLUG INTO 2 MILLION? WE, WE, WE WILL PLUG THAT IN AFTER THE FACT. IT'S NOT GONNA FIT IN MY WORKSHEET REALLY WELL, BUT WE, WE, WE WILL GET THAT IN THERE. I GUESS I WANT TO KNOW WHAT WOULD THAT 2 MILLION DO AS FAR, I MEAN, WILL THAT HELP? I KNOW IT WOULD HELP, BUT I WANNA KNOW HOW HOW MUCH IT WOULD HELP GIVE MADAM CHAIR. IT WOULD PLUG THE DEFICIT WITH DMS FUND FOR THREE YEARS. THREE THIS CURRENT FI THIS UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR. THE ONE AFTER THAT AND THE FIRST FISCAL YEAR OF THE NEW BOARD. SO WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO RAISE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO RAISE TAXES. EXACTLY. AND IN THAT TIME, I KNOW FOR THE EMS FUND, WAIT, AND IN THAT TIME, UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE PRUDENT FOR US TO TRY TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE WITH THE EMS FUND. I AGREE. I AGREE WITH THAT. I AGREE WITH THAT. YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR BRAIN WAS WORKING GOOD ON NOW I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. THAT REVELATION. YOU BRAIN FIGURES, ROUND FIGURES. EXACTLY. THAT'S IT. YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA GET SQUEALING THAT ONE BE THE FIRST TIME. GOTTA HAVE SOME SQUEALING QUE WELL, AND THE WAY I LOOK AT THAT, LOOK THEY GOT 29 AND HALF MILLION DOLLARS. WELL, IF THEY END 27 AND A HALF, JUST GO AHEAD. THEY SHOULD USED IT. SHOULD TRY GET A, SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, UM, MADAM CHAIR GRAPHICALLY, UM, WHAT WAS DISCUSSED, UM, LAST WEEK WAS THAT THE EMS FUND IS STRUCTURALLY IMBALANCED AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT THE FUND BALANCE IS SLOWLY ERODING AWAY. AND WE DO HAVE ENOUGH FUNDS, WE'RE PROJECTING A SMALL BALANCE IN THAT FUND THROUGH FY 27. BUT THEN IN FY 28 IT GOES IN THE HOLE. THE INFUSION OF $2 MILLION IN FY 27 WILL PUSH THIS, UM, TAX INCREASE UNTIL, UH, LATER FISCAL YEARS. AND SO THAT, THAT'S WHAT, UH, I BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT THE [01:25:01] INTENT IS. YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT. YES. SO 2 MILLION WOULD DO THAT? YES. WELL IT WOULD TAKE CARE ALL THE WAY TO 28 TO YEAH. I MEAN 29 BUDGET. 29. YEAH. IT GETS YOU TO 29. 'CAUSE YOU CAN SEE WHERE FY 29, SEE THIS LINE HERE, IT'S 2 MILLION IN THE HOLE. SO 2 MILLION COMING IN BASICALLY TAKES THAT TO ZERO. SO THAT WOULD WHAT MR. CROCKETT WAS SAYING, THE TWO YEARS LEFT ON THIS TERM AND THEN THE ONE YEAR FOR THE NEW BOARD. EXACTLY. TO GIVE THEM SOME ROOM TO WIGGLE UNTIL THEY FIGURE IT OUT. BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, WE NEED TO FIGURE THIS OUT. WE DON'T NEED TO KEEP LETTING IT RIDE LIKE THIS. WE GOTTA GET, IT'S NOT GONNA SOLVE ITSELF. THATS FOR SURE. C RAY? WELL, I CAN PICK . ALRIGHT. YOU HEARD HIM? I WANT TO HEAR HIS OPINION. I WANNA HEAR WHAT HE'S GOTTA SAY. NOT TONIGHT, BUT I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IT. SEA RAY. OKAY. UM, BOARD MEMBERS. YOU HAVE, UH, OUR ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR HAS PRESENTED HIS ASS AND THERE'S, IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE BUDGET ON THE ON PAGE ONE OR ANY THAT YOU DISAGREE THAT YOU WOULD RATHER SEE OTHER THAN WHAT HE HAS RECOMMENDED? NOT ME. MM-HMM. OKAY. WHEN I SAY I, I'M GOING THROUGH THE COUNTY ASSESSOR, DEPUTY COUNTY, ALL EVERYTHING DEPUTY COUNTY ADMIN, UH, UH, ADMINISTRATOR. OKAY. UH, THE COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS FACILITIES. I FINANCE DIRECTOR, GENERAL DISTRICT COURT, UM, MADAM CHAIRMAN. SURE. UM, THE ONLY ONE I, ONE THAT POPPED IN MY MIND AND I JUST WANTED AN EXPLANATION FROM MIKE. THE ONE THAT POPPED IN MY MIND WAS THAT THE LADY WHO CAME HERE AND SPOKE, WE HAVE ALL THIS BOARD HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY GOOD TO THE COURTS. WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY GOOD TO LAW ENFORCEMENT. UH, WHENEVER THEY ASKED FOR SOMETHING AND THERE WAS ONE, SHE SAID THAT SHE DIDN'T ASKING FOR IT. THEY'VE BEEN ASKING FOR IT FOR THREE YEARS. AND IT WAS THAT WE KEEP PUTTING IT OFF. WE DON'T DO IT. WAS THAT THE VICTIM WITNESS? THAT'S THE VICTIM WITNESS? THE VICTIM WITNESS. I WOULDN'T SAY, I WOULDN'T CALL IT PUTTING IT OFF. OH, WELL WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T DO IT. I WOULD SAY YOU DIDN'T APPROPRIATE THE ADDITIONAL MONEY. WHAT WAS THE THINKING OF THAT? BECAUSE, WELL, I SENT A, JUST TO, TO CLARIFY MY POSITION ON IT. ONE IS THIS WAS EXTREMELY CHALLENGING BUDGET TO BALANCE. RIGHT. AND SO EARLY ON, I MADE IN, IN, IN TRYING TO DO THAT, I SAID, IT'S GONNA BE VERY DIFFICULT TO ADD FTES TO THE, SO THAT WOULD ADD AN FTE. SO THAT WOULD ADD AN FTE HALF ZERO. RIGHT NOW, ZERO F IT'S, WELL, THERE'S 1.5 THERE. A FULL-TIME PERSON AND A, A PART-TIME PERSON I THINK. AND HER REQUEST IS TO, TO BRING THEM BOTH TO, TO FULL-TIME OR SO IF WE DID THAT ONE PART-TIME TO FULL-TIME, IF WE DID THAT, THEN WE'D HAVE OTHER PEOPLE SAYING, WELL YOU GAVE THEM AN FTE. IT. YEAH. SO RIGHT NOW THIS BUDGET CONTAINS NO NEW FTES. GOT IT. UM, AND SO AGAIN, THAT WAS A CONSCIOUS DECISION. THE OTHER, THE OTHER THING IS WORTH POINTING OUT, NOT, AND, AND I'M VERY RESPECTFUL OF THE VICTIM WITNESS PROGRAM AND AND CERTAINLY ACKNOWLEDGE ITS IMPORTANCE, IS THIS WAS ONE OF THOSE PROGRAMS THAT YEARS AGO THE STATE PROPOSED AS A NO COST LOCAL MONEY UNFUNDED MANDATE, UM, PROGRAM. AND OVER THE YEARS, THE STATE FUNDING HAS NOT KEPT UP WITH THE DEMAND FOR THE, FOR THE PROGRAM. AND JOHN HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT FOR DECADES. AND, AND SO THE BOARD CURRENTLY SUBSIDIZES THAT PROGRAM AND ADDING ADDITIONAL FTES WOULD CONTINUE THAT SUBSIDY AT A GREATER AMOUNT. YES. AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD THAT ARE DOING IT AGAIN THIS YEAR, THEY'RE PASSING UNFUNDED MANDATES AND PASSING THINGS DOWN. AGAIN, THEY DO NOT LEARN. ASK WAS FOR 25,000. SO IS THAT A PART-TIME EMPLOYEE THAT I BELIEVE THAT'S THE AMOUNT TO ELEVATE THE CURRENT PART-TIME. PART-TIME. SHE'S PART-TIME NOW. OKAY. GOING ON. I GUESS Y'ALL READY TO GO ON? MM-HMM . YEP. OKAY. ANY OF THE EXTERNAL BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COUNCILS. MADAM CHAIRMAN, WHAT PAGE ARE YOU ON? I'M AT THE, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT PAGE. IT'S PAGE FOUR AT THE BOTTOM. ARE YOU PAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF, UH, PAGE FOUR SEVEN. AFTER GENERAL DISTRICT COURT. IT HAS OTHER INTERNAL BOYS. PAGE FOUR. OKAY. THANK YOU. WEST. MY COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS AT THE TOP. OKAY. THANK YOU. PAGE FOUR. PAGE FOUR. YEAH. OKAY. I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT MINE SAYS 1 24, SO I DON'T OKAY. PAGE FOUR. GOT GOT ME. ARE Y'ALL WITH ME? YEP. MM-HMM. YEP. UM, MAY I HAVE THE CHAIR? SURE. HAVE ANY VICE CHAIR WHAT YOU NEED? YES. UM, WE'RE ON PAGE FOUR. AM I CORRECT? YES. WHICH UNDER THE EVER EXTERNAL BOARDS? YES. COMMISS COUNCIL, UM, IF YOU CAN CONSIDER ON EASTERN SHORE HOUSING MISSION SOMETHING MADAM CHAIR [01:30:01] WITH THE HOUSING MISSION. MADAM CHAIR. NOT TO GO AGAINST MY GOOD FRIEND AND FELLOW BOARD MEMBER . I MEAN, THEY CAME LAST YEAR FOR 909 $9,999. NOW THEY WANT TO TRIPLE IT. YEAH. AND THIS IS NOT A YEAR TO BE TRIPLING ANYTHING. ABSOLUTELY. AND IT'S NOT, I DON'T THINK IT'S A YEAR TO INCREASE ANYTHING. ABSOLUTELY. BUT WE ARE, WE ARE WORKING ON I UNDERSTAND WHERE, WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM. MS. JOHNSON . I UNDERSTAND. I APPRECIATE IT, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THAT'D BE A GOOD, GOOD MOVE THIS YEAR. MADAM CHAIRMAN. UH, MR. GEORGE, MAY I GO BACKWARDS? GO AHEAD. UM, WE HAVE A $30,000 REDUCTION IN OUR SAVINGS WITH THE CONVENIENCE CENTERS. IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN NOT REDUCE THE SERVICE AND SAVED AND PUT THE $30,000 BACK INTO OUR BUDGET? THAT CERTAINLY IS THE BOARD'S PREROGATIVE RIGHT NOW. THE, THE BUDGET PROPOSAL BALANCE RIGHT NOW INCLUDES, UM, ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE SAVINGS FROM OVERLAYING THE EXISTING COUNTY HOLIDAY SCHEDULE ONTO THE CONVENIENCE CENTERS. SO IF, IF YOU WANTED NOT TO DO THAT, WE WOULD JUST TAKE THAT OUT OF THE PROPOSAL AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO FIND A FUNDING SOURCE, UM, TO CONTINUE IT. I I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE HAD EXTRA, SOME EXTRA FUNDS. 9,000. 9,000. WE SAID 90,000. NO, NINE. NINE. I THINK I DID SAY THAT EVENTUALLY THEN CLARIFIES NINE. NO. OKAY. AND UH, THANK YOU MR. MASON. JUST FOR SOME CLARITY. SO WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING FOR THE CONVENIENCE CENTERS, I KNOW THEY OPEN ON HOLIDAYS. ARE THEY, ARE THEY PART-TIME EMPLOYEES? NUMBER ONE? FOR FOR THE MOST PART, YES. OKAY. SO THEY NORMALLY WOULDN'T GET HO YOU KNOW, SALARIED EMPLOYEES GET HOLIDAY PAY, BUT POINT TIME THEY DO NOT. THEY DO AS WELL. IF AN EMPLOYEE WORKS ON A HOLIDAY, THEY RECEIVE ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION. OH, SO THEY GET PAID FOR HOLIDAYS. JUST THAT THEY GET ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION. RIGHT. RIGHT NOW THEY'RE THE ONLY ENTITY. WELL, WHEN YOU SEPARATE OUR, OUR FIRST RESPONDERS RIGHT. THEY'RE ALWAYS 24 7 MM-HMM . UM, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO OTHER SERVICES, THEY'RE THE ONLY, UM, COUNTY DEPARTMENT IF YOU WILL, THEY'RE OPEN ON, UH, DAYS LIKE JULY 4TH. RIGHT. UM, AND SO THE IDEA WAS TO TAKE THE HOLIDAYS THAT ALL THE OTHER COUNTY DEPARTMENTS ARE OBSERVING THE STATE HOLIDAYS THAT WE FOLLOW AND OVERLAY THEM ONTO THE CONVENIENCE CENTERS KNOWING THAT OUR WASTE, UM, THE, THE AMOUNT OF WASTE THAT COMES IN ON THOSE HOLIDAYS DAYS IS VERY MINIMAL. 'CAUSE IT IS MY HYPOTHESIS THAT FOLKS THINK WE'RE CLOSED ANYWAY. RIGHT. PARTICULARLY ON, ON A DAY LIKE JULY 4TH. ONE MIGHT THINK THAT WE ARE SO THAT, THAT THE SAVINGS CAME. SO THE SAVINGS WOULD COME BECAUSE WE GET THEM EXTRA FUNDING. THE SAVINGS COMES FROM LESS PART-TIME HOURS AND LESS HOLIDAY ADDITIONAL PAY. GOTCHA. OKAY. SO I, ALRIGHT NOW I, AT THE TOP OF PAGE WHERE I SAY SOCIAL SERVICES LOOK OPERATING SUBSIDY, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. MM-HMM . OTHER DEPARTMENT, NON DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR, NOPE. PARKS AND RECREATION. NOPE. , PUBLIC SAFETY REGISTRAR. UM, MR. MASON, DO WE ANTICIPATE, UH, A SOLUTION TO THE CELL PHONE SITUATION FOR FOLLOWING PLACES, SOME COUNTIES IN THE STATE OR, OR WOULD THAT BE SOMETHING WHERE WE COULD DEDICATE PART OF THE $9,000? AND THAT WAS, UH, UH, I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T QUITE HEAR THAT. YEAH. FOR THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE, SHE DIDN'T ASK FOR CELL PHONES, ALTHOUGH SHE SPOKE TO ME AND SAID THAT THAT WAS SOMETHING THEY'D IDENTIFIED. UM, MY ASK WAS THAT THEY HAVE GOVERNMENT PHONES INSTEAD OF DOING COUNTY BUSINESS OR STATE BUSINESS OVER THEIR PERSONAL PHONES. AND I'VE HEARD THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME CHALLENGES THEY WOULDN'T HAVE TO HAVE PER FULL-TIME PHONES. IT WOULD JUST BE, I THINK US HAVING A POOL OF PHONES THAT WE COULD ISSUE TO THEM FOR, UM, DURING THE ELECTION SEASON. YOU, YOU COULD CERTAINLY SET ASIDE THESE PHONES FOR THAT AND THEN STAFF WOULD'VE TO COME UP WITH A PLAN FOR HOW WE DEPLOY THAT. RIGHT. SO IT SHOULDN'T, IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO EXPENSIVE. THE ONLY THING I'LL EMPHASIZE IS THIS, WHAT, WHAT LITTLE MONEY YOU DO HAVE TO WORK WITH IS ONE TIME MONEY. SO WE'LL HAVE TO SORT OF REVISIT THAT, UM, WITH A REOCCURRING REVENUE SOURCE GOING FORWARD IN, IN LATER FISCAL YEARS. AND DO YOU, HOW'S OTHERS FEEL HERE? UH, MR. UM, FOX'S PROPOSAL? DO I SECOND THAT OR DO WE WELL, CONSENSUS. CONSENSUS. THAT CAN BE CONSENSUS AND THAT CAN WE [01:35:01] BE WORKED OUT WITH? YEAH, WE COULD PROBABLY WORK OUT STAFF. I THINK IT'S, AND I AGREE WITH HIM. I THINK IT'S WARRANTED. YEAH. OKAY. ALRIGHT. ONE POINT UNDER, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, SOME SERVICE REDUCTIONS. THERE WERE BASICALLY TWO THAT I OUTLINED. ONE WAS, UM, FOR THIS, UH, THE, UH, CONVENIENCE CENTER HOURS AND THE OTHER ONE WAS HAD TO DO WITH TRANSLATOR TV AND THAT'S SHOWING UP THERE AS WELL. UH, ONE POINT I I DO WANT TO MAKE ABOUT, UM, A THIRD AREA THAT I WANNA EMPHASIZE IS IT HAS TO DO WITH, UH, COUNTY EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS. I, UM, I SENT OUT AN EMAIL TO ALL EMPLOYEES, UM, EARLIER TODAY JUST SAYING, HEY, WE, WE, WE ARE FACED WITH SPIRALING COSTS, UH, FOR, FOR OUR PREMIUMS RIGHT NOW. AND, UM, I'M ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS, SOLUTIONS THAT, THAT REDUCE COSTS BUT DON'T DEGRADE THE QUALITY OF CARE AND QUALITY OF BENEFITS THAT COUNTY EMPLOYEES HAVE, HAVE COME TO, UM, APPRECIATE AND UTILIZE OVER THE YEARS. IT'S A, UH, ONE OF OUR RECRUITING TOOLS. UH, I I DO WANT TO SPECIFY THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT THESE OPTIONS. IF YOU ADOPT THIS BUDGET AS I'VE PROPOSED, WE'RE ASSUMING WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO CUT THOSE COSTS, UM, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. WE'RE NOT LOCKED IN QUITE YET. WE'RE STILL DOING OUR ANALYSIS, BUT I JUST WANT TO POINT THAT, UM, POINT THAT OUT THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO LOOK FOR OPTIONS TO DECREASE THAT COST. BUT WE ARE ANTICIPATING SOME COST REDUCTIONS IN THIS BUDGET. AND SO THAT'S, UM, JUST FOR CLARITY PURPOSES. I, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT. OKAY. OKAY. WE'RE DOWN TO THE SHERIFF TREASURER, THE VICTIM WITNESS, AND THAT'S IT. YEP. MADAM CHAIRMAN, MR. HUT, I WAS JUST GONNA LET THE BOARD KNOW. WE, IN DEALING WITH VACO AND DEALING WITH ALL THE COUNTIES IN THE STATE, MACK COUNTY IS LUCKY IN A WAY THAT WE CAN, THAT WE ARE PROPOSED. WE'VE GOT A BALANCED BUDGET. A LOT OF THE CA LOCALITIES OR QUITE A FEW OF THE LOCALITIES ARE ACTUALLY CUTTING DEPARTMENTS LIKE 5% OR MORE. EACH DEPARTMENT HAVING TO CUT FIVE. I KNOW FAIRFAX IS DOING IT. THAT'S THE BIGGEST ONE THAT I KNOW OF. BUT THERE ARE OTHER COUNTIES THROUGHOUT THE STATE, EVEN SOME SMALL COUNTIES THAT ARE HAVING TO, WHICH COUNTY DOES HAVE ASK ALL THEIR DEPARTMENTS TO CUT BACK A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE. AND FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER I'M SEEING EVERYWHERE ELSE. I JUST WANTED THE BOARD TO KNOW THAT. SO WE'RE LUCKY IN SOME WAYS IF WE CAN DO THIS WITHOUT DOING THAT AT MADAM CHAIR. UH, YES, MR. I I DID HAVE ONE OTHER TOPIC, I GUESS I MISSED IT ON THE SCHEDULE, BUT, UH, STAR TRANSIT CAME TO US AND BRIEFED US, DID AN AMAZING JOB. AND I THINK THEY SAID THEY TRANSPORTED 94 OR THEY DID 94,000 TRIPS LAST YEAR. MM-HMM . UM, DURING COVID, THE BOARD AT THE TIME WAIVED FEES FOR STAR TRANSIT. MM-HMM . AND I THINK I, I HAD ASKED THEM, MR. MASON TO COME BACK TO US AND TELL US HOW MANY OF THOSE TRIPS WERE TO THE HOSPITAL. UH, MY ASK TO THE BOARD IS THAT WE CONSIDER STAR TRANSIT REINSTATING A FEE FOR RIDING THE STAR TRANSIT FOR TRIPS OTHER THAN TO THE HOSPITAL. UM, THAT'S A GREAT SERVICE. BUT THE, I WATCH THE PEOPLE COME INTO MY DISTRICT AND THEY'RE GOING TO WORK AND OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING TO PAY FOR THEIR TRANSPORTATION TO GO TO WORK. UM, AND I'M NOT, I'M ASKING FOR A NOMINAL FEE, BUT SOME FEE TO HELP OFFSET THE COST GIVEN OUR CURRENT BUDGET SITUATION. I'LL COMMENT. SURE. IT'S THREE OF US ON THIS BOARD THAT ARE ON THE A-N-T-D-C AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE A DECISION FOR A TDC. NOW YOU COULD COME BEFORE THE, BEFORE THAT COMMITTEE AND PROPOSE THAT, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE DECIDING FACT WOULD BE THE A TDC ON THAT. THANK YOU. ANY, ANY OTHER DID MAY I ASK, DID A TDC MAKE THE DECISION TO WAIVE THE FEES OR WAS YES. YES. WAS A TDC? YES. THANKS. AND THE STAR TRANSIT IS IN THE BLACK AND IT'S, IT'S BEING FUNDED. WONDERFUL. BASICALLY FEDERAL AND STATE MOSTLY AND STUFF LOCAL. SO, AND I WAS JUST LIKE, AND OTHER OTHERS AROUND THE STATE TOO ARE NOT BEING, ARE NOT CHARGED, NOT CHARGING. SO THEY'RE KIND OF FOLLOWING WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE STATE. I THINK IT'S BEING UTILIZED, UH, GREATLY. UH, I JUST DON'T THINK IT NEEDS TO BE. I MEAN, IF, IF THEY'RE LIKE OPERATING IN THE BLACK AND WITHOUT FUNDING, I JUST DON'T THINK WE SHOULD THAT, THAT'S MY OPINION. FOLLOW UP. DIDN'T THEY HAVE AN ASK IN IN THE BUDGET? NO. NO. OH, I'M, I'M MISREAD THE STAR, STAR TRANSIT. ASK FOR ADDITIONAL $21,000 AND IT'S INCLUDED [01:40:01] IN MY PROPOSAL. RIGHT. THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT. BUT FOR STAFF SHORTAGES AND, UM, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION, WHICH MY THOUGHT WAS, THAT'D BE ENOUGH FUNDING FOR THEM, WHATEVER THAT NUMBER IS, LESS THAN THE 94 TO PROBABLY HANDLE, UH, THEIR OWN STAFFING. JUST TO FOLLOW UP. GO AHEAD, MR. I THINK IF IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN GIVE A SERVICE THAT WE CAN GIVE LIKE THAT, UH, TO OUR PUBLIC, I THINK WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD TRY TO STAND WITH THAT. I CONCUR. AS I SAY, THESE ARE USUALLY PEOPLE WHO UTILIZE THAT SERVICE OF THE WORKING POOR. AND I JUST, I KNOW IF THE, IN MY SERVICE SOCIAL SERVICES WORLD, IF IT WASN'T FOR, I MEAN, WE WOULD HAVE TO GIVE OUT, UH, TOKENS SOMETIME IN ORDER FOR PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, A DOLLAR SEEMS MINIMAL MAYBE TO SOME OF US, BUT A DOLLAR'S A LOT TO SOME, YOU KNOW, TO SOME OTHERS. AND I JUST WOULD NEVER AGREE WITH THAT. THAT'S JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION. ANYTHING THAT CAN ENCOURAGE WORK. UH, EXACTLY. COULD COULD MADAM CHAIR, GO AHEAD. COULD I, UM, COULD I SAY SOMETHING? I, I JUST WANT TO GO BACK. UM, MAYBE WE'VE GONE PAST IT, BUT WE WANNA GO BACK, UM, WHERE, UM, UH, VICE CHAIR WAS TALKING ABOUT THE HOUSING MISSION MM-HMM . OKAY. AND I KNOW WHAT THEY WERE ASKING FOR, BUT IF THERE ANY WIGGLE ROOM TO GIVE THEM ANYTHING. MADAM CHAIR, GO AHEAD. THE PROBLEM WITH THAT, UH, MR. WASHINGTON IS JUST, THEY'RE, THEY'RE RECEIVING 900, $9,999. NOW, IF WE GIVE THEM $1, THEN THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET AN AUDIT BECAUSE WE, THE COUNTY HAS A POLICY THAT IF THE COUNTY, UH, APPROPRIATES TO A ENTITY OF $10,000 OR MORE, THEY'RE REQUIRED TO GET A, UH, GET AN AUDIT. SO JUST SAY YOU GAVE 'EM $5,000 EXTRA. MM-HMM. THEY'RE GONNA SPEND THAT IN A, UH, THAN THAT. MORE THAN THAT. THE AUDITS ARE FIVE TO 10 AND THEY, UH, WELL, MATTER OF FACT, I THINK THEY SAID THEY AUDIT IT WAS GONNA BE 10,000. YOU'RE YOU'RE RIGHT. HE SAID PART OF THAT FUNDING WAS JUST FOR THE SET ASIDE FOR THE AUDIT BECAUSE OF THAT 10,000. ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU FOR CLEARING THAT FOR ME. 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S A GREAT PROGRAM. AND WHEN WE JUST LIKE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE STAR TRANSIT, ANYTHING YOU JUST SAID, ANYTHING THAT WE CAN GIVE TO HELP OUT. AND SO I JUST THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA, BUT NOW THAT YOU CLARIFIED I UNDERSTAND. THANK YOU. AND JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, GO, GO AHEAD MS. MIKE CHAIR, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION. I WASN'T, UM, UM, ACTUALLY REQUESTING MORE SURE OF THAT. IT WAS JUST BASICALLY THE 9,099. OH YEAH, THAT'S THERE. THAT'S THERE. THAT'S THERE. OKAY. SO THEY WILL RECEIVE THAT. THEY WILL GET THAT. YOU BELIEVE THEY DID DO THE AUDIT, UM, LAST THIS YEAR COMING TOO? I KNOW THEY DID, BUT NO, I, I SHOULD HAVE, I SHOULD HAVE CLARIFIED THAT. OKAY. THEY DO. THEY WILL GET THE $9,999. OKAY. THAT'S FINE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION. NO PROBLEM. THANK YOU. OKAY, MADAM CHAIRMAN. SURE. MR. IF THE BOARD IS READY, WHAT'S OUR NEXT STEP FROM HERE? SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO, UM, ENDORSE, UM, SENDING THE CHANGES TO THE BUDGET THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT TONIGHT. TOGETHER WITH MY PROPOSAL TO PUBLIC HEARING ALONG WITH THE TAX RATES THAT I ALSO PROPOSED. YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE EARLIEST THAT WE COULD ADVERTISE THE UH, WELL, IF WE STAY ON SCHEDULE, WE'LL ADVERTISE OUR, OUR, OUR BUDGET AND TAX RATES. THE 6TH OF MARCH. THE 13TH OF MARCH. UM, IT WOULD SET US UP FOR A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 23RD OF MARCH. UM, AND THAT WOULD BE THE, THE SCHEDULE THAT WAS OUTLINED. AND YOUR, YOUR BUDGET SCHEDULE. THAT WAS INITIALLY WHAT OF MARCH 23RD? 23RD OF MONTH. THAT WOULD BE OUR NEXT MEETING. BUDGET. I DUNNO. UH, 23RD IS NOT GOOD FOR ME. WHAT CAN WE DO? IT'S NOT GOOD FOR JACKIE. I'LL BE SEE THE 23RD, 3RD OF MARCH. SO THAT WAS A MONDAY. THAT WAS THE EARLY ISSUE. CERTAINLY CAN PICK OTHER DATES DURING THAT, BUT WE WOULD NOT MEET AGAIN. IF WE SET THIS TONIGHT, WE WOULD NOT MEET AGAIN UNTIL THE PUBLIC HEARING. YEAH. I, I WOULD ASK THE BOARD TO VOTE TO SEND THIS TO PUBLIC HEARING AND YOU WOULD NOT MEET AGAIN ON BUDGET UNTIL THAT PUBLIC HEARING. I KNOW THAT'S WHENEVER DATE WE'RE GONNA SET. DOES THAT NEED TO BE PART OF THE MOTION, THE PUBLIC HEARING DATE? WE, YEAH. I, I NEED CLAR. I NEED TO HAVE CLARITY ON THAT DATE. 'CAUSE THAT'S GOTTA BE, WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK ABOUT PUBLIC HEARING? IF WE CAN'T DO IT ON THE 23RD, WE CAN'T DO IT BEFORE THAT. IT'S GOTTA BE AFTER THAT. YEAH. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO IT BEFORE, BUT YOU CAN DO IT LATER THAT WEEK. MR. PHILLIPS WILL BE ADDED. UH, WHEN WILL YOU BE BACK? I'LL BE BACK TILL THE 28TH BEFORE I'LL BE BACK. WHICH IS MARCH THE, UH, 30TH. THAT'S A SATURDAY. THAT'S A SATURDAY. I'LL BE BACK IN THE DAY. THAT'S WHEN I'LL BE BACK IN THE WHAT ABOUT MAY 30TH? LET SEE HERE. WHAT ABOUT THE 30TH? MARCH. MARCH THE 30TH. WHAT ABOUT MARCH 30TH? PERFECT FOR ME. EVERYBODY. 30TH IS FINE. MARCH 30TH. HOW ABOUT YOU, UH, [01:45:01] PASTOR? YEAH, I CAN MAKE MARCH 30. EVERYBODY. I'M GOOD FOR IT. EVERYBODY GOOD WITH MARCH 30TH? YEP. MADAM CHAIRMAN. THANK YOU. GO AHEAD. I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE SEND OUR BUDGET AS PREPARED AND WITH THE CHANGES WE MADE TO A PUBLIC HEARING ON MARCH THE 30TH, WHAT LOCATION AT, UH, DO YOU THINK WE NEED IT AT? MET TOMKIN? WELL, WE DISAGREE. ANYTIME THERE'S A TAX INCREASE PROPOSAL, I THINK YOU NEED TO PLAN ON ADDITIONAL AT TOKIN AT FIVE 30. OKAY. AND IT'S 30 MS. VANESSA HAS A, I'M SORRY, MS. VANESSA? YES, MA'AM, GO AHEAD. UM, I HAVE A DISCLOSURE I NEED TO READ. OKAY. OKAY. BECAUSE I WORK FOR ACK COUNTY, I HAVE A PERSONAL INTEREST IN A APPROPRIATE OTHER FY 27 BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS. TO THE EXTENT THEY CONCERN COUNTY EMPLOYEES SALARIES AND BENEFITS, I UNDERSTAND THAT I'M ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE MATTERS UNDER VIRGINIA CODE SECTION 2.23112 B ONE. BECAUSE I'M A MEMBER OF A PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION OR GROUP OF THREE OR MORE PERSONS AFFECTED BY THESE TRANSACTIONS, I'M ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE TRANSACTIONS FAIRLY OBJECTIVELY AND IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. OKAY. AND I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION. SECOND THE MOTION. OKAY. SO WE'RE MOVING PROPERLY. SECOND THAT WE, UH, TAKE THE PROPOSED CHANGES IN BUDGET TO PUBLIC HEARING ON MARCH THE 30TH AT FIVE 30 AT BAT TOMKIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. WE DO ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, LET IT BE KNOWN BY AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THAT MOTION HAS CARRIED MADAM CHAIRMAN. YES. MOTION TO ADJOURN. UH, TAX. Y'ALL DO? NO, I DIDN'T WANT QUESTION. DO WE NEED TO TAKE AN ACTION TO, WE HAD A MEETING SCHEDULED TOMORROW, IS THAT CORRECT? OH, YEAH. SO WE WILL CANCEL. WE'VE BEEN, CANCEL THAT. SO WE DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING. YOU CAN DO THAT. NO. OKAY. GREAT. THANK YOU. OKAY, MR. PHILLIPS. MR. PHILLIPS, THEN HE'S ALREADY MADE A MOTION. MOTION TO ADJOURN MS. LET'S BE MOVING PROPER SECOND. NON DEBATABLE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR AS WE DON'T, BUT AYE, AYE. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? AND THE MOTION HAS COUNT. * 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.