June 11, 2010
FY2010 Revenue Update
Yesterday the State posted its sales tax report for June. This report, representing sales tax receipts for March retail sales, indicates that Mecklenburg County’s distribution totals $12,752,420. This amount is $152,000 more than last month and $890,000 more than June 2009.
To date we have collected $114.4 million, an average of $12.7 million a month for FY10. To meet our projection of $144 million for FY2010, we need to average approximately $9.9 million a month for the remainder of the fiscal year. We have three more months of sales tax distributions for the current fiscal year.
Based on the Board’s June 3 straw vote, the FY11 budget of $139 million requires an average distribution of $11.6 million a month.
Board members with questions should contact Finance Director Dena Diorio at 704-336-2228 or Dena.Diorio@MecklenburgCountyNC.Gov.
Straw Vote Would Retain County Positions
As a result of the Board’s straw vote, 39 filled full-time positions and 26 temporary positions would be retained in County departments. The breakdown is as follows:
Community Support Services
- 2 veterans service officer positions
- 2 employment services positions
Park and Recreation
- 6 park watch positions
- 5 recreation specialist positions
- 26 temporary positions
Public Health
Sheriff’s Office
- 23 work release & restitution positions.
This would reduce the total number of filled full-time positions eliminated from 335 in the recommended budget to 296. There also are 73 vacant full-time positions (for a total of 369 full-time positions) and 4 vacant part-time positions that would be eliminated.
This position count does not include the Public Library. We have not yet received data from the Public Library on the position impact of the $3.5 million and $1.4 million in additional respective funding from the County and City (or towns).
Board members with questions should contact Management and Budget Director
Hyong Yi, 704-336-6945.
County Holds Job Fairs for Transitioning Employees
As part of its employment transition services for employees affected by the proposed Reduction-in-Force (RIF), the Human Resources Department facilitated three job fairs this week. The job fairs focused on employment opportunities with vendors that have pending FY11 facility maintenance and/or operations contracts with the County’s Real Estate Services Department.
The job fairs were held June 7 at the Hal Marshall Building, June 8 at the Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center, and June 10 at the main branch of the Public Library. During these three job fairs, vendors met with approximately 100 County and Public Library employees about job opportunities with their companies, provided information about the companies, received resumes, and discussed employment options. In addition to County and Library employees recently were notified of the proposed FY11 RIF, the job fairs were open to former County employees laid off in FY10, as well as all current employees.
Board members with questions about the job fairs should contact Real Estate Services Business Manager
Rebecca Herbert, 704-336-2628.
County employees with questions about Employment Transition Services should contact Human Resources Consultant
Shelley Gahren, 704-432-1986.
General Assembly Poised for Aggressive Short Session
The General Assembly appears poised to make short work of this year’s Short Session, with a budget agreement possible before June 30. The aggressive timeline creates challenges for our local legislative agenda, but we remain hopeful that our bill to allow extended leases for green energy projects and our bill to protect MEDIC’s protocols will pass the legislature.
Our efforts to remove the advertising requirements for delinquent taxpayers have drawn statewide attention. We expect it will become part of a broader study of county advertising requirements to be addressed next session.
Finally, we have been unable to secure unanimous consent of our delegation to move our Equalization and Review bill forward due to the opposition of Rep. Nick Mackey.
Regarding other state budget developments, staff continues to monitor negotiations and advocate based on the general principles that the Board approved as part of its legislative agenda.
One of the items we are tracking closely is how the Senate and House budgets differ regarding the amount of lottery funds projected for counties as well as the distribution formula. Although the Senate budget preserves the counties’ 40 percent set aside of net lottery proceeds for school construction, it alters the distribution formula. Conversely, the House budget maintains the current distribution formula that is more beneficial to Mecklenburg County over the long term than the Senate’s proposed new formula, if the total set aside of lottery funds is not reduced. Unfortunately, the House budget also lowers the counties’ 40 percent share to 27.2 percent. Therefore, if the House provision is approved in the final State budget, it would reduce Mecklenburg County’s estimated lottery proceeds in FY11 by approximately $5 million from $20 million to $15 million.
The Mecklenburg County FY11 budget includes $21 million in lottery funds to pay for CMS debt service. This includes approximately $5 million in lottery funds being carried forward into FY11 from the current year. Therefore, the potential reduction likely would not impact the total lottery funds available to offset CMS debt services costs in FY11. However, it would create a lottery funding gap beyond FY11.
Because counties across the state will face similar impacts in FY11 and beyond, the NCACC is communicating its concerns about the proposed lottery changes with legislators. The NCACC also is asking all counties to contact their respective legislators on this matter, which we will do. The most favorable arrangement for Mecklenburg County would be for the State budget to maintain the counties’ 40 percent set aside of net lottery funds as contained in the Senate budget, while maintaining the current distribution formula perpetuated in House budget.
Details on our legislative efforts are
online.
Board members with questions should contact Assistant to the County Manager
Brian Francis, 704-336-2228.
- Harry L. Jones, Sr., County Manager
CALENDAR REMINDER
Tuesday, June 15
- 2:00 pm, Board of County Commissioners Compensation Committee, room 1148, CMGC (Chairman’s Office)
- 5 pm, Dinner Meeting, CH14
- 6:00 pm, Regular BOCC meeting-FY 2011 Budget Adoption, Meeting Chamber
Wednesday, June 16-18
- Charlotte Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Inter City Visit in Boston, MA