042517wsmHARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Minutes of Work Session
April 25, 2017
The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met in work session on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in
the County Manager's Conference Room, County Administration Building, 102 East Front
Street, Lillington, North Carolina.
Members present:
Staff present:
Gordon Springle, Chairman
Joe Miller, Vice Chairman
Barbara McKoy, Commissioner
Howard Penny, Commissioner
Abe Elmore, Commissioner
Joseph Jeffries, County Manager
Paula Stewart, Deputy County Manager
Dwight Snow, County Attorney
Kimberly Honeycutt, Finance Officer
Margaret Regina Wheeler, Clerk
Chairman Springle called the meeting to order at 9:00 am and led the Pledge of
Allegiance and invocation.
The following agenda was before commissioners:
➢ 2017/18 Budget Discussion
- Health Insurance Presentation by Employee Benefits Committee
> County Manager's Report:
- May 1, 2017 Regular Meeting Agenda Review
> Adjourn
On behalf of the Employee Benefits Committee, Tracy Tant presented the following
recommendations for the 2017-2018 benefits plan for county employees:
1. Health insurance — remain with BCBS of NC (18.6% increase in cost — deductible will
stay the same)
2. Dental insurance — remain with Delta Dental (3.3% increase in cost)
3. Vision insurance — remain with Superior Vision (no increase)
4. Flexible Spending Account administration — remain with P&A Group
5. Basic Life & AD&D, Short Term Disability, and Voluntary Life and AD&D — change
from Reliance Standard to Unum Life Insurance Co. to avoid a drastically high
increase with Reliance due to a larger than normal number of life insurance claims
during this benefit year.
April 25, 2017 Work Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
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Mr. Jeffries reported staff is continuing to negotiate the 18.6% rate increase. He said given our
Finance Director budgets more than the actual premiums to build a fund balance the rate increase
could be less. Mr. Jeffries also said staff believes we will be able to offset the impact of the
projected increase of $1 Million by safely lowering workers comp and unemployment numbers.
Mr. Jeffries reported staff hopes to present a proposed balanced 2017/18 budget to the Board on
May 1, 2017.
In conjunction with the Springsted Compensation Study, commissioners directed staff to review
and discuss compensation for commissioners compared with compensation provided by
surrounding counties. Currently the Harnett County Board of Commissioners are paid a monthly
compensation which covers attendance at all regular meetings of the full board (two per month),
a travel allowance ($410 per month) and are reimbursed for actual expenses including out of
county travel. Pursuant to NCGS 153A-28, the board of commissioners may fix the
compensation and allowances of the chairman and other members of the board by inclusion of
the compensation and allowance in the adoption of the budget ordinance. Mrs. Stewart proposed
two options for increases to commissioner's compensation. Commissioners discussed options
and suggested increasing their base pay $100 per month/$1,200 annually, increasing their travel
allowance $200 per month/$2,400 annually and doing away with their $35 additional meeting
compensation. The proposed $3,600 annual increase in commissioner's compensation will be
approved in the 2017/18 Budget Ordinance.
It was the consensus of Board to move forward with the General Government Capital
Improvement Plan through FY 2021/22 as presented. Mr. Jeffries noted any changes would be
brought back to the Board.
Mr. Jeffries reviewed the Board of Education's draft budget request including a total of $5.6
million in capital requests. Staff noted this would be the second year using the funding formula
previously approved by the Board of Commissioners. Calculation of base allocation total
funding for 2017-18 is $23,500,153. Mrs. Honeycutt reported Harnett County's three-year
average of appropriation per ADM is $1,024.56. Mr. Jeffries sought direction from the Board
regarding the additional requests by the Board of Education.
Mr. Jeffries recommended, following discussions with Interim Superintendent Fleming, that the
Board of Education use $263,000 of their remaining capital funds and approximately $30,000
left over in teachers' supplement to purchase three yellow buses now. He noted this would
require approval by the Board at their upcoming regular meeting. Mr. Jeffries also suggested
using $503,000 of the GO bonds approved for construction of the new Benhaven Elementary
School to expand the cafeteria at Overhills High School. He said if Mr. Fleming delayed misc.
equipment and vehicles as previously discussed the balance for capital requests would be $1.25
Million.
April 25, 2017 Work Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 2 of 5
Mr. Jeffries noted the Board of Education requested an additional $4.4 Million in current
expenses. He noted the increase is due to Early College start-up, teacher's supplements, and the
K-3 legislation change to reduce class sizes. Commissioners noted they had not approved
funding Early College as they had been lead to believe legislation would fund the program.
Commissioner Penny also said Dr. Holmes had developed funding sources for the Early College
program. Discussions continued. Mr. Jeffries said local legislators are currently working on
additional funding for Early College at the Dunn Center. He said with additional legislative
funding, along with other budget modifications, this request could be approximately $200,000.
The Early College program is intended to help reduce the high school population. Regarding
pending K-3 legislative changes to reduce class size, the addition of 28 new teachers could cost
approximately $1.67 million. Mr. Jeffries said this is a moving target, as a potential compromise
bill would only require 14 new teachers.
Mr. Jeffries noted the total cost for the $1000 supplements for classroom teachers that were
employed on September 1, 2015 was approximately $1,252 Million last year. He also noted the
Board had agreed to consider an additional $500 per teacher with the caveat that they showed
improvement. Mr. Jeffries mentioned Mr. Fleming's proposal of a teacher's supplement that
included the $500, plus taxes and benefits, and included certified teachers that were not part of
the original supplement and classified staff. As requested, the Board of Education provided the
following bonus definition:
• Granted to instructional personnel that have a classroom of assignment of students or
certified personnel that are assigned one on one classroom instruction. Also granted to
any instructional personnel paid on the teacher salary schedule.
• Growth occurs when majority of schools meet or exceed growth and the District overall
experiences growth.
Mr. Jeffries reported the proposed definition provided would include 1,441 teachers, increased
from 1260, and suggests measuring improvements by the districts overall growth by meeting or
exceeding growth. Without including taxes and retirement, and following the resolution to
provide for teachers that were in the system the previous year, the total cost for 1441 teachers to
receive $1,500 supplement would be $2.16 million. Typical turnover ranges from 150 to 200
teachers a year so the estimated total for teachers supplement would be $1.93 million; an
increase of $683,000.
Mr. Jeffries proposed for consideration also offering the Early College program at the current
Benhaven School. He said we could potentially spend $2 Million to $3 Million to renovate the
current Benhaven School and possibly slow the need for a new high school. Mr. Jeffries said the
community college would need to be on board for this but he is bringing it up now given the
option of using part of the GO bonds as a funding source. He said if the board would like to
consider this option staff will get cost estimates for renovations. Mr. Jeffries said he believes
this would be a great project; slowing the need for a new high school and still using the facility
for a community library, recreation and potentially a senior center. Mr. Coats noted the GO
April 25, 2017 Work Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 3 of 5
bonds are only available for active schools or building new schools and the Overhills High
School cafeteria expansion and old Benhaven renovations should qualify.
Commissioners discussed that they already fund counselors in every high school for the College
and Career program. They stressed the need for the College and Career program and Early
College program to work together. They questioned if the buses requested for the early college
program could also be used to transport kids from the high schools to campuses. It was the
consensus of the Board for staff to move forward with exploring funding opportunities for Early
College at Benhaven, in addition to the Dunn Center.
Mr. Jeffries shared and discussed "Analytics per Site for Harnett County Schools". He talked
about how difficult it is to show improvement. Commissioner Penny said it is important to know
what the numbers presented actually represent. Discussions continued regarding definitions,
teacher's supplements and how to measure improvements in schools. Chairman Springle said
the key to measuring improvement needs to be apparent to everyone.
Mr. Jeffries said Harnett County ranks one of the lowest counties in our region in teacher
supplements. He suggested, in addition to the $1,500, that the County consider taking the
growth of the sales tax expansion; 10% growth would be 380,000 a year, and committing those
new dollars to the Board of Education to help with their supplements. Vice Chairman Miller
suggested, in lieu of the $500 supplement, giving the $1,500 each year and then taking Mr.
Jeffries suggestion offering the Board of Education a lump sum from new monies towards
teachers supplement annually (for example $250,000 divided by 1,500 teachers) if they meet or
exceed the growth standard set by commissioners. Suggested language: the County would offer
the Board of Education up to 5% of the growth of the $3.8 Million of sales tax expansion
annually. It was the consensus of the commissioners to go ahead and pay the $1500 to 1441
teachers this year based on the 15/16 numbers.
It was the consensus of the Board for staff to move forward with potentially using $503,000 of
the GO bonds approved for construction of the new Benhaven Elementary School to expand the
cafeteria at Overhills High School.
It was also the consensus of the Board to consider approval, at their upcoming meeting, of the
Board of Education's request to use $263,000 of remaining capital funds and approximately
$30,000 left over in teachers' supplement to purchase three yellow buses.
Mr. Jeffries sought direction by the Board regarding the Board of Education's additional requests
in addition to their $1 Million increase in current expenses. It was the consensus of the Board to
go ahead and budget $1.256 million for capital priorities, instead of $972,000, and see how it
comes out.
April 25, 2017 Work Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
Page 4 of 5
Mr. Coats distributed an estimated cost of $25.183 Million for the construction of Benhaven
School Project, noting additional costs are forthcoming. Staff noted, with the resolution
previously adopted, this would still allow sufficient room for the Overhills High School cafeteria
expansion and renovations at Benhaven for Early College.
Mr. Jeffries reviewed the proposed May 1, 2017 regular meeting agenda. Commissioners will
meet in work session, immediately following their May 1, 2017 regular meeting, to continue
budget discussions. Mr. Jeffries responded that staff would be conducting a study regarding the
H.A.R.T.S. program.
Chairman Springle recessed the meeting at 11:25 am. Commissioners left to visit Brunswick
County at 3:00 pm to hear about the Brunswick County Citizen Patrol Program.
t Regina yV eeler, Clerk
April 25, 2017 Work Session Minutes
Harnett County Board of Commissioners
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