Work Session

All righty. Good morning everyone. Good morning. Thank you all for being here. Today is Monday, October 5th, 2026. We have about three more months left in 2026. Imagine that. All right, we are here for our uh monthly work session and I will get us started um with a public charge and um no, we do the land acknowledgement though. I'm looking around. Uh would you be open to doing the land vice chair? Okay. All right. Very good. I'm going to start with the public charge and then we'll get started here. The board of commissioners askes members and citizens to conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner both with the board and fellow citizens. At any time should any member of the board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge. The chair will ask the offending person to leave the meeting until that individual regains personal control. Should the quorum fail to be restored, the chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to the public charge is observed. Vice Chair alone.

Thank you. As we convene for the Durham County Commissioners meeting, it's crucial to recognize the painful truth of our history. We stand on the stolen ancestral lands of the Kataba, Eno, Okanichi, Shakori, and Tuscora peoples whose deep connection to this land predates our arrival. We acknowledge with humility the unjust displacement and violence that occurred leading to the dispossession of indigenous peoples from their homelands. Their resilience in the face of such adversity is a testament to their strength and spirit.

May we humbly honor the ancestors and elders of these nations, both past and present, by committing ourselves to fostering understanding, healing, and justice for all who inhabit this land. Let us walk forward together with open hearts, acknowledging the past and embracing a future guided by compassion, respect, and unity.

Thank you. Um, is Commissioner Jacobs online? Do is she supposed to be online? Oh, she's in Okay. I thought she was still in Arkansas. Okay. All right. If we don't see her, we'll do an excuse absence for her. Okay. Um so the first item on our uh official agenda here is citizens comments. We have one uh signed up and we'll do three minutes and that is Antonette Halls.

Good morning. My name is Antonet Halls. I've been in Durham since 1965 and I've paid taxes, property taxes since 1996,97. Um, I am well invested in this community and I want to let you know that I the community is concerned about the way Durm County is handling this homeless population and you have sweetened up the words they're homeless and um I understand that um the county is not responsible for the great eviction. However, the county holds the services uh to meet the needs of the citizens within the city and the county. And if you are not coordinating with the city on how to address, support, and um relieve Durham County of this this hardship, then of course you're not

doing your job. You must you must coordinate with Durm City to address the issues with the homeless. And for 2027, it is expected it's going to get worse because people are losing their jobs and uh they're food insecure. And if I had a dollar for every time I saw a repo truck carting away somebody's shiny vehicle, I could go buy me a new car. So repos are up. foreclosures are up, home um uh food insecurity is up, and it's going to get worse um as we go into the election season and into 2026. So, I expect I hope I I demand that you do something and consider that the funds that you are using for these projects be reallocated or minimized so that we can meet the needs of the people in Durham County. It is essential. is going to be a big big deal 2027 in more ways than any of us can imagine. And so I really do hope that you don't get caught with your slip hanging because it's going to reflect your position during your next election.

Thank you, Miss Hollis. All righty. The next item on our agenda is the consent agenda. Manager Hagar.

Good morning. Our first consent agenda item is 260461. This is an approval of capital project amendment 27 CPA 12 and a budget ordinance amendment of 27 BCC23 appropriating a million and unrestricted

opioid funds and transferring to a new unrestricted opioid payo fund to support the purchase of a new Durham County transition house. authorize a manager to execute doc documents to effectuate the purchase pending final approval by the Durham County Attorney's Office as well as reduce the county transition house capital project by $739,041 in capital PGO funding and transferring the funding back to the debt service fund. Excuse me.

Thank you. Um I do have a number of questions about this item. Um let me just say first I absolutely support us purchasing um another transition house. Um, I remember when this came up before and the cost to renovate our existing house was going to be very expensive because we have such high standards around um buildings being energy efficient. Um so one one question is um first of all will this house have to meet our very high standards and you know I I if so I think that we might consider amending our policy uh for when it it doesn't really make sense in terms of what is the goal that we're trying to achieve especially when the goal here is to have a transition house and we don't want to So anyway, that that was one of my one of my questions. Um I also don't quite understand if if the house is around 700,000, it looks like we're appropriating 1.3 million and which would mean there would

be I'm just trying to understand why the extra

Sure.

why why do we need the 1.3 million? And I have some other questions too, but I'll I'll stop if you want.

Um Christie will share about

the um cost um as well as the requirements from a standard building standards perspective. Just to give some context, I know when we looked before at potential um construction, it was closer to 4 million if my memory is correct, and it is. And so um the house purchase and the variances for any structural or renovations that are required. So although a higher number is still materially lower than what we were looking at from a price point before

I can add a little bit to that. That's all true. So the existing transition house, there were a few pieces that made the price so incredibly high. And yes, it was um meeting county policy as a piece of it, but we could elect not to do that. The bigger piece of it was that the building there was no way to renovate the building. That wouldn't mean we were touching more than half of it. And from a building code standpoint, that means the entire building needs to be brought up to commercial standards because we're the government. So we're not just renovating a house into a residential house. were renovating a house then into a commercial building. So that was the biggest piece of it. Um so that does not apply to this new house because it doesn't need to be renovated. Certainly nothing like that. Um purchase price of the house is 770,000. I I thought we were asking for a million to be appropriated. A a tiny bit of that is closing costs,

right? Not very much. And then I think about 200,000 we're holding just in case we find something with like um building systems that needs to be repaired. Uh a lot of county staff have toured the property. We had an architect with us. There doesn't appear to be any issues with the house, but obviously we'll find out more during the inspection period. So a portion of that money is just in case we need to, you know, upgrade HVAC or something like that. Okay. Because the appropriation is 1.3 million. Is that Is that right?

It's 1 million.

I'm sorry. It's right, but the budget I'm sorry. The budget for the item is 1.3. I'm sorry. Is that what it looks like?

I I do see the where the item says 1.3. Give us a day or two and we'll update that and make sure we're looking at what is existing has been spent. Also, maybe some of this in there, but we will clarify and make sure to update the item and send an email.

Great. And then can you also clarify um Christie, are we trying to make this a leadcertified house um or are we being re reasonable about what we're doing here?

No, because um sort of the same reasoning as the building codes. We don't anticipate any kind of renovation. So, it sort of doesn't trigger our policy that would require lead certification. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you. Um and then I just want to also understand a few other things. We're taking a million dollars of opioid funding for this. So I would like to understand how that impacts the opioid settlement funds and also typically um we are allowed to use opioid settlement money for housing for people who are recovering from opioid use use disorder. But I know that all of our returning residents are not um living with uh opioid use disorder. So I just

want to clarify on that issue as well.

There are two different um buckets of the opioid settlement money. There are dollars that are from the bellweather opioid okay funding which um allows for increased flexibility. Um the approach used uh for this is consistent with the guidelines that are from opioid settlement funds that are allocated from the state. Um but we have flexibility with those dollars that are different. When we talked about the procurement of this house several years ago, it was that pot of money um of opioid settlement funds that were um talked about then. But it's been I mean we've been talking about this probably for about two three years and so um but that's some of that history.

Okay. So this is a different

it's a different

Okay, great. Um and then also could you um tell us what are the plans for the existing house and are we going to be selling that um and what where will that the purchase of that will could they go back into this or just in terms of not having to use all of this money just yeah

good morning Dwayne Brenson assistant county manager so for their current home. We are planning to continue using that.

Okay.

We'll make um if we need to make small scale renovations, nothing like the renovations we brought to the board a couple years ago that were three $4 million.

But if we need to renovate on a small scale, we can do that and continue using that house. So, we'll have two transition homes.

Oh, that's great. And could you tell us what the capacity then will be between the two houses?

Uh let me invite Director Humphrey up.

Good morning and I do apologize for our tardiness, but it's been a Monday at justice services already, so um we will adjust. Um thank you for having us to talk about this important topic this morning as it relates to the current transition house. So that's a six bed house. The new house has the capacity to be seven to eight beds. So it will put us roughly at about 14 beds total. Um we will probably take one offline as we start to um move into the new one. Um do the smallcale renovations as ACM Brenson talked about and then it would give us the capacity to have two. And what that does it allows us not to have to have so many individual contracts with um private um providers. In addition, the transitional houses that we operate have um 24-hour staff and so it's a little bit more structured environment. So, we appreciate having um more bids that will be in that structured environment.

That sounds great. Thank you so much. It's really important that we're going to be increasing our capacity. Thank you,

Vice Chair Long.

Um I'm really excited and grateful to the uh real estate team for finding this property and as well as our just services team for all the wraparound services. I just wanted make comments because I I don't think this is um the intention, but I just want us to be mindful of when it comes like when we're talking about the transitional housing, when we talk about like the standards we're setting of being mindful about I know it's more so about like the cost effectiveness, but lowering standards um to lower costs when it comes to transitional housing. I don't want that to kind of set a precedent that if we don't want like the best standards also for our neighbors that need to go into transitional housing as well. So just be you know that mindfulness as we have those conversations.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other comments? Okay. Thank you,

manager. The next one is an approval of a capital project ordinance amendment of $2 million of PIGO funding to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Sciences Museum Program and Event Infrastructure Capital Project, increasing the total project budget to $7.8 million to address increased construction costs due to inflation and tariffs. Okay, I I see you. Commissioner Jacobs, did you have something? Commissioner Burton.

Thank you, Chair Lee. I just wanted to um if someone could come up and explain um about how much it has increased due to tariffs and inflation. Um because that's something I know that many of our residents will be interested in knowing, understanding because these costs are going up. These construction costs are getting more and more expensive even though we know when the bond passed we it was one amount and now it's increased to another amount. So thank you.

I don't I don't have the exact numbers pulled up, but we'll find those. We worked a lot with the museum on identifying this and they worked a lot on also finding some private funding to help cover some of these increases. The bottom line is these geo bonds were a 2022 geo bond. The environment back then is quite different than it is now. And you're right, inflation is a large part. I'll have to look they they've done a lot of uh Perry will correct me if I'm using the term descoping. They've scoped down their plans to try to do it, but these are the final amounts of money needed to finish the project. I just I can't promise you that all of it is due to inflation tariff. So, I don't want to answer that until I read some emails that I have in my inbox.

In part of the um framework, it's it's

noted they had about a $3.5 million gap. There were $14 million um that were allocate 14 9 million close to that number um for or 14 million for the from bond dollars that they braided funding with other um um resources they have value engineered as as David talked about to try to see where they could do cost savings. Uh but just like many of our projects, uh steel and other um goods, they've just gone up exponentially. And so uh to um try to meet the goal, they have increased their capital campaign as well as um sort of longer term looking at strategies to to close those gaps. And I know Commissioner Lam also can.

Yeah. And I think this is, you know, I totally understand. I think, you know, when we're just in a different time, things are just going up and they're increasing and um making sure that when we go out and talk to our residents, like things are increasing, we have to absorb the cost as well and we're doing everything we can to use the tax dollars judiciously. So, I just really wanted to hear what um David had to say, county manager had to say about it because I think many of our residents just like their costs are increasing, the county's costs are increasing. So, thank you so much for that.

And and like I said, I'll look through the emails, but the bottom line, I mean, you all know with DPS even more so. I mean, the quantity of geobond projects that they started with in 2021, early 2022, developing it to what they were able to actually accomplish is just a drastic change. Can you point to every item being tariff related or inflation related? I'm not sure it's that because a lot of times um you're you're asking for let's say 14 million but by the time you're actually ready to build and scope

which is why the manager always talks about shovel ready some of those prices come in differently because they can't commit to actual firm pricing until it's a little further closer down the road. So, Geob Bonds in particular see some of this fluctuation

and I just wanted to add yeah just as the liazison for the Museum of Life and Science that they have overall I think the project increase was as um manager Hager and David mentioned it was like three and a half million they have raised uh about a million dollars through private uh fundraising and they're still pushing for more private funds to be able to come in um through their annual gayla that they do and then also the after dark events that they do for you know community members. So if anyone wants to go to the library after dark they have their spooky season event coming. I think it's like horror after dark at the museum and that'll help to these efforts.

Commissioner Jacobs.

Yes. Um, I don't I guess I don't think anyone's here from the museum, but I was really interested in knowing um when they do finish this project, which I know does involve upgrading the restaurant, is there any anticipation of I'm just curious what the anticipated um revenue stream will be from this, the impact, the economic impact. Do you know

or could we get that information?

We can follow up with them. They have a very robust um integrated um campaign. Okay. And part of the expansion and it's also to help with um visitors to have more options when they come and which is also quite important. but they do a fantastic job of looking at how do they get the best return on investments and so we'll make sure we get that response back.

I Yeah, I'd love I know there's some date great data that's provided about

the number of visitors and the number of Durham residents that are taking advantage of the community days. It's fantastic. Um I yeah I'd be curious to know also if they have any data maybe Discover Durham is tracking around out of town visitors to the museum because as we look at how we ways that we can increase our occupancy tax revenue and sales tax revenue um and boost tourism. The museum is a really important part of that. Um, so I I would be interested in that. And I'll just say um the museum is con was voted has been voted several years in a row as the number one wedding venue in Durham. And this summer my son got married at the museum at the Butterfly House. And some of the improvements that have been made um with county tax dollars. Um one of them is a pavilion, the butterfly pavilion. That's where my my son and his wife got married and it was incredible. I mean it really was and I hate to I mean it's true it was very magical um and the being able to use the butterfly house as well um for the cocktail hour. So, um I fully support us leveraging um this really important asset in every way we can and also you know being able to you people the museum using the site for events um special events and weddings is also an important revenue um generation for them.

So,

thank you.

Okay. All right. Thank you. All right, the next one is 26052. This is a capital project amendment and

budget ordinance amendment decreasing the open space and farmland preservation capital project by $99,750 and transferring that funding to the general fund as well as recognizing 173,000 from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund to support the purchase and protection of 15.354 acres at 4370 Garrett Road for for a total cost of $272,750. Well, I can't resist giving kudos again to our incredible staff for another win um and leveraging um state funding for this. Um, and I also wanted to mention that I went to uh a celebration of the Sandy Creek Park recently um John Gobles who is a Durham resident who's been championing and putting in countless hours for many many years um with many other residents to take care of that park which is part of this is um about protecting Sandy Creek and the Sandy Creek Park is a city park also along the corridor that um because of you know keep Durham beautiful friends of Sandy Creek um the New Hope Creek corridor advisory committee uh the um city's uh parks uh parks foundation all these different groups have been working together for a long time now to um protect that park evidently it's one of the best birding um places in the entire triangle region now. So when we invest in protecting this sp like places like this bottomland area that is has

rare hickory bark trees um we are also really investing in so much more. Um and so um thank you so much. This is wonderful.

Any others? Okay. Thank Thank you.

The next item is 260522. This is an approval of budget ordinance amendment 30 appropriating $8,292 of general fund fund balance to increase the forest protection services contract with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Forest Services as well as authorize a county manager to amend the contract to increase the amount from $81,044 to $89. $9,336. That concludes our consent items. Okay.

Okay. Any other questions about any of the consent items? All right. Hearing none, we'll continue on to the discussion items. We have an update on the ARPA project. Uh ARPA project, Unite Street Medicine. Um we have 45 minutes aotted for this. That includes questions and answers. Does that work for you all?

Either one.

Thank you. Um, hello. My name is Jillian Hall. Um, I had the honor of being the program coordinator for Unite, our street medicine pilot project happening here in Durham. Um, just to briefly orient you to the issue, I'm sure this is, you know, not news to anybody. Um, but the rates of homelessness, unsheltered homelessness are increasing rapidly in Durham. Um, the pit counts are increasing. Um, this data is taken from the city of Durham homelessness snapshot data or data snapshot. Um, I check this number every couple weeks and it has gone up uh by 500. I think the last time I checked it was in the 1500s. Um, and when I checked this morning, the number was down. So, I'm not sure what that says about where we are now. Um, but, uh, this number is concerning and the issues that people are facing are, um, increasing. Um, here are some of the barriers to healthcare that we noticed. Um, this is specifically to uh, health care. Um, not um, you know, barriers barriers to accessing um, um, housing or other things like that. Um, so these are pretty straightforward, pretty self-explanatory. Um the first one is transportation and distance. Um especially those that are outside of the downtown corridor in more rural areas. Um getting to any sort of provider, much less a healthcare provider is a challenge. Um lack of consistent phone or way to receive reminders, especially in regard to appointment reminders, confirmation for, you know, pre-surgery consultations, things like that. Um difficulty keeping appointments for those reasons. And also medications, keeping medications safe. Um, when you don't have a stable environment to live in, you don't have a stable place to keep your medicine, it's difficult to keep up with, uh, recommendations from providers. Um, lack of identification, insurance, and just complicated paperwork requirements. Um, competing needs such as food, safety, shelter, and basic needs. Um, this is probably the biggest barrier. It's, um, very hard to prioritize going to the doctor when you don't know where you're getting your next meal from. Um, they're also very fragmented services that require navigating multiple systems. Um and then

finally, previous experiences that make it difficult to trust or engage with providers. This is also a really common barrier that we um that we noted during our time. Um and so enter in Unite. Unite stands for unsheltered neighbor interventions, therapies, and engagement. Uh virtually no one knows us as this. We are more colloquially known as the green team. Uh I've decorated this PowerPoint in bright green. This is the color that we wore for visibility. Um, and our mission statement is to bring health care directly to our unsheltered neighbors in Durham, meeting them where they are with medical care, compassionate support, and connections to vital resources. And here are our objectives. The first was to identify hubs of unsheltered activity throughout Durham. Uh increase income and access to non-cash benefits, improve housing status of unsheltered neighbors, increase engagement in direct services, increase utilization of behavioral health supports, improve access to basic medical screenings, increase the number of this should say individuals connected to a primary care provider, and then ensure connections to medical insurance. And then here is our team. Uh we are a small but mighty team. We have uh two outreach specialists. Uh their names are Jerian and Melissa. We have a source specialist. Her name is Princess. Uh she helps people with their SSI, SSDI applications. And then myself as program coordinator. And then a few of our partners. I'm sure many of you are familiar with most of these. Durham County obviously Housing for New Hope sitting with me here today. Um Hart, we partnered with them on um a lot of our outreach and uh with community safety as a whole. Um, in some of our winter weather response, uh, we wanted to make sure that we were, um, reaching areas of Durham that were not currently touched upon by current outreach teams. Um, Durham Techch is our uh, medical provider. So, they operate Community Health Labs, which is a mobile medical unit that we utilized for our um, medical services. Um, OpenTent Ministry right around the corner. We partnered with them for our SOORE clinics as well as some of our medical popups. Um, soar Works is the name of

the methodology for applying for SSI and SSDI. Um, and then the LGBTQ center. Um, Urban Ministries, we both had events or we had events at both of those locations as well as sore clinics. Um, and then Cleveland Psychological Services is our uh, behavioral health provider. And then finally, Street Medicine Institute, we consulted for um, for uh, technical support on the creation of the program. And then very broadly, these are the four um main components of Unite. We have an outreach team. Uh we have our medical popups, we have our sore clinics, and then case management. Um and so I'll go into each of these in more detail. One note about the medical pop-ups that I do want to make. Um typical street medicine programs have a more of like a backpack style street medicine. Um, so think literally having a backpack full of medicine, going out into encampments on the street and delivering um delivering care. We had a lot of challenges um getting this model up and running. Um we spoke with uh Duke and Lincoln. Um both of them had extremely long times for setting upus um to buy out their time. This was for they had we were quoted eight months to a year to get any sort of agreement in place and we just didn't we had time constraints. We just weren't going to be able to get that partnership going. Um we were able on a few occasions to utilize um some nursing providers from the area who um were gracious enough to volunteer their time. Um but this was not uh you know we were not able to keep this going long term. So in place of that uh we had our medical popups which you can see a picture of it here. This was at um St. Joe's Episcopal Church. Uh we have our lovely little cat in the front. He goes by many names. Um and then we had um Hart there with us that day. And then um you can see our outreach table to the left where we were distributing hygiene um hygiene kits, snacks, supplies um if people wanted to apply for Medicaid or food stamps or

anything else like that. We could also provide some case management services while we were there as well. Um and then I mentioned sore clinics and then case management. So, our outreach, uh, we operated Monday through Friday. Um, we had kind of a beat around Durham. This changed often depending on if there were encampment sweeps, if there were weather concerns, um, or just the movement of the people who were living living in these areas. Um, so the main areas that we targeted were Glenn School Road, 15501, Interstate 40, South Point, Hillsboro Road, Wellens Village, and then NC554. And then we had a downtown um uh kind of beat where we uh focused on the library and surrounding area. You can see here um uh the orange things are known encampments. Um the stars are providers or community partners that we work with. Um and then those little boxes, those shaded areas are some um those are the um identified hotspots. And so while we're doing outreach, we're building these relationships. We're making sure we're we're distributing supplies. We conducted several needs assessments. So, these were done um by us on a more case management level. And then we were able to have some uh some students from Duke uh when we were trying to get the the Duke partnership going. Um they were able to come out and uh volunteer their time to do some medical needs assessments. Um we provide case management during these during these outreach um encounters and then basic screenings. Again, as I um alluded to a little bit here, that volunteer nursing um community paramedics uh were able to come out with us a few times. Um and then community health lab was our main medical provider. And then finally, Cleveland psychological services was also able to join us and was able to provide some behavioral health support um interventions and then also psychological testing when needed. And so here is a little bit about our medical services. Here's one of our flyers from when we held it at the LGBTQ Center of Durham. Um, we utilized the Durham Techch Community Health Lab. They were able to provide basic health, first

aid, and wound care as well as medications for opioid use disorder. Um, there were three medical professionals on um, associated with this. The first is Whitney Young. She's the director. She's an EMT. Um, the second is Jackie Hodgeges. She operates Project MAPS, which is um, medication assist uh, medically assisted physicians. I forget the last thing, but it's for support. Um, and then finally, um, Dr. Mary Keller, um, she is our infectious disease doctor. Um, and so all three of these providers were able to rotate and provide, um, care at, um, our at our medical pop-ups. Um, and then we were also able to provide referrals to either specialists or um or a PCP. Uh, these medical services were held three times a month at rotating sites throughout Durham. In addition to that, we also had vision clinics. Um, this is a picture of one of our vision clinics that was held at Open Table Ministries. Um, these vision clinics provided comprehensive eye examinations, assessing ocular and physical health in addition to prescription glasses at no cost. Um, this was a really really popular service. Um, and we held these uh separately from our medical events um because they were in such high demand. And so here's just a little bit about the type of services that we provided. So 219 individuals received direct medical care from one of our providers. Um these are not repeat numbers. Some of them came back for so for example if someone had medication for opioid use disorder you have to come back every two weeks. That was um in this data that's just counted as one person. So they were seen multiple times but it was for this purposes um was counted as one. Um so we were able to get a lot of people directly connected to care. Um over 100 neighbors received vision screenings. I don't have the final number on this because we just had one of our um vision clinics and I'm waiting for some more information on how many people received glasses. Um but the way that that works is they uh go to Open Table, they get their um they get their um vision screening completed um and then

they're measured for eyeglasses and then those glasses are then sent to um that community provider, Open Table in this case, and then they're able to pick them up at a later date. So really trying to bring those services directly to where people are, where they're already going. Um and then 19 neighbors were referred to a PCP or specialist. Um and more were referred to, this really should say were connected. Uh more were referred. There are some challenges in getting people connected to primary care providers um and specialists. Uh but 19 of those were able to um have follow-up at least one follow-up appointment with a PCP or specialist. Um, the vast majority of people, and I should not have made this this way because general and other and blood pressure are very similar, but the taller one is blood pressure. Um, that was the main concern that people or that was the chief complaint that people had. Um, general or other was typically someone who just hadn't been to the doctor in a really long time, wanted to get connected with services, just wanted to utilize a free service that they found. Um after that wound care was very very um was very soughta um sorry muds and then wound care was very soughta um dental was another thing that was requested quite a lot. We had to refer out for this a lot. Um we just did not have the capacity to to incorporate dental care into our program. Um diabetes and related concerns. So people just wanting their blood sugar checked or wanting education about diabetes. Um and then we had um a handful of people who were uh pregnant and had pregnancy related um concerns. Um and then a few people that were there for a specific injury or illness such as cold or um you know sprained ankle or something like that. Um next we have our SORE services. Um so SOORE stands for SSISSDI outreach access and recovery. Um so is a methodology for applying for SSI and SSDI. Um, we held sore clinics four times a month at rotating sites throughout Durham. We provided intensive end-to-end application assistance. So, we have a sore specialist who is staffed

there. She's very experienced. She's very knowledgeable. She um she's actually a disability lawyer. She's got lots of certifications. She's able to walk people through that entire process. Um, in addition to that, we were also able to embed psychological evaluations into this um into these sore clinics. So, our um behavioral health provider, Cleveland Psychological Services, she conducts all the necessary um intelligence and other types of testing that's needed for the SSI, SSDI application. So, a lot of times what would happen at these sore clinics is someone would be able to come in, they would um give their ID, their work history, some information. Um she would begin the application and then they could go right next door and conduct the testing that they needed for to complete the application. Um so a lot of people we were really able to expedite their um their applications. Um it was taking a step out of the process. Um and we were also bringing that service directly to someone whereas before they would have had to seek out um a separate provider. Um we were also able to provide Medicaid and Medicare support at these sore clinics. Um I always get them inverted but um I believe it's SSDI that uh can get you connected to Medicaid and SSI that connects you to Medicare. Um I don't remember the ins and outs of it but um education and support and also if they needed to apply this would also be done at our sore clinics. Um and then some statistics about our sore clinics. So uh this is what a typical month would look like for us. Um so we were at the Durham County main library, St. Joseph's Episcopal Church and Urban Ministries of Durham. Uh we also held a few at Open Table Ministries and then a few out in the community um directly in encampments. Uh and then we also had one sore clinic at the um Candlewood Suites during um winter weather which I'll touch on more later. Um the approval rates for SSI and SSDI uh for firsttime applicants without any support without using the SOARE methodology is 37%. For those who are unhoused, it's lowered to 10%. um the North Carolina SOORE

average. So those practitioners who follow the SOAORE methodology, I've seen various numbers on this, it's anywhere from 72 to 85% approval rate for the first time. Um our average it was 88%. We've um we had 12 approvals at the time that I made this. I found out that we have had an additional two approvals. Um we had we began these sore clinics in October, sorry, November. The first clinic was uh November 12th. And so since November 12th, we've had 14 approvals. Um the average was a 45day average. That's going down. Um the most recent application just to give you a picture of how quickly this process can we've been able to make it work. Um uh we had a neighbor named uh we'll call him John. Um who came to one of our sore clinics at Durham County main library on September 3rd. September 14th he was able to have he filed his application. he was able to complete psychological testing and then on September 30th he was approved for SSI. Um so this is a 16-day turnaround. Um and this was not uncommon. We had one that was as quick as 9 days. Um and a lot of this is due to just the the wealth of knowledge and experience that Princess, our sore specialist, has also attribute a lot of it to making these sore clinics repeating, making them at um consistent locations in the community where neighbors can follow up. They know that they can come in and check. they know that they have a place to bring in their documents if they need um and they have um and they're they're conveniently placed their places that they can access. Um and then I wanted to talk about our time at Candlewood Suites. Um and so during um January and February of this year, there was a white flag non- congregate shelter for medically vulnerable. This was done in partnership with Durham Community Safety. um they were focused on their family sprint and we focused on the medically vulnerable in the community. Um during this time we brought every single aspect of the program to the Candlewood Suites. We kind of treated this as like its own um

its own hot spot. Um so we brought the medical popup uh van there. So again bringing low barrier healthcare directly to where residents are staying. Um and we had our sore clinic. We um connected four residents to SSI applications. Two of them have been approved. Two of them are pending. Um and then coordinated specialty care. So this environment actually allowed us to coordinate with care that would have been difficult uh to access while living outside. And an example of this is um someone who we helped get uh cataract surgery. So again, he's this is a different John now. Um John came to us living unsheltered and was nearly blind due to advanced cataracts. His vision loss made it extremely difficult to care for himself and navigate life outdoors. And then when the weather arrived, he entered the White Flag shelter at Candlewood Suites providing stability needed to address um the major medical issue that was his cataracts. Um we partnered with Project Access and Julia Gamble um who donated her nursing services in relation to this. Um and we were able to coordinate cataract surgeries for both of his eyes and we were able to complete them in one month. Um so this massively transformed his independence um obviously his vision as well. Um, and this was uh during this time we were also able to help him reconnect with some of his family members. And so when the shelter closed, he actually moved in with his mother and then later his sister. Um, and I had the honor of taking him to this surgery. And when I came around the corner, he said, "I can see you." And he said it like four or five times. And it was very sweet. It was a lovely time to um made me really happy to be a part of this work. But um so that was uh that was one example of of being able to utilize uh you know shel in this case shelter space that was existing operating as a hub and making sure that we're bringing services directly to where people are. Um so some lessons learned um healthcare access significant barriers exist. They will continue to exist. Some of them are unavoidable. Um backpack versus mobile unit. Uh backpack is is the better option for sure. Um the mobile unit is great. Um there's a lot of really cool things that they can do on the mobile unit, including the the glasses

screening. Um it does provide a private area. Uh but it's also very intimidating to have a big van pull up in front of an encampment to with people who probably don't trust medical providers and may quite frankly not even be interested in medical care at all that day. Um partnerships andou complexity. Um I referenced this a little bit when talking about our um attempt at partnering with Duke for nursing and medical services. um liability, safety, privacy, and then clinical review and clinical oversight was another um issue that providers cited as as limitations. Um housing and respit options. So respit meaning places to cover to recover when someone has surgery. Um we were able to kind of utilize Candlewood as this as a site. Um but there's limited housing and respit options and it's going to make uh medical stabilization difficult. I know the housing crisis is not, you know, news to anybody. Um there's still a high unmet need and limited access to timely services in regard to behavioral health. Um this is anywhere from like acute uh you know uh acute mental health crisis to desiring consistent um connection with a provider who you know if someone just wants counseling like they don't have the ability to connect with someone. We need more providers that are willing to go out into encampments directly. um we faced a lot of challenges uh community challenges encampment sweeps were um regardless of of the outcome or whatever they always provided a an interruption. So um at the very we were accidentally present during uh several encampment sweeps. Um and we usually had to spend the next week or two kind of relocating people and reestablishing trust. Um uh and then finally a note about data and outcomes. So we utilized HMIS, the homeless um homeless management uh inventory system. Um participants are interacting with multiple providers and multiple systems. Um HMIS is the one that most providers

in the COC use to uh coordinate and share information with. um as a a new agency I guess coming into and utilizing HMIS. Um I found it to be a little not conflicting but some providers documented some ways and other providers documented the other ways. Um I think there's the system is old. It's from 2001. Um there so it's a little outdated but it's it's got a lot of potential. Um, but very often what I found was we would update the system about a service that someone received. We would update their SSI or their SSDI information. Um, maybe they had a case manager that helped with that application or they were in the middle of it. um we would put that information to HMIS and it wasn't always readily available to other providers or if it was we were sometimes told not to include certain information because of keeping data clean um and wanting to make sure that um the system as a whole met other like funding requirements. So there were a lot of um I think that there there's an opportunity here for more coordination um and more documentation within the system. Um right now it seems like a lot of the coordination is at um COC meetings and verbally which is great and it's also necessary and needed but um but I do see um a little bit of improvement for uh coordination between providers using the current system. Um and I believe that's it.

Can I make one com couple comments just before I'm Russ Pearson. I serve as executive director of housing for New Hope and glad to be with you today. Um, just as a historic reminder, um, so for more than 20 years, Housing for New Hope led street outreach efforts in the community. Um, when this was initially proposed, we were still doing that work. Um, and this was really meant to explore some of the gaps in the overall system. Um, before we got things up and fully running, we had been in a process of discerning really where we were most needed as an agency, both in in Durham and in the region. We realized it was in

support of housing. So in the midst of that, we realized we needed a step back from street outreach. Um especially with the growth of the heart team that frontline work could could easily go to them. Uh so when we made that decision, uh we worked with leadership from the county um to connect with CPRC to carry this forward. So, I want to take just a moment if I could to thank Jillian and her team uh because they stepped in in a period of immense transition in the homeless system in Durham um as the city changed its leadership as we were trying to build out a new um uh master plan uh strategic framework, excuse me, uh for our work together. So, I just want to say how much I appreciate um what they did because it was there there were more than a few challenging experiences. Um but also in terms of the learning just to affirm I think one of the things that we really learned was um you know you can have probably three different entities take lead on work like this government, nonprofits or medical. I think one of our learnings is if it's going to be this engaging around medical, it needs to be medical. Um because that would avoid a lot of the challenges that we faced around and different pieces. And we do see that having looked at it more closely in other communities. It's the the Duke Health, the Lincoln Health, the clinic at UMD that's tied to Lincoln Health that's able to extend out. Um and so I think that's an important learning um a really really important learn learning for us. I think we can't understate the importance of the sore work. Um that's a major change nationally. They've actually shut down the resourcing for that. Um so everyone kind of rushed quick to download what they could um and get trained up in that. But especially with the new framework that we're working with as a as a city and county, you know, it is very much predicated on folks being able to stabilize in a 12 to 13month time frame. a lot of the folks that we traditionally work with, that's not the time frame that's that's really needed.

I'll wait for half a second. Um, but SOORE is a way to get individuals connected to benefits that can continue on for extended periods. Um, so that's a really vital piece and we've we've taken that back to community safety a few times to say, you know, if there's anything we could find a way to keep funding, if we had one magic extra bucket of money, which none of us has right now, um, our vote would be for Soar, um, to try and and fill that gap. But I just wanted to share those two pieces and again really thank CPRC for their work in a really challenging landscape um, and a lot of change.

All right, Commissioner Burton.

Thank you, Chair Lee. Thank you for this wonderful report and I'm really am excited to hear from you Jillian because I serve on um Central Ponds Regional Council um and all the work that CPRC does for the region. So thank you so much for this. Um the question that I had and I'm going to make a comment first. Um I'm really glad we're doing this work. I know this was something that was discussed on Alliance Health board a few months back. I serve on that board about street outreach, health outreach. So, I'm really glad that we are doing this. I think the thing and this is just me saying this what really bothers me that we live in a country where you know we have all this wealth and we can't provide health care to our people and it's you know we it's okay that people are homeless and that they aren't provide just basic health care to get to stay healthy. Um, I think it's really really um discerning that we allow this in this country, but I'm glad we're doing this. So, we got to stay upbeat and positive. So, this is the question I had. Um, is this a service that's only provided for individuals who are unhoused? The definition of HUD's definition of being

unhoused or people who are what I call working homeless, you know, they're going from house to house, living with family members, living in a a hotel motel. Um, can they access these services? And the reason I asked that question is because there are so many people who don't fit the definition, the HUD definition of homelessness, but in many ways they are homeless and we know they're in the community and they're having a lot of these challenges as well. So I just wanted to see if they are able to access these services.

Yes. And I'm very happy you brought that up. Um, so because this was an ARPA funded project, we did not have to follow HUD's uh definition of homelessness. So, we were able to use that more, I'll say, looser definition of homelessness. Um, and you bring up an excellent point. Um, a really good example of this is at the LGBTQ center. There are a lot of, um, adults and youth facing homelessness and they do not meet traditional criteria. Um, as you mentioned, um, a and this this affects this population specifically because a lot of people in this community, um, are disenfranchised from their parents or from their, um, you know, their family of origin. So um there are definitely um yeah there are definitely people who are even within the unhoused population that are more um I would say more uh disproportionately affected um in addition you know in addition to that. So um so we were able to uh work with those who might have been sleeping in a car or couch surfing or um things like that. So yes.

Well that's good to know and um because we know that's an epidemic that doesn't get talked about a lot. you know, when we think of homelessness or unhoused individuals, people who are on the street or have to access the homeless shelter, but we just have so many people who are living in their cars, they're working, living in their cars, living in a weekly motel where you pay every week and things like that. So, um, thank you so much for this report and I'm looking forward to hearing more about what else we can do to make sure people are

getting the health care that they need. Commissioner Valentine.

Uh thank you, Chair. Uh Jillian, thank you for your presentation uh here today and for uh what you provided, Russ right at the end there. Um I do I do want to say that I I see the van or did see the van from from time to time and visibility in our communities and important. Uh you had pointed to the numbers of uh individuals uh that you provided service to. Can you bring some context to that? I mean, in light of the the challenges that we face in this area across our community, can you can you sort of explain that number?

Um, yes. So, this number is from um I don't know the exact number, but we had three medical popups a month um from October through September. Um so during those events, that was when this medical care was given. Um, and so the way that it would work is we would either, um, pull up directly to where the encampment was on the street, wherever people were congregating. Um, or we would partner with an agency such as Open Table Ministries, St. Joseph's, um, Refiner's Fire. Um, and we would bring the medical van there. And then at that point, we would sign people up, get a little bit of information from them, see what they wanted. If they didn't want medical services, then we could just take their information for case management and other outreach. um or if they just wanted hygiene, snacks, supplies, whatever, they could grab some from our table. Um and then they would go onto the van and then at that point communicate with the provider about what they needed to be seen for. So um there were several ailments that they are able to treat directly. Um and then if there was anything that needed a specialist, then they would coordinate with us so that we could provide the case management to help them set up the appointment, help them get transportation to it, make sure that they had, you know, documents that they needed, um etc. So,

so is it safe to to say that uh that number doesn't actually reflect like you know the need in uh this particular

community?

Yeah, it and and a comment about that. I think about this a lot. Um there are absolutely plenty of people that have very serious medical concerns. Um there there were many cases where I I've have seen an open wound and we have a wound care specialist like please come on the van like I think this will help you. Um but people still sometimes just didn't want that service. Um it just was not a priority that day. Um and so I think that there's the ability to reach even more. Um but I still think that until some of those more basic needs are met like housing and food medical just comes after that. So,

uh my colleague, Commissioner Burton had mentioned about uh this work and uh it continuing and so you were operating under uh one-time money. What's what's the plan?

Yes. Um so, we've been working with the um continuum of care um and we use their HMI or we use HMIS, the the database system. Um we conduct referrals within that system to other providers. So, anybody who was receiving case management services from us, we have referred to a case management um specialist or sorry to another case management provider. If they had outreach, we referred them to another outreach provider. Um this is done ver also verbally. We have meetings with them that are still ongoing so they know that they're incoming. We're making sure we're doing, you know, a warm handoff, not just sending people away. Um and then anybody who has an SSI or SSDI application currently pending, um Princess will continue to work with them. um as it is. And so most of them should be applied or should be approved. Um I think there's a handful that um she's expecting will get um firsttime denials, but then they have there's a procedure after that. Um and she has a fee schedule for those individuals who would need more intensive um long-term support. But for the vast majority of people, their claims are already um they've already been applied. So we're just waiting for a response. So

thank you. Commissioner Jacobs.

Uh well, thank you so much. Um this is a really great report, great data. Um I appreciate how quickly you all pivoted and implemented this program. I just want to say this because it was ARPA funding. Um, and we it had to be done very quickly and it seems like you all really um were able to develop relationships and partnerships very quickly which Durham does not always do very well. So, uh, I appreciate that. Um, I guess I'm concerned that we're actually getting this report when the program is over. Um, and I just want to clarify that for Commissioner Burton because um, it wasn't clear uh, in the date of the in the presentation that this has ended. Um and I guess I would have preferred to get an update like we are going to get on the hope center um partially through so that we could decide do we want to try to figure out some way to continue funding this in some way. So I think that that is my concern. One of my concerns is um and I know that kind of connects to what Commissioner Valentine said is how do how do we keep some of the things going? Um so I guess I would like to hear understand what are things that we could consider um doing moving forward or what is the recommendation? I heard you say the soar component is really critical. Um is it possible that we look understand what is the current support for soore? you know, I know the hope program um the the I'm sorry, the hope team works on this, probably the heart team. I know even you know, folks at the um

ministries, but I would like to understand how how it's how we're currently doing this and is there what would it look like for us to really um provide more support? um one of the areas because I'm the um liaison to the homeless ser the now the governance committee for the continuum of care um for homeless services and the one area that Durham does not well in nationally is on um improving economic um mobility. So nationally when we compare ourselves for people unhoused, it's an area for improvement. So increasing income could be getting more people benefits. It can also be connecting them to job opportunities. And I know we're going to hear a little bit uh from Hope Center. It was an area that they struggled with too. and all the new um federal funding for housing is very tied to economic outcomes. Um so in other words, we're going to get dinged on our federal funding with the new um federal policies if we don't um improve in this area. So I just really want to put a pin in that and just hear both of you. What are your thoughts on I understand because how much was the funding for this? It was a lot, right? Do you remember what's

We were so awarded 1.9 I think the final amount is uh 1,314587.

Can you I couldn't hear 1,314,587.

Right. So obviously that would be diff difficult to replicate, but I'd love to hear like as a next step what would that really look like? I mean, you've kind of alluded to it, but

so I would say with this with the sore

piece, um, we have we have usually had a strong very basic sore presence. And what I mean is we've always been undercapacitated as a system, but I know that that's something that, you know, if we talk to the the clinic that's at UMD, talk to Duke, they were they were very interested in partnering on Soore, they needed a three-year commitment um, just because of other prior things. So there's there are opportunities at I I would say reasonable rates u considering the potential impact to invest in Soore in terms of the economic um mobility piece. I do know that um Housing for New Hope and Step Up Durham, we work together with um we've been working on new partnerships because of some of these changes federally, but we also partner with the Sanford School of Public Policy to research different opportunities. And so there's some really creative pieces out there. um we'd be happy to share that report. Um and I know that the hope team has been doing some exploratory work on on workforce development because in many cases that some of the populations were working with um regular employment may not be a possibility, but maybe a step before or two steps before regular employment really is where we'll have to think creatively as a community. And that's where um the Sanford group was able to find us some pretty pretty creative opportunities from other parts of the country. And is this the hope fellow? Um I know the Duke Office of Community Affairs was the um Oh, Homegrown, I'm sorry. Homegrown. Um they are offering a fellow to support economic mobility for any nonprofit. Do you know about this?

I have seen the email. I need to read it more closely now that you've held it up. Yeah,

I think the deadline to apply is like October 13th. So, this again may be Yeah. October 13th uh for us to get some more help from Duke on this as well. Yes. Okay.

And did you have any thoughts?

Um just to echo a little bit about Soore. Um the the training center uh went down I think the month that I started this this job. Um and they took all of the training materials off of the website and I I know that it was a funding issue, but I'm not sure why the removal of the training. Um but so we kind of had to scramble to get all that together. Um but knowing that it is such a need and that there are plenty of people willing to train on the sore methodology. Um I think if truly if like every provider could have a sore specialist, I still think we'd be inundated with applications. Um but I think that uh but the need is is definitely there. And so I just wanted to echo the um that Yeah.

Okay. Um and then also related to the medical care. I mean you look at th those numbers I mean that's significant and especially somebody who got cataract surgery. I mean, so important. And um you know, my first time going out on the pit count was to your point, Commissioner Burton, so upsetting because I'll never forget there was a gentleman who was in his 60s, unhoused who had severe I don't know if you remember this, Russ, because I think I might have been with you. Um he who's very open about having bipolar disorder, being schizophrenic, having substance use disorder, and having all kinds of physical health problems, diabetic, and you know, living in the woods. And I was just thinking if somebody, but now it sounds like you can even have an open wound. I was thinking if somebody was walking around with a with a with, you know, some fi obvious physical ailment, would we just think that was okay as a society? But um so I just I do also wonder what are other ways and you mentioned

like actually Duke taking the lead or Lincoln and I don't know I'm putting Rod on the spot here but um what are what are ways that we could address the better address the medical needs if we're not going to have this street outreach?

Yeah. So, I think um any successful street medicine program that I've seen, heard of uh read about um is is doctorled volunte and it's on a volunteer basis. So, finding providers who are willing to donate their time, that's a huge ask. I know. Um so, I think that is um an important piece. Um I just had another thought and it went right out of my brain. Um oh, uh there uh her name is Ashley Jarrett. She works in Burke County, I believe. um she had another street medicine program that was more targeted. So she noticed that in her county there was an increase in I'm going to make up you know ex viral infection here. It might have been some I think it was some level of hepatitis but I can't remember which one. So she got a team of doctors together that gave targeted um vaccinations. So providing outreach, providing um case management, doing all those things. Uh medical case management um but then only focusing on one specific uh medical issue. Um that's an option that's also especially relevant in situations like COVID that would be super um relevant. Um, so I think focusing on a specific um, need, I would first identify that need um, with the help of medical professionals, but I think you could scale down a program um, to focus on uh, something more specific. Um, I also think that there's a lot of opportunity for Medicaid funded facilities to provide um, these types of services. Um, Fishing Point is a is a is an agency I've heard of recently that provides like really wraparound care.

Um, getting that to the street is the big barrier there. That's the that's one piece that's missing. Um, but I think, you know, being able to provide wraparound services. Um, and then having volunteer medical professionals that are willing and able to go out directly into the encampments is is really going to be um is will be the piece that I would recommend. Yeah. So, I guess I would encourage I'm on the Lincoln board, you're on the Duke regional board um for us to really try to have and you know thinking of Rod sitting here um with public health for us to really try to dig into this and see what are the opportunities um to partner on this. I I think one of my big tech takeaways from our inner city trip to Grand Rapids is partnership and collaboration and also being creative at problem solving. That's what we saw in Grand Rapids. People figure out solutions and we have a lot of resources in Durham and I think we should be able to figure this out. So um thank you so much and I would like in the future to hear about um as we look at our budget what are what could we try to do related to this um the sewer program. So um um madame manager

thank you I I would like to echo um the the um comments around Central Pine stepping up. I remember um when the shift was happening at Housing for New Hope and John Kefir and I were thinking through um next steps and I think he probably uh was the one he was the one who immediately thought of Central Pines because of their efforts supporting uh many communities right now and uh they

are phenomenal and we're grateful for how you've stepped in in other ways because uh we've been successful in grant uh completions and awards because of that partnership as well. So a well it's not a secret but again thank you for all that you do. This is a a great uh example of what additional resources can do to help you refine how you do some of your work and explore if you need to do some things differently. Um the challenge with ARPA funding is that it was such a great infusion. Um but it was also a number that we we kind of struggle figuring out what parts we can continue. And so as um has been shared by so many, we're a community that does its best to take care of each other. And I'm sure we will find some ways to to um identify those most critical parts and moving forward.

Thank you alone.

Thank you chair Lee. Thank you so much Jillian and Russ uh for coming and as well all of the work that you've been doing with this um time period of the SOAR project but also outside of um you know this funding allocation and also thank you Russ for taking my call yesterday on a Sunday afternoon to talk through uh providing services for some of our unhoused neighbors. I appreciate it. I had uh two questions I wanted to touch on. First more one on like the data piece of I see like where the medical services like the breakdown of what you've been able to provide the most of during this process or during with y'all's work. Have you been able to like map out not just like okay this is what services

are needed the most but also these are what services are most readily available. Like if this program like is overr for right now, what are the alternatives for folks that okay this is we have five or six clinics that will provide blood pressure treatment uh at low cost or free but we don't have uh we only have one place that will do dental. If you have that type of information for us to kind of see like we provide these services now, but long-term what is the infrastructure support of providing lowcost or uh free services in all of the areas that are heavily need that would be really helpful. And then actually I lied. I have three questions. The second was um related to our veteran uh population. And I know that's something we've looked really close at that we've seen a significant population of unhoused people all across the country tend to be our veterans and wondering how we've seen that statistic in Durham County. has it been growing or going down as well as like have we found that like um when we talked to the veterans who are unhoused? What have they found as like it has have they been able to connect with our VA services for Durham County and then the VA hospital that we have or have they faced challenges like how we can work to close that gap? Um so I would say for um veterans uh specifically we had a case load of 32. Um we did not have any veterans on our case load. That was not because we didn't encounter them but the every single person that we encountered was already connected with a like a VA specific case manager. Um so I don't know that I have a ton of information on veteran services outside of that. Typically, if somebody had veterans or they had VA, um, they also had they were already connected to a doctor. Um, I I

think I can say with almost 100% certainty that every veteran I talked to had a had a doctor that they knew about. Um, so at least in our situation, uh, we didn't have much support or involvement with Veterans Affairs specifically. Um, and then about, uh, you had asked about, um, kind of like a services map for, um, things in the area. I do have like a a breakdown that I'd be happy to send.

That' be great. Thank you.

And I will just add on the piece the um the veteran population is an interesting example. Um so you'll remember from the conversations around the strategic framework to um make homelessness rare and brief. Um Community Solutions Incorporated, which is one of the backbones um providing information on that. They've talked about 15 cities have achieved um the functional zero in at least one area. The majority of those cities have done it for veterans. Um and an interesting important fact for us in Durham is we achieved that it was either eight or 10 years ago. There's a certificate somewhere um that I've been told about u it predates my time. Um but it is a good example when there are adequate supports we are able to address this and Dur Durm has done this before. Um so we don't really same when we're working with street outreach people are often already connected and maybe waiting for additional services or we could we could um connect them pretty quickly. Okay, great. And then my final question and then a quick comment was um around hearing loss that we know like you know it is a much more expensive treatment and care uh to get hearing aids but we've seen that like you know our unhoused uh neighbors are the percentage of individuals who have suffer from hearing loss in the unhoused population is like more than double than the general population and wondering are there service providers within Durham County that are able to provide, you know, lowcost or free hearing aids. And I know um Commissioner Jacobs and I actually had a conversation about this recently because we just went through

the process of getting my dad some. And I did not realize how expensive uh hearing aids really are. And not just the fact that you had to buy them, then you have like if the rechargeable ones are like crazy expensive, but then the batteries, if you get the non-rechargeable, making sure that folks have, you know, access to batteries to be changing them because you have to change them like what, like once every other week or something. But hearing loss contributes to so many other uh health issues that if you suffer from hearing loss, your cognitive uh functions decline rapidly and like being able to have hearing aids and being able to hear, I think it's like you reduce like your cognitive decline by 50%. And so I'm wondering like what services and programs we have in Durham County. Is that something that like we're testing with our unhoused population? Because I know they have like you can do the like headphone tests now and um and virtual tests of to try to just get more resources because if we're able to provide hearing aids to folks and decrease that cognitive decline, we also help their mental health issues um as well. Yeah, that's a good point. I um I don't know of any um hearing aid specific or even like aiological like supports. Um but we'll be happy to look into it to see if there's anything in the area.

Great. And then also I I want to confirm you all are connected to the Durham Benefits Access Coalition or if you haven't been I can connect you guys. It's a group of um different nonprofits and Durham public health social services. uh started by former mayor mayor uh Steve Shu and a researcher from Duke University to try to bring in all the benefits providers and organizations that try to connect folks to see how we can make sure our residents who need benefits aren't leaving anything on the

table because I think it's like nationally $800 million worth of benefits that are already federally funded

aren't being utilized and so to try to close that gap if like somebody is coming to y'all and like you guys have been able to connect them to some services, but maybe Duke Regional has programs that they would also be trying to interlock all the systems to get people the care they need. So, I'll connect you to them.

Thank you.

Okay, Commissioner Burton.

Yeah, I just wanted to add about the veteran services and because there are a lot of veterans here in Durham County. I believe they're what 14,000 and about only 4,000 get services. And I just want to shout out our Department of Veteran Services because my father's a veteran and I was able to navigate that system to get him his services that were allowed to him. So, if we can really really hone in on that, I I think because the VA I mean once you found out what the VA provides, it's unbelievable. So, we got to get as many of our unsheltered veterans connected to um veteran services so they can get the support they need. That's the only thing I wanted to say. Thank you,

Commissioner Valentine.

Uh yeah, thank you, Chair. And so, uh, my questions are actually statements really, but I directed at the at the county manager. And so, several times today, we've heard about the need for better coordination, uh, with the city, particularly in this this area. And so, I concur with those comments. And so, to the extent that we can coordinate, uh, better with the city, um, particularly around funding, uh, I think I've made that uh, comment on numerous occasions. So, it's not just in this area, but in additional areas, I think that we can do a better job. And also, I think it's lost on uh our residents. I've been

hearing a lot of conversations about this board and our commitment to uh the issue of homelessness and solving this problem. We've actually made a large commitment, a very large commitment uh to um being part of the solution. And so, maybe you can speak to that uh to our public. Sure. Um, in our capital improvement plan, we have I'm looking at Keith and David, budgeted about $18 million as a placeholder to support um our homeless efforts. Um back in um 2023 and 2024, there were conversations by our board based on other community dialogues about um an infrastructure investment for housing and um supportive services. our board um in November or October of 2024 uh wanted to make sure that they um codified their commitment by putting a placeholder and they did and it's in the capital improvement plan 18 million. It's been there for a couple of years. Um there was a caveat that um as clarity emerged because there that was one of the sort of the the comma with it uh that there would be support and coordination from the city as well as other partners to make sure we closed the gap to determine you know exactly what was needed because there's a pretty big price tag at that time and I I do know where we are now is there are conversations that have shifted Um so the dollars are still needed but potentially may look a different way but you are absolutely right. The county um supports in this space in many different ways. Um and it's also um the funds that we

support either directly or indirectly federal state funds to help ensure individuals don't get to that point of needing housing or or being um unsheltered whether it's support with daycare, child care, um food security and many other spaces. That's sort of those are our buckets in our lanes and sometimes those connections aren't made as they they should be. I just wanted to add also I don't think um people may not be aware that we provide the majority of funding for urban ministries the building uh we also f provide funding to other organizations um like families moving forward and open table ministries um other other nonprofits and uh project access is direct directly funded is a Durham County program that provides respit care and connection to um specialty care for unhoused residents. So um yes, I agree with what you're saying um Manager Hager and and Commissioner Valentine and what we do upstream to that is preventative is is very critical. Um and and related to the 18 million um the the strategic framework, we're moving away from you know the national model is to move away from congregate housing and to try to move towards non- congregate and also get people into housing. That's what our strategic framework is that by the end of what three years we're supposed to be down to just 30 days of people being unhoused. So being limited

um and infrequent. So just to keep that in mind. And in in the strategic framework there is the identification of certain types of housing that we don't currently have. And so there are going to be opportunities to leverage um that $18 million. And Bruss, you look like you want to jump in.

And chair, is that okay? If I if I speak at any time, I shouldn't just put the red button on. It wouldn't be the first time. Um so I will just just just as a note in terms of coordination, yes, there's there's much more leadership I think now that we're seeing from the city and and so much more coordination with the county. That's great. Um, one of the just a footnote related to the the potential 18 million, um, coming out of the conversations that UMD was leading about their site with multiple partners, um, when it was realized that probably that plan might be too costly, um, Housing for New Hope urban ministries and families moving forward um, went together and we've received a half million dollar grant from the Oak Foundation uh, to study um, FMF property, the UMD site, and then Housing for New Hope has one site downtown uh at Liberty and um Elizabeth um to really look at how could we very creatively think like comprehensive master plan across all these sites um to help move the framework forward um but do it in a way that didn't take any services offline reflected you know newer approaches um updated approaches to some of the work um but also do it more costefficiently. Yeah. So we are just starting that process in the last six months. So all right um I just had a very very brief I I agree with everything said the questions information I generally don't speak unless I have something completely different from what anybody else says. Um uh I am interested in under so this slide here um I don't know what 219 means right

I'm interested in understanding what a goal would be you know to you know individuals receiving direct medical care right so I don't know if that's high or if that's low right Um I don't know if this is the type of service that you can say we have a goal of doing this particular number but maybe this particular percent or something like that so that I can understand you know are we making progress are we now this is not take away from the work is excellent work is great work I'm super excited about this this is great but for for me I'm really interested we're talking about the possibility you know commissioner Jacobs saying the possibility of trying to fund more continuing grow and so forth. But I want to make sure that when I when we see these numbers, we know that okay, we targeted 200. You know, 200 is a good number and we got 219 or we were targeting 250 and we only got 219. What can we do to help you increase to get that number? I'm not entirely sure again with this type of service. I'm not entirely sure how you do that because it's so the it's nuanced, right? There's a lot of movement up and down, but I'd really like to understand what these numbers actually mean, positive, negative, or it's not really a ne it's never really a negative, but I just want to be able to know if we want to fund more, what would we help you achieve

by doing more? You know, funding more or or what not? Do am I making myself clear? is that

yes and I and I think one of the pieces even when we were doing the initial planning we we really weren't sure who would engage or how much engagement there would be these numbers are higher than what we see in other locations that are much more target these are significantly higher

okay

I do think what would be very helpful would be for us to bring these numbers

in a conversation with numbers from the community paramedics because okay they do some overlapping work um and are are very much on the front line and so I think that that might give us a good barometer locally um is to really look at the great work that they're doing.

That'll be that's excellent. But, you know, I'm not criticizing anything. I want people to understand that. I just it helps me to kind of place what we're doing and how we can advocate for more.

Absolutely.

Right. Okay.

All right. Thank you all so much. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Okay. The next item on our agenda, we have hope day services center pilot project update. We have uh 45 minutes allotted for this as well. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning,

board. Good morning. I'm Jonathan Gatis, uh, interim executive director over at UMD. This is our uh housing day services coordinator of operations, Dwayne Brown.

We're here to discuss uh the pilot program and where we are in the process of our hope day services center. We opened uh April 27th. We operate Monday through Fridays, 8:00 a.m. to 6 pm. We're in our sixth of nine months. And

um for our headline, we've served 539 individuals, 17 neighbors have increased income, and excuse me, we've housed six neighbors. So we we consider ourselves to be in a yellow. We're not in a green. We're not in a red. We're in the yellow of our outcomes. We'll go through some of those on later slides, but here we want to go over our performance scorecard. And this is where we are to date um through uh no the 23rd of September. So, there are 12 performance measures in the uh county agreement. um nine months operating and we'll be ending the pilot program January 31st, 2027th. Five of five of our targets are ahead, six are below and one has a not yet tracked down on number eight. So our reach is strong. We've served 539 unique individuals. Um that's already 80% of the target which is 675 through the program. Um every full month we've exceeded 500 visits visits and attendance runs daily from 26 to 36 people against our target of 25 referrals. We average about two referrals per client. That's on target. our income. Um 17 neighbors have increased their income through employment ahead of roughly 14. We'd expect at this point where we're below target um we want to be direct on this. We're below target on our housing exits. 16 I'm sorry, six people into permanent housing against roughly 14 where we would have expected to be at this time. Um we've launched a housing exit plan which we'll cover on a later slide. Our peer support

conversations, workforce connections, and behavioral health participants are all behind pace. Uh 30 neighbors have joined behavioral health program through greater outreach uh against roughly 143 expected and case management is also slightly behind. We want to next touch on the the laundry. The laundry is you see zero there because uh we are in a pivot from the laundry truck. We have began we have per put a deposit on two commercial washers um that has been approved in the budget to once we pivoted away from the laundry truck. We also have began to issue laundry cards to clients that has taken place as of last week. So that has been updated since this uh report has gone out. Um we do expect to have the commercial washers delivered and installed in about 6 weeks. So that's probably mid November when we expect them to be on site. Um our housing navigation uh we've tracked 127 housing assistance contacts but not yet unique individuals. So, we'll have to provide an update on try to correct how we track those housing contacts. What a day in the life of the shelter typically looks like is uh folks will come in for showers to access our computers, fill out job applications. Um, and most people just want to come in in a cool, safe place to rest and recover. Um we can see the numbers here. We have 528 showers have taken place. 17 uh people have had job offers to date. Folks come in to charge their devices through our charging station. That has been a real asset to the center. Um

folks just want to stay connected, stay reachable. Um also the board games have been a a real bonus. Um we've also decided to have people journal and um build that builds a routine and community which matters towards stability. Uh we have had 11 providers meet neighbors right here um with healthcare, the VA, the mental health justice services and the county library has also come over together with 127 housing assistance contacts. That's how we got those six folks permanently housed. This slide here goes through our financial or fiscal stewardship. Uh the county granted 350,000 for this project through August 31st. Uh we've spent 154,718,000 which is 44% of the budget and $195,000 remains. Um September will be reconciled through uh later this month. So we'll have an update from where we are in September. The chart shows the spending pattern with the uh setup costs were front-loaded in March and April where we purchased partitions, tables, charging stations, uh and other furniture. Then spending settled as you can see into a steady operating rate of about 21 to 22,000 per month mostly for staff and security. Um August was 20,000 219 which was all personnel and security. The unit cost is about 323 per individual served roughly 34 per visit from June through August. um that projection we expect to fully use the budget by July I'm sorry January

31st um through the grant period six of we're six of 11 months in and again we're at 44% of the budget which is under pace we project that we will um have a small balance potentially maybe about $9,000 what we're projecting right now um personnel and security will be fully used as we will add additional staff for the laundry and showers. Um, two lines have limited room. Our client care and supplies have about $1,300 of cushion before the laundry supplies and interim washcards go on online. Facilities about 3,000. Both we're monitoring closely. The dimminimous rate doesn't show on our budget. Um we don't show it on our monthly reconciliation budget but it is included in the contract at 21,235,000. Uh the watch items in full transparency we want the uh watch uh facilities 89% has been spent to date. Um those were one-time setup purchases, security equipment fully spent on a metal detector and access cards. Again, we talked about the laundry where we pivoted away from the truck to the washers and dryers personnel is about 43% of the budget through August. Uh reflecting the hiring ramping up and opening and the new laundry and shower staff will use the remaining of the personnel funds. Here we have some quotes from some of our um neighbors. We do have a video later that we will see some of the neighbors and providers speaking um candidly. Um but one neighbor anonymously wrote or said um I really

like having somewhere to go that's safe and I'm not a bother to anyone and people are there to help me if I want it. Um we were able to issue seven I mean surveys to our neighbors on September 25th. Uh, eight neighbors took the survey. Um, the results were pretty much, let's see, they they rated the environment excellent as they always feel welcome. Six of the eight said that staff always treated them with respect and were very helpful. And one neighbor wrote, "They helped me with finding housing and workplace for jobs." In fairness, one neighbor felt welcome and respected only sometimes with eight responses. This is just the first read, not a statistical result. So, our neighbors are in the center. Um, again, we want they want to rest, clean up, change, use their phones, and get connected. Our partners come to us 11 organizations including Fishing Point, um Fishing Point Healthcare, New Hope Mental Health, the Durham VA, Volunteers of America, Justice Services, Soore, the Durham Public Library, and most meet neighbors on site where this is a warm handoff instead of referrals that tend to fall through. Our journaling sessions have been a surprise success as neighbor tell us ease of stress and anxiety. and we had our September 18th open house where we reintroduced and introduced to others uh our center with uh free health screenings from Lincoln Health. and uh we re-engaged the community. And we also just had a bingo to take place on September 28th where Walton Woo um from Lakewood Boon and Raleigh came over to sponsor a bingo day in afternoon um

which went over well. Some of the lessons we've learned um throughout this process to date is that um on our housing exits where we've helped six neighbors into permanent housing against roughly 14 expected at this point. Um our action plan is to assess each neighbor's housing situation at first contact. Keep a housing priority list. Assign one staff member as a housing point person. uh build on our landlord network um and use a housing barrier checklist and hold bi-weekly housing focus days and have staff assist with every paper online and housing application. Number two, the laundry. Again, we've spoken about this again, but we just want to touch on it again, but we the original plan was the laundry truck, but we didn't have the uh vehicle to transport the laundry truck to and from where back to our site. So, we've pivoted to commercial washers and which will again will be on site in November. But in the meantime, we're issuing laundry mat cards funded through our client care budget. Um, and we're also adding staff for that laundry and showers. We didn't issue the laundry cards until now. It's just because we were trying to manage the budget and we didn't want to go over the budget um while we were still trying to figure out where we're going to use the laundry truck. Um number number four sorry number three the showers our showers dropped about about half in August just because of a repair. So the showers went offline. we were able to update that, get that back online, and uh we're expected to return to our summer levels. Um since September 18th, we've now allowed men to shower in the shelter with an escort. We'll escort

them from the day services center over to the shelter. Um and we can do five folks at a time versus the only one shower stall that we have in the day services center. Number four, our new neighbors intake tapered from 142 in May to 83 in August. Part of that is expected as a stable core returns regularly, but we held an open house on September 18th that we just mentioned and are working with our partners for more referrals. Our behavioral health participation, 30 neighbors have joined the program through greater outreach against the 143 we expected. um we're working with the greater outreach to see if they can expand their time on site. Also, the library's tech drop in um that has only happened once. We are working with the library staff on setting bi-weekly or a monthly schedule. Our next steps, um again, we back to the laundry. Those wash cars are going out. They've gone out as of last week. And the washer and the dryers, I'm sorry, the washers will be delivered and installed by mid November. Plus, the new staff for the laundry and the showers. This quarter, we began bi-weekly housing focus days, lock in the library schedule, and prepare for our winter operations as sh as the center shifts from cooling to warmth. So, we have already began to purchase um hand warmers and other items, small labs that we can issue and hand out daily to our neighbors who come in each day. Uh we'll bring a final evaluation to this board's pilot at the end of this pilot program, the end January 31st, 2027th. I want to see if the scale visits if visits hold at or above 500 a month or we meet most of our 12 contract contact measures

and cost per individual stay below the $518 which was which was a budget divided by the 675 person target. Again today that number is at 323. So we all modify if the demand stays strong but housing exits lag uh or if the service mix shifts and again we will sunset if the visits fall below 500 a month and for a sustained period or the outcome stay flat for two quarters. We'll welcome your questions at this point. I know we're going to have comments and questions, but y'all this this is what a governance presentation looks like here. Go back. I want you to go back to your first one, your first slide with the that one. Wow. And see the thing about this is not everything is going to look beautiful. Not everything is going to be on track. Not everything is going to be ahead. But that's what we talk. This is what we should talk about here at the board governance level. And we can easily see here how this is going and how we can advocate from a board level. how we can help with partnerships, how we can help with, you know, communication and so forth. And they even had a sunset scenario on the last slide. If we don't reach this, we we have to sunset. This is I'm captivated. I'm excited. And just thank you. Thank you for this.

there. I'm sure there's a lot of comments. I'll come back, but I just needed to say this um this was a great presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you so very much. I appreciate this. I'll get get comments and I'll come back later. Go ahead, Commissioner Burton.

Thank you so much, Chair Lee. Thank you. This report is outstanding and it was easy to digest. So, thank you for all the clear numbers, the graphs, and I agree with you, um, Chair Lee about the performance scorecard. What really, really, excuse me, caught my attention is around where people who are unhoused, they're looking for resources to better their situation, like where do we go? What's out there? um the computers, checking their email to stay connected, right? Device charging so they can stay connected, right? Um also, how do I make sure if I I stay clean because it's good for health outcomes, washing my clothes, taking a shower, etc. So figuring out Okay. And then the journaling that was really um that was very I was really captivated by that. That's the word because many people journal, right? to get their thoughts out, to plan, to get all the information that's in their head on paper so they can figure out what's next, what's the goals. So, one of the things that I was looking at is how can we get more technology into people's hands? And a week or so ago, I went to Digital Durham. they had their digital empowerment day because they understood

that there are gaps, right? Even though we're talking about maybe AI and the negativity of AI, but there's a whole cohort of people who live in our community who are don't have the digital access, right? So, in my mind, thinking about, okay, how can we partner with organizations, um, for-profit businesses to get technology into people's hands so they can stay connected, so they can find jobs, so they can stay connected to their family, friends, what have you. How can we provide more opportunities for them to wash their clothes? I know when I was at the schools and we were starting a community schools program, having washer and dryers in the schools because that was one way that kept children from going to school. They didn't have clean clothes and the cost of washing clothes at a laundromat. Like how can we um continue to provide charging stations? I know that's something that was talked about um at the city of Durham. like because clearly this works and how do we do this? I know former senator um Mike Woodter works for Molina Health and they do the wash day or something that's something that they sponsor like how can we continue that to make sure that people are in position to better their lives so they are not in the cycle of homelessness. So that's how I'm thinking about all of this. Okay.

Like what can what are some of your ideas or and also what are the wash cards?

So washards are preloaded laundry cards that you can use at laundry mats. Yeah. So some of the other things that we have done also is the adult coloring books. Um different things that people come in and just to relax in the environment. Um

feel comfortable in the environment. Um so we can then expose them and show them the other resources that we have available in the center. Again um in the presentation earlier um was talked about how everyone doesn't feel safe with health care or the health care system. So we just want to provide an atmosphere where people come in and um they we build a rapport with them and um establish a rapport and relationship so they are comfortable to accept some of the resources that we're trying to provide and connect them to.

So I don't have any more questions right now. I may have some later, but I just want to say thank you for giving us this update. It was really um impressive and so I appreciate the work that you all are doing with the day center and um let's see what else we can do. So thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah. Could I add something? Um hello again to everybody. Also at the day center we do have uh employment resources and housing resources, but we have a lot of people that come in that want to further their education beyond high school. We've helped a lot of people apply for the um uh financial aid. We've had people come in and apply for community college and and they've gotten accepted. Uh but we do have a lot of them that come in that need won't want cell phones and we've used uh I think it's Assurance Wireless. But however that program works, some of them have already had a phone through them so they're not eligible for another one. Um, we've even we have people that come in that want to they're they found their way in Durham and they want to know how do I get back to where I want to be? And we we have assisted them in that too. But um, a lot of the people do come into the day center uh, just to have a safe place and they tell us every time they come in, it's so nice. I've been up all

night because I'm afraid to go to sleep because somebody's going to come and steal my belongings. So they come in and as soon as they register and they hit that hit the door, they come in, they put their head down. Some come in, they get in at 10:00 and they may stay sleeping till 5 because they're not worried about somebody coming and banging them in the head or or stealing their things. Um I had a a young man that came in early on and he said, and this is exactly what it will, he told me, he said, "Mr. D, are you in charge here?" I said, "Yes, I am." He said, "I need to tell you something." And I'm like, uhoh, what's coming? And he said, I wanted to say this. He said, 'When I first came in, you look like a complete a-hole. This is what he told me. But he said, but coming in here, he said, normally people in your position, they act apart. He said, but I can truly see that you love what you're doing and you're here to help us. And that right there just I mean, it almost made me start crying. And then another one that I can mention is we I was I every morning I go outside to just stand to see who I can invite into the day center. So one particular morning this gentleman he was coming by in a in a wheelchair and he was just coming through and he you could tell he had been through some things and I said good morning sir. How are you? I'm just not doing good. He was just telling me all the things he needed. I said well I can't help you with all those things but what I can help you with I can help you with a shower. So he came in, he he took his shower and um we got him some clothing and when he came back out he said, "I have something else I need to speak to you about." He said, "I'm tired of living the way I'm living and doing what I'm doing." And I said, "Well, explain to me more about that." And there was an addiction there. He said, "I just need somewhere that I can go." So um we connected him with um I think it was Freedom House we have connected him with and within 3 hours they had come picked him up and when he came back like two weeks later I hardly recognized him and he was so appreciative and he was singing our praises and it's things

like that I' I've had jobs but this is the only job I can say that I absolutely love and I go home some mornings I feel go home some evenings and I feel so empowered. And then sometimes I go and I'm sad because they need things that I can't provide. And a lot of them do come in, they're we don't pro provide meals during the day center, but this is something that they come in and they're hungry. They've had breakfast, they've had their uh lunch bags, but I mean I eat and when they come in, I just feel so bad that I can't offer that meal to them. But um I mean it's a really good program. I enjoy working there and I love establishing the relationships with uh the and the neighbors to come in and the the journaling that allows times for establishing relationships. We also started a gardening activity. I'm no gardener, but we started it and somehow our seeds didn't do what they were supposed to do, but so we'll we'll try that again in the future. But I just wanted to just share those uh other things that I had on my mind. Thank you for the time.

U vice chair alone.

Yes. want to echo the sentiments of, you know, Chair Lee and Commissioner Burton, thank you so much for this work and this robust presentation. Um, I just like as I'm looking at this and hearing y'all speak, really want to see like is there an opportunity for us as commissioners to come and like tour the space to kind of walk through and learn about, you know, see uh this all in action because it's something that I think if we're able to learn from y'all also uh and bring to our other partners, that would be really great.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, the invitation is open, but if you let us know in advance, we prefer it.

Wonderful.

Commissioner Jacobs.

Yes. Thank you so much. And I appreciate us getting this presentation when we're

partway through it because I think it's really important that we discuss what happens on what is the day Jan the end of January, right? September.

Um, you know, for me personally, I I went to the open house on September 18th. Is that right? Um, and so I got to see the program in action. And also, um, just hearing the presentation today, it's clear to me that we need to figure out a way to keep this program going in some form. I'm really appreciative that Urban Ministries bid on this project because if we didn't have a partner, we would not be able to do this. So, I just first want to thank you all, Urban Ministries. I know we've got another staff person here I met um uh at the at the day at the Hope Center. Um but the fact is again this is another example and why doing pilots are so important because it allows everyone to be creative, nimble, flexible, you know, just let's see what we can do in this short period of time. Um, and the fact that we're only spending, you know, what is it? $34 a visit is a it is very cost-effective. We're spending $200 a day for people to be in the jail, $6,000 a month. So, um, you know, there is a connection. We know with our familiar faces when people cycle through our systems um you know being unhoused and so anything we can do to keep people out of places like our emergency room or our um detention center is is also saving us money. Um,

so I guess one of my questions is going to be um, you know, what does it look like to um, and I'll let you speak about that to keep something going because the fact is that this is having also collateral impacts. What we were seeing with um people having to leave urban ministries every morning um was we were seeing a lot of people outside on Queen Street and that was also having impacts to our the Renegade, our library. So I think we also need to remember when we look at this scorecard which I agree is fantastic that we also have to think about the other positive impacts that this program is having on that entire part of downtown and our our whole system. And years ago, some of us went to see Oak City Cares and Commissioner Burton, what you were mentioning about, you know, people being able to charge their devices and take a shower. Um, another time I went out on the pit count, I met people who were living behind the Harris ter on Hillsboro Road and they said they'd been living in a tent, a couple, for over a year. And they were saying, "Well, we I can't get a job because I can't take a shower. I can't go to work without taking a shower and having clean clothes, and I can't keep up with all the jobs I've applied for without being able to charge my phone, living in a tent." So, this is so important. It It has been a missing link in our continuum of care. And when I went to um visit the day center and your numbers are bearing it out, people want to take a shower. I mean, it is a basic need. And the thing that I heard also was that it was difficult without the

laundry because nobody wants to get back into dirty clothes after they take a shower, right? Um and when I was there also, I saw I saw people with babies and young children. I saw a lot of young men and I know Dwayne, you told me that there were a lot of um LG LGBTQ plus young men who were had domestic violence situations, have been uh had to leave their homes. That was really concerning. But the fact that people come in and they go through a metal detector and then can feel safe is huge. So, um I I I first want to hear from you, Jonathan, and Dwayne, like would you be willing to continue this program because I know it's been a lot of work for you and your staff and what would it look like to try to keep this going?

Yeah, thank you for the question and thank you for your visit um on the 18th. Um we um absolutely want to continue the program. Um we see this as a front door entering into the system. So a lot of people who again who may not want to come into shelter um will come into the day services center. Uh there's various reasons why people don't want to come in the shelter, but um they will come into the day services center. And again, we just want to expose them to the resources over time once they become comfortable with our staff, with our team, and what we're there to do and provide. Um what it takes is funding. And so um yeah, that's what it would take is con consistent funding to um do certain things. We've also tried to uh file for more grants to help with other things. We haven't had any come through yet, but we've um we tried to find a

grant to purchase a truck so we can move the laundry truck back and forth. Um we've applied for food grants to so we're able to provide different meals um outside of the meals that we already do provide. Um we weren't none has come none have come through yet. Uh so we'll continue to do the work. Our team um we've hired again five or six folks. We have to have hire two or three more. Dwayne is one of our new hires that we were able to bring on board. And you can you just heard from him his passion that he has for what he does. And so that's what we're looking for is uh more people like Dwayne to help us with this mission um so we can help serve our neighbors.

Okay. Thank you. And I and Dwayne, I'm yes, I'm so uh grateful for how passionate you are about this and um it it really it's important. You care and I know all of your staff really cares who are working there. Um and it really makes a difference. Um I related to what the chair said, I do want to point out that I remember reading the scope of work for this. So I want to um also give kudos to Samantha who I know we who's no longer here who helped write the scope of work and John your office because I think this also is a reflection of how we write the scope of work. um and um and then what h what we're requiring as part of the process and so thank you to you and your team and I'm wondering how we can also moving forward what I see and I appreciate how you're addressing the areas that need more work. Um, and that's what it's all about being iterative and coming up with solutions

when you see certain things that need need more attention or help. But we again we have so many resources in Durham and I'm wondering I guess to John and your office is there any thought about how and this goes back to the inflow position that we're supposed to have with the frame strategic framework. One of the roles of the inflow position could be to help folks at the day center get more connected for instance to even county resources or other resources in the community to come into the day center uh to help with the needs that get addressed. So, I just want to throw that out there as something for us to think about. Um, and something else just went out of my head related to this, but Oh, yeah. When you I know you survey people when they come in. Could you tell us about what are things that are showing up when you ask people what they need because that could also help with what are other resources to bring bring in. Honestly, the the main thing that people always mention is food. Um, and that's not an exaggeration by any means. They they want food. Um, and then also it was the the laundry. And we've gotten the laundry cards. I I gave out about I think it was about 15. I gave out on um Thursday and they were so happy to get them. But they just love having a safe place to come to uh somewhere. Um there was a young man walking by one day and I would always see him with this little red bag and um one day I called him over and I said, "Hey." I said, "Where are you going?" He said, "I have no idea." He said, "I've been working all night. I I want to go to sleep, but I don't have anywhere to go." I said, "Have you ever been into Hope Day Center?" He's like, "Where is it?" I'm like, "It's right here." And I point to the little sign on the thing. And he came in that day. And

um since that day, he comes in every day to take a nap and to um and he'll go out and he'll buy these microwave dinners. He comes in and that's another thing they come in for. They'll buy these microwavable dinners and they want us to warm those up for them. But um the main things that I I hear is is food um and the showers and then just being in a safe safe space. So related to the 9,000 kind of that you think you may have left, could that be used for food? And I don't know what was in the original contract, but and Dwayne, I apologize. I told you I would follow up. I did talk to some people about it, but I but I haven't sent the email. But um just that is really essential. We there should be snacks there. So, u madame manager, is there a way we could address the contract or connect to Raina or Cooperative Extension?

Um,

yeah, we'll follow up and figure a path forward and and um I agree with all the comments that I've said. Thank you for your leadership and for you stepping in as interim. You're doing a phenomenal job. I know you were um CFO if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. So this detailed analytics um it it it shows so again we thank you and uh it's not missed that this is a 247 operation now which is a lot different than what it was and so thank you for um saying yes and and submitting a um application for the RFP. Uh but we'll circle back to see what we can do in partnering um because it may not necessarily be um an amendment, but there may be other resources that we can connect, but we'll we'll have a conversation on that. And could we also get um I if the majority of the board is

interested um in just what something for us to consider as a way to move forward after the funding ends.

Oh, absolutely. Because if just as a point of reminder to you, we I brought this forward to the board ahead of the strategic um plan that was um addressing overall homelessness. Um they were talking about a later start time and the board said yes to us going ahead and trying to see if the day center pilot recommendation could move forward. So we we definitely will um come back to you to see longer term what this may look like because it is taking some um pressure off other areas and given a more coordinated approach um in how we are addressing those who may need um support. And none of us know what life's twists and turns may bring. And so it's it's always from that lens. I know our board um looks at these kinds of things.

Thank you.

All right. And again, thank you all for this presentation. I'm really excited about this and um a couple of the statements I was going to make has been already been covered, but um I do look forward as well to seeing if we could do a tour. Um I will be there.

Okay.

And I will do everything I can to support.

Absolutely. We do have a video to show you um in the meantime until you're able to get over two tour.

I'm Jonathan Gatis, interim executive director of Urban Ministries of Durham. For 40 years, we've asked one question. How can we meet our neighbors where they are? This year, thanks to the leadership, investment, and help from the county of Durham. That question now has a new answer. The Hope Day Services Center.

Hello, my name is uh Dwayne Brown. I'm coordinator of Hope Day Center with Urban Ministries of Durham. We opened on

April 27th of this year and so far we've um served a little over 500 unique individuals. Individuals come in because they know this is a place where they can come to be safe place where they can come and find resources such as housing, employment resources, medical resources.

My name is Shona Wyn. I am the residential operations director for Urban Ministries of Durm. We are a homeless shelter, a 30-day shelter. Clients come in, try to get housing and other resources. The Hope Day Center is expansion of what we do at the shelter. We are a safe haven for individuals out in the community. They can spend a day. They can stay here as long as they want.

Hey, my name is Brian Monzon. I stay here at the shelter and I go here to UMD and it's very beneficial for me. They have a lot of stuff you can do. charge your phone, take showers, chill, relax, have great staff here as well. Help you with everything you need to take care of. They can get you into entry point, entry point, and they can get you into the housing, help you get into the shelter, and get you benefit from that way there. I'm Betty Green Hill. Coming in here, uh, being around people because it's it's nice and common here.

Hi, my name is Carrie Jones. I'm a diversion specialist case manager. I work here doing intakes over at the Hope Day Center a couple times a week. If you need housing support, we add you to the wait list for programs you may be eligible for here in the area. Hi, my name is Nicole Bagley. I'm the program and compliance director here at Urban Ministries of Durham. It's a privilege to be able to offer the day services because it helps our individuals that are in the community and our residents have a safe place to go um during the day in a non-judgmental environment.

One thing I like about UND is because I feel comfortable in sharing my story with people who are strangers and become

really good friends. Every day more of our neighbors are walking through these doors and out connected to a path forward. That's what happens when our community invest in daylight hours, too. Thank you for standing with us. Thank you. All right, very good. The next item on our agenda is anformational item is the Orange Factory Heritage Community.

Good morning. Um my name is Carla Rosenberg here with um Tessa Magcguire. We are with the Durham City County Planning and Development Department um to share with you um about uh well about a proposal to um recognize Orange Factory as uh Durham Heritage Community. Um, the planning and development department planned and initiated the heritage communities program in 2024 to honor and celebrate historical communities in Durham that have never been formally recognized by the city or the county. Merrick Moore was recognized in October 2025 by city council and staff now brings before you the community of Orange Factory which is located in the northern part of Durham County. Recognition as a heritage community does not carry regulation in the way that a local historic district or a landmark designation would. It also doesn't require the level of physical integrity or intactness that a national register designation would require. It's therefore well suited to communities who

are wary of additional regulations um or who have lost a significant number of structures, physical structures. Yet the program can also serve as a stepping stone to a formal designation if the community desires it um or they are and they are eligible. So to be eligible as a heritage community, a community must display a common historical identity, demonstrate significance to certain patterns of history in Durham, and have a mapable location with a center point, an outer boundary, or both. So once a community has applied for the program and been selected um staff proceeds with research alongside community members conducting oral history interviews, online and archival research and image and document scanning. The program outcomes, which you see here, um, in addition to the resolution of recognition that we hope will be read on October 12th, include an interactive ARGIS story map linked to our departmental web page detailing the community's history. Um, large historical uh, signage posted on site within the community and as well as a ceremony to dedicate that sign. And side note, that uh, Orange Facto's ceremony is scheduled for October 20th and you all are invited to attend. um an archive of materials that are collected through the research which is then deposited in the Durham County Libraries North Carolina collection and that this body of research could assist with a future historical designation. The Orange uh factory community was added to the National Register study list in 1979. However, a formal nomination has never been able to move forward because the village was destroyed in 1983 as part of a citywide project. Recogn recognition on October 12th is therefore very important to the community to establish its legacy even without most of its physical structures intact. So, I'd like

to pass the presentation on to Tessa Magcguire to explain exactly why Orange Factory is significant. As um Carla was describing um one of the big proponents of the project is to produce an ArcGIS story map. Um I like to refer to it as an online exhibit. Um it includes many different components. Um but the ultimate goals of the story map are to describe the prehistory and early history of the site including maps of early land grants and the great Indian trading path. um which passed nearby to North Orange Factory. And it also will display a curated selection of audio clips with caption videos from oral history interviews. And typically with the heritage communities program, we would conduct these ourselves, which we do did do some um oral histories. However, um there had already been some that were conducted in 1983 with the original residents of this village. Um, so those interviews were conducted by folk researcher Mary Anne McDonald um, before the inundation occurred and quotes from those interviews um, with former Orange Factory residents conducted today in 2026 um, by Carla and I are also included in the story map. Um, we also of course include maps uh in the uh story map with slider toggles that allow viewers to see and experience the changes in the physical landscape and built environment in Orange Factory. Um, starting in 1940 to today we have the aerials from those times. Um, there is also a map-based virtual tour with photographs of the original mill village as it appeared before the 1985 inundation. And we also have plenty of photographs and illustrations of the area and its residents over the course of the 174 year history of the factory and the

associated mill village. So, I'm going to do a brief historical summary of the orange factory area. So, the first textile mill at Orange Factory and the Associated Village was built as early as 1852 on the Little River and it was known as the Little River Manufacturing Company. Um, these are some of the earliest structures. The first mill, this is the only photograph we have of it. Um, as well as, um, what's commonly referred to as the 20 House, um, which is one of the older structures we believe was built before the 1870s in the village. By the 1900s, uh, the mill village, uh, had expanded and had become the Laura Cotton Mill, and the Riverview United Methodist Church, which is the only extent structure today, was built around 1899 or 1900. Um, there was also a school built by Durham County Schools. Uh it was a one room schoolhouse which you see uh pictured here on the left with all of the school children out front that was built in around 1909. Um this is also one of the structures that may be extent today. Um however uh the the structure that is there on the site that could potentially have been the original ski school building is um unrecognizable if it is the same structure. It's been through a lot of changes. Um but the Riverview United Methodist Church, which you see on the far right, um that one is mostly unchanged. It's actually been very well maintained by the residents and it is pretty much the only structure that is remaining. Um it was located, as you'll see in a little bit here, um pretty far um south and west, so uh in the village, so it was luckily saved um from the inundation. So the factory um was purchased by Roxboro Mills in 1938 and up until that

point it was a functioning textile mill and most all of the residents worked in that mill. Um so in 1938 um when it was acquired by Roxboro Mills it was subsequently closed. Um many residents were offered jobs in Roxboro Mills but that was quite far for many of the residents. So many of them continued to work for Burlington Industries, Irwin Mills, or the American Tobacco Company here in Durham um closer to the city. The city of Durham uh had announced plans to dam the Little River and flood the historic village to create a new drinking water reservoir. In 1978, um the residents did protest. They did attend um multiple community meetings um with city officials to try to find an alternative. Um unfortunately, damning the Little River was the alternative to damning the Eno River. Um which was also um protested by many residents of Durham City and County. Um and unfortunately, the residents were not able to find an alternative with city officials and the city did move forward with the inundation. Uh the plans were complete by 1985. So you can see in um the images here. Uh on the right we have the construction of the new bridge um that is there today that goes over um the reservoir and river section um where the inundation occurred. Um and on the left there are um just a small group of the residents that were there. Many of them had been interviewed. If you have a chance to listen to the oral history interviews, uh many of those faces, you can hear their voices as well. Um they tell their stories and their family stories um growing up on that land and what it meant to them. So this is an example of the type of visual that you will see on the ARGIS

story map um once it's made public. Um it's it would be great if we could show you uh the story map today because it's very interactive. you can slide a toggle so you can really see the changes over time and we have multiple different versions of them. Um but this is the most impactful one. Um you can see 1983 um when they had decided to move forward with the inundation um to 1985 after that work had already occurred. Um the bulk of the village structures um were subsequently um underwater flooded completely. So, as a part of the heritage communities program, we do produce a um wayfinding sign um it is um quite large as you can see um so that it's accessible and visible from the road. So, um we worked with the applicant to find a location. And um this sign we decided um will be placed near the Riverview United Methodist Church which as as I mentioned is the only uh extent structure from the site and you can see there its location near the roadside so it will be visible and that's the orange factory heritage community.

Go ahead. Well, this is amazing. Um, I wonder if you could do could you pull up the link to what you all have created online. Is it possible to do that?

Yeah. Um, what do we need to do?

I don't know because I don't think the PowerPoint actually does service to

what has the document that you online document that you all have created

if it's possible. While while staff is doing that, I will

just say that I am so grateful to the planning staff and the community for this heritage community program. Um, this really exemplifies why it's so important. I'm embarrassed to say I have lived in Durham basically since 1979 and I did not know this history. And I just think this this is reinforces why it is so this program is so important, but so important that we document our history and tell the stories of our community and the stories of those that the communities that are not here anymore and you know the reasons why. And this is this is just fascinating um to know um you know again what happens when there's change and that this community was was dis displaced and basically destroyed. Um and so you know that was the you know what happened when the little river reservoir was created. And so, um, I I love I'm looking at the online document right now and so the fact that you have all the oral histories and the photographs and the map that also highlights the different structures. So um so I just think this is wonderful and I look forward to this this program growing and I think that this is this is so important um with the historical marker that will be there as well. um when I know there is something on our calendars related to this. Can you remind us and is that will that be something that's open to the community

so that we can let people know about this event?

Yeah, so um the ceremony is scheduled for October 20th at 1:30 p.m. Um you all received invitations um to it and um we'd invite you to RSVP if you're able to. not not um mandatory. We allowed the community to um advertise amongst themselves. Um they did most same with Merit Moore. They elected not to advertise um through our public venues, but um they are advertising within their community and adjacent communities.

Okay. So 1:30

1:30 p.m. at the church that you

at the church. Okay. The one of the remaining structures. Okay. Wonderful. Yes. And thank you to all of the Orange Factory uh community members who helped make this happen as well. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you,

Commissioner Burton.

Yes. Um yeah, thank you. Excuse me for this presentation. And like Commissioner Jacobs, I did not know that was an actual community. When you drive to northern Durham County and you see Orange Factory Road, I know in my mind I'm thinking, okay, what was that about? Right. And I'm always tempted to go down another I think it's Willard, go down that road to see what's down there. And I also think it speaks to the importance of the Museum of Durham history and why we want to document the history of Durham City and Durham County because we have so many new people coming into Durham City and County who do not know all this happened or that was a community. I know I've been living here since the 90s. I didn't I just thought the little river reservoir was always there. So, um, thank you for doing this. And also, it makes me think

about other communities like the Nelson community when you go out on Miami Boulevard and you see that sign that says Nelson right before you go into Wake County. Um, also the Oak Grove community, Gorman, things like that, like what was out there as well. So, thank you for doing this work and I'm going to try to be at the event um to celebrate and this whole um the installation of the sign and things like that. So, thank you.

Wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you for this. Um I'm curious um so when this this designation what what actually does it mean as a celebration of the history? And the reason I'm asking is um I'm curious if this is the full history. Um, on the website I only see two references to slave enslaved workers and I'm curious if people who look like me were able to live there because you mentioned people could buy land and so forth,

but were the people who were actually mentioned here that were u brought here, the people of color, added new people of color to the landscape, were they able to own land here and do we represent that anywhere in this history?

Yeah, that's a really great question and I'm actually really glad that you asked. Um, so for context in the early history and we do discuss this in the story map, but um the land that Orange Factory resided on pre-1852 um belonged to the Lipkcom family which were known enslavers. um particularly the Lipkcom plantation was a site of mass enslavement here in Durham County. Um and we do briefly

discuss this in um the story map and then it is discussed um further on um in the history more of the textile mill village itself which mostly dates to the 1870s. Um this community was predominantly white um as is pretty common for most um souththeastern textile mill villages. it was predominantly poor white uh individuals who were working in these factories. Um, however, that's not to say particularly because this factory was started in 1852 that they were benefiting um and profiting from enslaved labor. That's likely where the cotton came from that they were then making into textiles. Um, I will say um that we do know that a few individuals, particularly black women, lived in the community around the turn of the century and in the early 20th century. Most of them lived as domestic workers um for the white families that were working in the mill. And we've been able to identify a few of them by name and um tried our best to do some genealological work to identify them in the records which we believe we have uh noted but um it's very difficult to positively identify them and connect to um modern-day descendants of those women but they are noted by name in the story map. Um, and it actually did open up the possibility because most of these women were from the neighboring Stagville and Snow Hill plantation communities, a lot of them came from sharecropping families. Um, and potentially that could also be a heritage community. Um, it seems to be that most of these individuals did not live full-time in the village itself, but were from neighboring communities, but it is a very important part of that history. I just want to make sure um that we're being honest with ourselves about what we're honoring.

Sure.

When we do these sorts of things, um Stagville did a really good job with it. They just kind of talked about it and they talk about it and so forth. Um, the further north you go in Durham County, as far as ownership goes, the less black it is or less minority it is. And you see a lot of that. We have this Durham to Roxboro rail trail thing going on. And you see a lot of people, it's been this land's been in my family for hundreds of years and so forth. How did you get that? how did you get that land is because people who look like me didn't have the option to do that. And so when we I I'm not from Durham, but I've been here since 97. I consider it home. So I don't have the history like all the way back. But I take this thing very I take this kind of thing very serious when we designate things. I celebrate places but the full story is not told. I don't feel like the full story is told about this. Now I think it it it it's a historical site. It's one of those things. But I think we have I think when we're designating and celebrating historical communities, we have to be honest about this stuff. We have to be honest of why this picture of this schoolhouse is all white. We have to be honest about why there was wealth in that community, but the wealth were was really not for people who look like me in this community. We have to be honest about that. We have to be honest about what North Durham looks like and for the most part all all of the United States. I

mean, it's just kind of the way it worked. Um, I just want to make sure that we're honoring this community, we're honoring the people who built the community who worked for these people, who built the wealth for these people. And if we're showing this sign, I don't know how far it is in the progress or whatever, but even on the website, I would have really like for us to honor them as well. And I don't feel that too off comments on the website just saying, you know, these plantations use enslaved workers to create agriculture economy. And then the next line is um it's powered by enslaved labor and that's it. That's the only thing it mentions. Um so for me um you I support this and so forth, but just please let's figure out a way to not just celebrate the white owners here. Let's celebrate everybody who is involved in that community whether they live there or not, they owned or not or so forth. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Chair Lee, I was just wanted to say I saw on the calendar that it's October 12th that was put on our calendar. I just want to verify if it's the 12th or the 20th.

Right. So October 12th is the meeting where um the resolution of recognition would be read. So, your regular meeting and then October 20th is a special sign dedication ceremony that's at the church.

Okay. Um,

yeah, thank you for your comments, Chair Lee. Yeah, I I think that what I what I

think the purpose of this is is also just to add to the story of all the different communities in Durham that may not be any here anymore um that were here or that don't fit the normal status of getting recognition like the Merrick Moore community was the first one. But to your point, yes, we absolutely should tell the broader context and that includes that the fact that this was Native American land initially as well. And I know there is reference to that. Um, so I appreciate you bringing up just the broader context. Um, and it does bring and maybe you could scroll down just so people can see very quickly like I don't know if you're able to do maybe you're not able to do that. Well, anyway, um but um I'm really proud of Durham County's um our far farmland protection program because two out of the three century farms that we have permanently protected in Durham County are blackowned farms in northern Durham up in the Rougemont community. And so that's so important that we have enabled these um blackowned family farms that are going to be protected forever. So that's two out of three that we've done. Um so but thank you for for raising those really important issues. Okay, you're scrolling.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Anyway, there's just is this available now or it will be? Um, it will be after October 12th.

Okay. All right.

Um, you all did receive the link, I believe.

Yes, we got the link.

So, it will be on the wh

which websites will this be on and like will it be part of the North Carolina collection as well?

Right. So, we'll have a heritage communities web page. Okay. Um, and so

it'll be linked to that as the Meritt Moore one is now currently. And then um the North Carolina collection is taking in oral history interviews, image scans um and we'll have the written form like the text also submitted there. So it'll be part of their archive. It'll have a special folder for Orange Factory. There's already one there for Merrick Moore. They're actually in the process of creating it. So each heritage community will have its own um file in their system.

Thank you.

Okay. side. All right. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Appreciate it.

All right. So, the next item on the agenda is the budget piece, but uh we're going to take a little bit of a break, a quick break, get some lunch, and then jump right into it. Okay. Is that okay with the budget team?

Okay. All right. So, you want to say 15 minutes?

You good with that, Wendy? 15 minutes. 15 minutes. We'll be back at noon.

We are back. Thank you all very much for a little bit of a break. Um, the last item on our agenda today is fiscal year 2526 budget update and framework for fiscal year 2627 budget development. We do have 60 minutes allotted for this. Does that work?

Yes.

Uh, does that work for you all?

Okay. Hopefully. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. Good morning, good afternoon, commissioners. Uh we are here to um begin a series of conversations about the budget. And last year we started this process of sharing with the board a little bit earlier than normal where we were and where we were headed. and where we're headed seems to be a um challenge sometimes, but we as Dor will get through it. I will invite um Dr. Jenkins and Maggie and Margaret on up because uh we'll have a few slides that we'll um talk about that are public health DSS related. We're gonna flow pretty fast uh in talking today. Again, a first conversation among many and I thank um David Keith and the rest of the budget team for their involvement and all the other partners throughout the organization um that play a role in how we manage our operations and that are guiding us as we um go through the next season. Um there are lots of challenges and unknowns right now that we're in. Um there's lots of unknowns with the federal and state

landscape. uh with that we we have to just plan accordingly and I I do feel based on our experience we've made some good choices on how we manage the budget so that we aren't at the very end in a a tough space and we're remaining solvent but solveny is becoming harder and harder when there are um pretty significant shifts in policy constraints that we are potentially looking act. In future conversations, we'll talk a little bit more about uh some of the federal policy changes. Those changes are still being fleshed out. And so we'll work with um um County Attorney Williamson um and some others, John Kefir, to have a conversation either in November or December about some of those policy changes. uh because those affect how we navigate how we function. So, I'll pass it off to Keith and um he'll get us started and we'll work through this. Uh this looks like a lot of slides, but again, we'll move through them pretty quickly and allow time for the board for questions.

Thank you, Manager Hager. Um good afternoon or almost on the cusp of afternoon to the commissioners. Um, I'm going to, as uh the manager noted, I'm going to go through a number of items quickly. I'm going to quickly go through how we think we're going to end up with the end of FY2526, which finished June 30th. The numbers we are given, I must say, are preliminary. Finance is still working to uh finish those numbers and tighten them up, but we have some early indications of how the end of the year wrapped up. And that matters because it has an effect for 2627 and it also affects how we might deal with 2728. So at any given time, just so commissioners know, the budget

office is always sort of looking at how one year ended, looking at the year we're in the middle of right now and then trying to figure all those things out to plan for the next year coming. And you should all think about budgeting that way as well. Some of the and which is really just one slide for 2526. The key things to note is that our expenditure rate, spend rate for the general fund, it's approximately 92% of budget. That's in the relatively normal range of what we spend. We never generally spend 100% of our expenditure budget. Why don't we do that? Because we have a lot of laps. We have a lot of vacant positions. We purposefully put a freeze in in place in 2526 to limit some of that spending. We also tend to not spend all of our operational dollars. lower personnel costs accounted for the largest share of that 92% spend rate and then our operating costs were at an average 94 and a half percent. Which is not out of the norm. That's great on the revenue side because there's two sides of this coin at all times. There's what we spend and the amount of money we collect to then spend. Our revenues uh performed a little bit lower. We were about 90% of what we had budgeted. And part of the problem was that is lower than projected property tax uh revenue collections. Anyone, this is a quick uh quiz for you. Does anyone understand why we may have collected lower property tax in 2526? I see some nodding of the heads. Let me help you with that. It's a lot of appeals based off of our revaluation. That was a large part. We also our sales tax revenue fell short of uh projections for a second year in a row, but we were much much closer to the number to our budgeted number than we were the previous year. But those are also indicators of slowing growth in revenue in general. So all of that means with lowing lower revenue collection and and low expenditure growth, we still have are spending significant amount of our fund balance and we need to start making more of our fund balance. But all that

being said, our year is going to end up pretty solid given some of the choices we made.

And it's important to note and reiterate, we we will remain in a solid fiscal position um from a fund balance reserves perspective. We knew um that we would have some um shifts with our projections for property taxes. We grew overall in our base 68% which was unprecedented. Um, but there were a number of pills that happened for adjusted values and so we are pleased at where we're going to land, but it's one of those things as Keith stated uh going forward it becomes even more challenging to make sure you don't use your reserves and so um just wanted to inter um check that but I will not interrupt you anymore on this slide. That's quite all right. It is to worth noting that expenditure side costs are increasing significantly. Even if we can control for personnel by not hiring or lowering salary, there are increased inflationary costs for gas, utilities and almost everything else that every department can uh tell you about the experiences with that. So that was just a quick overview of 2526. You'll be getting more information once the ACTER is done from the finance department, an overview of that. Now, let's look at 2627 budget management. Where are we in the current fiscal year? We're three plus months just beginning our fourth month into the current fiscal year. Um, we have some expenditure trends and we have some issues out there, but we have really not collected any revenue yet from our two major revenue sources to speak of. We have not collected sales tax yet from this year because we're 3 months behind. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks, we'll collect our first month of sales tax for July. But property tax doesn't normally come in in any

significant amount until December and January. So, it's very early in the year to talk about that. But what we can tell you is that just for those who are watching and those who want to know the 2627 approved budget and performance document are online and are available for review. We can tell you about some of the u high points on the revenue side. I just noted no major revenues collected yet. We did budget lower fund balance as a revenue source per exactly what the manager spoke of a few minutes ago. Current economic indicators suggest downward pressure on revenues. What do I mean by that? Some things that we know right off the bat. There's loss of one-time funds, ARPAs, and some transfers we've done with that and uh some decisions you all will have to make about continuation funding related to ARPA dollars. There's sales tax stagnation, and I'll show you a slide in a few minutes about that that shows it quite clearly. And then there's statehold harmless revenue volatility. That number for Durham County in the last year dropped by $2 million. That's a revenue source that dropped by 2 million in 2526. And we're going to h and we're going to have to we budgeted 2 million probably more than we should have in 2627 because we didn't know at the time when we made that budget there would be volatility but we're going to have to deal with that in 2728. So that state hold harmless volatility is a serious revenue number that the budget office is going to have to take into account. We'll show you that in a few minutes. Preliminary projections show property tax natural growth is projected to grow at uh the growth level of of what it has been historically which is in the 3% to 3 and a.5% a year. That's natural growth in property tax evaluation. Hopefully after all the appeals and the reval we will settle down to our normal natural growth pattern and we'll take that into account but we wait to talk with Ki Doyle and the tax administrator about that a little later in the fiscal year. Expenditure side, departments continue to control spending and try to maximize revenue sources where available.

Although some ma revenue sources, particularly in the department sitting beside me, DSS and public health are not controlled by those departments. They are controlled by the federal and state government and a lot in a large sense and those pass through dollars and those have been some real issues for those departments which those u DSS and public health will discuss in just a few minutes. We're always continuing operational assessments to identify efficiencies and we're continuing those reviews since 25 FY2025. Uh this is just part and parcel of what we're doing every day every year partially with the organizational effectiveness department and the budget office and others. How can we continue to improve efficiencies? We continue to freeze non-dated uh non-mandated positions. Uh those that are are mandated for support and need are people like public safety, select DSS and public health positions who are exempted. Um but again, we're trying to save dollars where we can uh just in preparation for lower revenue collection in certain areas. Again, inflation is driving increased baseline expenditures for a number of different operational areas. With that, here's some major issues around the current fiscal year that we're starting to um feel out, flesh out the effects of. I know the federal one big beautiful act bill is causing some serious downstream negative effects at our level and I think DSS and public health are more than happy to discuss and clarify some of those downstream effects. Um things like a revenue loss in the SNAP program and the dine nutrition program are very real and very significant costs and those departments and the board ultimately are going to have some decisions to make along those lines to proactively address some of these impacts. We are continuing to assess the base budgets of these departments and we're continuing to do it this year and again it will also be an important part of what we do in developing the 2728

budget. So again, we're just getting an idea of how this year's budget's doing, reacting to it, beginning to start working with departments on how to react to it, and then we're taking that information and our crystal ball look and starting to prepare how we're going to do a budget development process for FY2728. I'm going to stop there and hand it over to public health, Dr. Jenkins.

Thank you so much, Keith. Excuse me. Uh to Chair Lee and the rest of the board, county manager. here. I just say thank you so much for allowing me to be here today and most importantly, thank you for your support of public health. Uh, as Keith said, I'll be very brief. Um, I will say, uh, public health funding for this year has been relatively level. Uh, if you, as you can recall last year, I feel as if we were just constantly telling you all about the cuts uh, cuts in HIV funding, cuts in maternal child health. We did not see as much of that this year, although it doesn't, you know, doesn't signific, you know, significantly uh reduce the impact that we're feeling in public health. So, I'll go to the slide. We continue to say thank you for your continued support of our dying program. Uh saw them out uh at uh Durham Regional's 50th anniversary this past week weekend and uh just really thank them for their uh their work. But last week, October 1st, signifi signified the last bit of federal funding that we would receive. Uh so everything else has now been county supported and as I aforementioned, I cannot thank you enough. I do believe through natural attrition, we have uh rightsized that unit and uh what we have is pretty much uh you know what can be used to effectively run the program. But we do know that decisions will need to be made as far as local funding and positions for the next fiscal year. Next slide, please. What we did not anticipate, ladies and gentlemen, was the effects to

what we affectionately call our care management program. This has been somewhat of a six-year odyssey in which uh the alignment of the Division of Health Benefits or NC Medicaid uh the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors and the at the time five but now four prepaid health plans uh contracts were made to where this work which has been uh in existence since 1986 for atrisisk children and um you know help uh pregnant moms who have high-risisk pregnancies. evidence-based, award-winning, has been serving North Carolina for many, many years. Uh, so right now we have about 400 professionals throughout the state of North Carolina that run the risk of losing their jobs or having to be reallocated uh effective January 1st of 2027. Uh again, when we were doing our budget planning with uh Keith and team, we did tell them that discussions and deliberations were happening, but probably about a month ago, maybe two months ago, um we did hear effectively from the prepaid health plans pretty much saying that they were ending the contract and taking all of those operations in house, effectively saying that they would no longer be contracting with local health departments to administer these programs. Uh there are some efforts to try to establish what we call a hub and spoke model from a regional perspective, but I do not really see that as something that's going to come to fruition. And with that being said, we know that these dollars are going to stop uh effective January 1st of 2027. So with that, we have reached out to county HR who's graciously helped us with a reduction in force uh program or um plan of action and uh we're waiting on them to give us some feedback for that. But again, it's really uh stating uh the current state of affairs in terms of you know

privatization, consolidation of efforts and uh unfortunately it's it's really going to impact uh public health overall. It's going to definitely going to reduce our workforce and um most importantly my concern is for moms and babies and children throughout this state who are going to be impacted by these decisions. Can we just can I just ask a few cl this is like a really big deal. So could you explain how many positions are we talking about locally? Um and how are the because these are critical services right taking care of atrisisk children and women with at high-risisk pregnancies. How are they going to get this these services if it's not going to be through our public health staff?

Thank you for that question, Commissioner Jacobs. Again, um we're talking about 16 positions locally. Um, fortunate for us, we do feel as if we have a nice plan of action that will allow them to hopefully uh with the approval of HR, Board of Health, Board of County Commissioners, um, have a soft landing spot and be able to provide these services in some other capacity. Um, when we talk about, uh, the Durham community at large, um, these services, to be honest, going to be to be determined. Um I'm fortunate to be the public health director in a resourcerich community. So we do have great rel great relationships with Duke Duke regional with uh family connects. Uh so there are opportunities for these services to be rendered but not in the manner that they have been done commissioner Jacob since 1986. We're talking being able to visit them in hospitals, OBGYn uh offices, home visits, being able to

really touch them, being able to care for those individuals who go to church with us, who at the grocery store with us. These type services, high touch services cannot be done through a call center. And that is what these prepaid health plans are trying to envelop and do. and um we stand ready to assist if they decide to reverse their decisions. But with that, it's going to be quite interesting. And as our forementioned, our main concern as public health leaders in this state is the communities that we serve. And I just don't know how they plan to do it. But I will say there is um there there's going to be a webinar by the Division of Health Benefits set for Wednesday and Thursday uh to really tell us the plan for transitioning, but I'll be brief and say, you know, to be determined.

Can you explain who made this decision? And I'm sure people like you gave a lot of feedback that this was not a good idea and people would be hurt by this decision in terms of delivery of care and intervention. Um how was this decision made?

I will say the decision was made primarily through the prepaid health plans. Um the first of which was Healthy Blue which is Bluec Cross Blue Shield who statewide has about 70% market share and once they made the decision to bring operations in house the dominoes kind of fell. There are in the spirit of transparency, there are a couple of prepaid health plans that are still interested in working with us, but you know, when you talk about how we do things with the platform and um the the ability to synthesize the data and being able to be affiliated with clinically integrated networks, not to get too much into the weeds, it becomes much of a

bear to try to make this happen. But to definitively answer your questions, it was the prepaid health plans Well, I'm glad you're bringing this to us because I don't think that people know know about this and so ringing the alarm and I hope that um there will be more light shed on this and what what the real impact is going to be and and I appreciate that you say that we're going to try to work on solutions, but again, this is um we're talking about very vulnerable populations here And if you're trying to save money, this is not the way to save money because you're going to end up with a much higher cost to our health system if you're not going to intervene in the right way.

I will now pass it to Maggie. That is the end of my slot.

Thank you, Dr. Jenkins. Thank you, um, commissioners and chair Lee and county manager. Um, as you know, uh, last week some things took effect with, uh, HR1 because I refuse to call it by its actual name. Um, and I just want to say as we talk about dollars here, I have to be very clear. Um, we received a call from a mother who is facing a decision um, to have to bring her daughter out of ICU to hospital because the hospital is now asking the daughter to leave because she no longer has insurance as of October 1st. We have had people with uh needing life-saving chemo that called us last week that lost their insurance because they are non-citizens. So, while we are talking about dollars, the impact to this community, to the families in this community, we are talking actual lives being lost. Um, one of my staff got a call last week and some a woman who had called every week trying to see if, you know, Medicaid would come through. um her family called and let us know that she's no longer with us. So,

this is what my team's dealing with every day and it's getting very very hard um for them every day. They came to do this job to save lives, to make people sure they have Medicaid and food benefits and food securities and every day we're seeing that loss. So, this is a really big issue. It's a critical issue because we're talking about the lives in this community in Durham County. So, as you know, um, effect of October 1st, about 450 individuals in Durham, um, lost coverage due to the new non-citizen requirements.

Oh, I'm sorry, Commissioner Burton.

Yeah, I was just going to say if you can explain what has occurred by October 1st around Yes.

Yes. So, on October 1st, one part of HR1 was the non-citizen requirements. So those um that are non-citizens or not protected um under the Cuban and Haitian um set aside, they lost their coverage. So or and will continue to lose their coverage. So at this point, it's 450 individuals. Um we know that effective January 1, we're going to have the able-bodied adults 19 to 64 on expansion Medicaid that will have to have um work volunteers attend school for at least 80 hours a month to maintain benefits. So, this is going to be very challenging as well. One, we're now going to be going from reertifications every 12 months just in Medicaid with expanded population is now going to be every six months. Um, and they have to have all of the right documentation in. We still have not gotten any guidance from the feds on what that documentation clearly needs to look like, which can be a problem if they come in and they don't have it or it takes time to get it. They may lose their benefits in the meantime. Um I mentioned how we have the nine new positions and thank you very very much for approving that for us so quickly. We are trying to get them filled and trained so that when the eligibility redeterminations take effect in January that we have the staff ability to reertify them every six months and not delay people's um critical health

insurance. Um we will receive additional revenue for the Medicaid expansion and HR1 funding. Um about 1 point a little 1.527 uh million dollars for a fiscal year 27. The state allotss that in quarterly allocations and we've already pulled the first quarter of funds. Margaret's doing a very good job with her team um the ADO finance to make sure that staff know exactly which codes to use so that we can pull as much of that as we can. And then again, we are looking at um at the end of this year, December 31st, 2026, we're going to have to start to do background checks. We've already started that um in the county for new staff, but we now have to go back for existing staff um in Medicaid um and do that every five years. So, that would be an additional cost and just um push to get that done timely. Um, unfortunately we still don't have the implementation guidance from the state on that as well, but that will start at the end of this year. Also, starting October 1st, um the cost sharing arrangement for FNS, those are a staff that process SNAP benefits and reertifications. Um, previously, um, that was a 5050 split for reimbursement. We now know that it's now 25 for the federal and 75% for the county. So, that started October 1st. Um, for Durham County, this change translates to an approximate $2 million reduction. Um, which we've already, not we, Keith and his team have already budgeted for for this reduction for the county. Um, for next year, we're looking at a little bit over two and a half million. And just to give you an idea, so last um in December, the new guidelines for food and nutrition for non-citizens was supposed to go into effect. Um the feds gave us um a delay until February. So since February of 2026, you are going to see that we are going to continue to

lose families off of SNAP benefits because they no longer meet the citizen requirements. So as you can see, we've already started to see that decline. Um so the total issuance dollars for FNS for August 2026 was a little over $4.5 million. um compared to last year where it was um wait I'm I can't

so yeah so the

the total issuance for August 2026 was 4.4 4 million. For August of 2025, it was over five million. So, it's a 1.5 million decrease from last year this time. So, that shows that um how the our citizens have lost um benefits. And in the chart um that is showing households um not not recipients. There's there's a higher number of households, but uh recipients, but households gives you a good um snapshot here. um in July of 20 um 25 16,000 people were receiving benefits and then in July of 2026 you have 14,000.

Can I ask one clarification on that? That's that's a loss of $1.5 million that flows through Durham County locally spending on on food and various items and that's just a loss of one month. How much FNS money comes through the county in a in a year?

So on average um so from January I can go ahead and tell you from January 26 to August 20 26 it was 43 million. So that is a chunk of money that even if it's not coming to the county as revenue gets spent locally mostly inside the county and those people turn around and buy the things that buy sales tax. So

that is a loss potentially of millions of dollars in the local economy that we get a portion of indirectly through sales tax and other ways. Just wanted to highlight that.

Yes. Over time, this will and we have said that and and the state has said it will impact small businesses um that rely on that small grocery stores, family-owned grocery stores, even the larger ones, but really the familyowned small ones. Okay, so um the error rate, we've heard about this with SNAP. So, right now the state error rate currently is at 6.9%. um it has to be 6% or under otherwise that cost share will go back to the counties. As I've mentioned, North Carolina is the only state in the country that has put this cost share back on the counties. Um and so we are hopefully we are working very very you know diligently with the state to make sure that we um continue to lower that error rate and we are just hoping that we see that error rate come in under 6% um in order for us not to have the cost sharing hit the county. I would like to add I want to make sure Megan that I understand this when you discussed it with me there was some deep concern about the population used to define the error rate was so small that that error rate is highly volatile. So even though it might show 8% or 10% error rate for Durham County, it's only because the state went and

picked three cases. They they've yeah they have been consistently picking three of our cases. Well, if you have an er and again the this could be an error on us, our staff did, or an error on the client. So, they don't differentiate. So, it could be that, you know, a client forgot to tell us um that they had um an added member to their family or that they got a raise at work. So, if you have an error even on one of those cases, that is going to increase your error rate. So, I have talked to the other larger counties and it appears that we are being pulled some of the

lowest cases for the larger counties. I have my own reasons for that, but of course our error rate is going to be higher and that's what they're going to go by for part of this cost sharing um because the smaller counties are not going to be able to afford this. Um I don't know how any of us are, but the smaller counties really cannot. So they are consistently pulling about three cases from us, Meckllinburgg, Bunkham, the larger counties. Even though we've asked them to pull larger amounts, they're not doing that. And I think in some of the early estimates we saw the the state would pull from the county through sales tax collection that we get and I thought we saw 1.7 million plus dollars potentially depending on error rate. So don't know if that's going to happen but that would be a negative effect on the revenue we collect from sales tax. Um, just a point of clarification for the that decision that they make about like how they're pulling those cases. Is that something that like has been written into the statutes, the bills or whatever that they use to decide these error rates or it's just the practice of DHS?

It's just the practice of DHS. Um, and we've asked them a few times. I'm on the committee that um for the association, so we meet with them monthly and I always bring it up and they said this is just the the best way that they were able to come up with how they pull it. Any other questions for us?

Have we reached out to our representatives, our delegation on this issue?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

And they're aware of it.

Okay.

Yes, they are. Um, I just have a general Okay. I I don't want to interrupt. I have a some questions.

No, no, I'm we're we're done with our part.

You're done with that? Okay. um as I'm listening to both um Maggie and Rod with all of these like impacts

of HR1 and also the stories that you started out with Maggie like I don't like when we say 450 um noncitizens have just lost their health care. I mean the story that you just told, I don't want to lose those stories. People need to know the impact it is having on individual people and families and our community. And I'm just wondering, I'm kind of just putting this out here and would love to hear ideas, but how can we make sure we we capture them and don't lose them? And I guess I'm thinking about John and your staff or Deborah with your staff. Is it possible for us to have a way where we have like somewhere even a county web page where we're just listing what are the impacts of HR1 in just I mean all the things that you're have listed here today. Um and because again it's so much and it's so overwhelming and we need to capture it and again the stories that we're hearing about people it is real and it is very frightening and it is it is just so cruel and inhumane. Um so I I just want to hear people's thoughts on it. I I don't want it just to be we talk about it in a work session and that's it. like we we really need a way to document how this is harming our people in our community. I will um follow up on that uh in in talking with um Deborah Craig Ray from a storytelling perspective. Um her team is um she's now getting more folks on board. Um both

public health and DSS also have PIO team members and as you mentioned in John shop they do a lot of work uh as well and some of our storytelling. So let us come back to you really fast because this is a fastmoving um issue that we need to make sure that people are aware of the facts and see faces behind the numbers because they are our neighbors. is our community and in a community like Durham, we will do our best to try to close those gaps. Um, but as they stack up, the question becomes how much can we afford to do? And so, um, but we'll come back soon, real soon, and share a strategy on how we tell the story.

And also,

and and after we talk about this, I do have one other followup question for Maggie, but go ahead. I just wanted to add also um it's not only specific to Durham County, but NC budget and tax center also during um a lot of the conversations and the legislation when it was coming through the state legislature, they had made a booklet of stories that they've compiled from individuals all across the state of North Carolina in very red counties and blue counties everywhere who are being impacted by the Medicaid um changes. And so I can get that document. They have a yeah this through NC budget tax center that they have all those stories that we should be

yeah I agree with you um Commissioner Jacobs and also how do we make this information digestible for our residents understanding that okay the error rate when I know when I put this out on my social media or talk to people in the community understanding okay what that is like we know what that means and could because I think many of our many people don't quite give the understanding that they're doing this through paperwork. Like they're it's a deliberate way of okay, you can make one

mistake, tiny mistake, that's an error rate or you didn't get this paperwork in on time or you lose your benefits. So really making this information digestible so our residents will understand what is happening and why people are losing their benefits and it and actually it's going to get worse because this is just the beginning of it. So thank you.

Yeah, I just say I agree with that. I agree with telling the story and showing the impact of it. You know, people look at very high level numbers and you know there's a lot of people who say if it doesn't directly affect me it doesn't exist and we have to show how this could actually actually affect everyone in our community. So I agree with you on that Wendy but you had something else.

Yeah. Um yeah, I mean I related to the things that we have to deal with um related to um you know doc helping able-bodied pe people either document what they're doing to meet the 80 hours per month or the second part of it is connecting them to opportunities if they're if they don't have the 80 hours and the issue of the nonabble-bodied people making sure that they can document how they are not able-bodied. Um, and then also the issue of six month needing to re-up every six months and so how we how we are doing that. Could you tell us what is going on right now within our community? Uh what are the strategies about all of those things? Who who is working together in what way? What are the what what are

we doing whether it's technology or people? Could you tell us more about what is happening to meet these challenges?

Yes, absolutely. So um I am on a group with um Duke um Lincoln Community Health Center um public health um and we are working in El Centro. We are working on um different outreach um to be able to go out into the community and train people and give them that education. So we're going to be going out to El Centro to educate their um community outreach workers so they can deliver that message. I'm also working this group we're going to be putting on a fair in mid November. We have been trying to wait for some guidance on what exactly that will look like, but we're running out of time. So, we're going to do um a community fair to bring everyone together that can do volunteer hours that can provide them um so that we can say, "Look, this is coming. Hopefully, by the time we do it in mid- November, we will have more guidance so we can say exactly what is going to be needed, what you have to make sure you're giving to the people who are coming in for these volunteer hours or work requirement. And then we're going to open it up to the community. So, we're going to continue to push out the information as much as possible in all different sorts of mediums um to help with the reertification and having the right paperwork. That's another reason that we're going to be working with public health and giving them a position located on their side to also help u make sure that people have that information, but it's education, education, education. So, we just have to get it out there. And so, we've been working with different partners. Um uh ext uh the cooperative extension, we're going to start working with them. we're on different groups to make sure we're educating people as much as possible to get that out there and then we're going to push it out um you know in all forms of media so that we can get it out there. Um because that's going to be the key especially is making sure people know one you have to reertify in six months two what you have to bring to be able to do that but also making sure that our our website so it'll be on ours I think public health um the deputy has offered to have it on theirs linking community of where can you go to volunteer what is this going to look

like so as soon as we get those volunteer um agencies together and they're saying yes you can send them to us we'll help you we'll do the paperwork help them with the paperwork we'll be able to put that on our site so that we can continuously make sure people have access to that and that it's kept up.

Is are you working at all with the nonprofit volunteer and leadership center on that?

Yeah, we're going to be Yes. Yeah. for our November event.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Yeah. And one quick followup about because it's volunteer work trainings like what are we and I asked this question when um Congresswoman Fushi came about are there organizations that you're working with now who can provide these trainings workforce trainings and how we're going to do that um when this really gets going. So

yeah, that's what we're trying to figure out right now. there the state hasn't we haven't we don't have a list we got to kind of build it so we're trying to um Duke had just put on one a few months ago so we're going to go back through their list but yes we have to continuously push that out to the community to see who's available to do that so absolutely Commissioner Burton that's a good point you're welcome

and with that we're going to get back a little bit more to the budget focus on some other key revenues thematically what we've tried to do here is show to some stresses on some departments and intergovernmental revenue we get through the federal and state and losses in those revenues or increase in cost related to administration of certain HB1 bills if we're not going to give it the the name that Maggie refuses to say. And now I'm going to talk to you about two more revenues. I'm going to give you an indication of two more revenues that are variable that are causing some stress for the county. And we're going to first look at sales tax revenue. Sales tax revenue is our second biggest revenue source behind property tax. It's much more economically volatile. It's not

been volatile in the past, but what I want you to look at, this graph shows you what has happened. And the big blue bars are what we budgeted as new money coming in. That's new money without a tax rate increase from sales tax growth the previous year. What you notice is from 2122 through 23 24 you're seeing big blue bars with lots of new money on top of property tax growth. What you notice from 24 25 to 26 27 are much smaller blue bars new growth. We have stagnating growth in sales tax revenue. In fact we went down in 2425. If you look at that orange line those are actual sales tax collections. So in 2324 we collected 128 million. Then we went down and only collected $120 million. It's largely due to refunds. And then we bounced back up to finally ending 2526 at 128. But we're climbing out of a hole. We really haven't increased. We just finally got back to where we were in 2324. For 2627 we have $133 million budgeted, but we haven't collected a month of it yet. It's too close. Too early to call. We haven't collected a month, so I don't know where we're going to be. But I can tell you the more we spend on gas and the more we spend on food, the less sales tax, the less available dollars to collect sales tax on in Durham County. And those two things have skyrocketed. So there's no without a month in front of me yet, there's I have no confidence that we're going to suddenly blow past our budget number in a positive way. Yes, sir. Chair.

Okay. 2425 that dip. There was a dip. You said lot for refunds. What

refunds? We have a huge nonprofit community in Durham, Duke University, Duke Hospital, NCCU, but it's largely Duke's. It's got Duke's name on it that runs the show here. And for whatever reason, the Department of Revenue attached a tremendous amount of money. We have they don't have to pay sales tax. They pay it up front and then they

get refunded back. And those refunds that are given back from the state to those nonprofits are variable. And 2425 saw a huge refund, like a fifth refund amount that year when we normally do four major refunds.

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

It's a mysterious black box that we spend a lot of time trying to figure out. David does. Yes. To the tune of five or six million three or four times a year. That's what the refund amount is. And there was another one.

Apologies. the the refunds primarily to Duke is the largest nonprofit entity in the county. They have refunds for their Duke Health and Duke um I don't I don't remember if it's a medical services, but those are four refunds during the year that are sometimes in the five or $6 million each. And what that essentially does is whatever you were going to net that month, say you were going to net 25 million in article 39, you're only going to net now 20 million because that refund comes off what you would have gotten that month. And those are always done six to eight months later. So it's it's un it's fairly hard to project when they're coming in and how they will affect each month. And if I may be so bold, it's an arcane way that the North Carolina does it. Many other states have like you have a credit card and if you're a nonprofit, you never pay the sales tax in the first place. So you don't have this, oh my gosh, there's a refund, wild refund amount that my office was not aware of and was had not planned for because they never pay it in the first place. Problem with North Carolina is these entities pay it and then the refunds they're refunded back and they have 18 months to request these refunds back. So it can it's not directly one to one to the month that the charge was made and then the refund goes back. It's a complicated issue but it's largely what's driving there. All I really wanted to show was the flatness of sales tax growth over the last three years. That's our second biggest revenue source and it's not collecting more

revenue in a way that we would like to see each one of those years.

I I will say one thing. Um the good thing is that we've grown. We're just now stable. So if you look at 2021, we were at 97 million. Now we at 133 million. So the growth has been exponential. It's just that we just can't plan for that margin to shift. And I'm with Keith. Think about your own self when you fill up the gas tank. I have a teenager now who has to do that. and he was he has a different way of doing things. Um he lets mom now do it, but um you have less disposable income. So you're not going out and buying that extra thing, that new shirt or going to the mall. And so it's real. So as we plan for budgeting the rest of year, we're going to plan for a lower potentially. We're hopeful. We're optimistic. We also follow the data and the data is showing in inflationary areas gas is higher, milk is higher, all of those staple items are higher. So individuals have less available for those kind of disposable type purchases.

Yeah, I'm glad you pointed that out, manager Hager, because our sales tax revenue on the whole has increased. we'd be in really big trouble if we actually went down. Um, but I think you're pointing out this is we're part of macroeconomic trends that are going on with the the war with Iran and the straight of Hormuz. You know, the all of these retaliatory tariffs on items, what's happening to the labor force with the, you know, war on immigrants, um, all of that. Um, I just wanted to raise the issue just to highlight that one of

the reasons that we did an inner city trip to Grand Rapids is because they have um we have to look at ways, creative ways to raise our sales tax revenue and also our occupancy tax revenue. And that is what Durham Next is supposed to help us with. And what we saw also, we were trying to learn from what they've done in Grand Rapids because they've been very uh creative at working at complex multiple creative approaches to build some big infrastructure uh pro projects in their community that bring in additional sales tax revenue that support their local businesses and you know their restaurants, their hotels and um also create more revenue. And because the fact is in Durham, we have not had a major infrastructure investment in this area since 2008. DPAC and the Bull Stadium were built in 2008. We're talking almost 20 years. And so I'm really excited about some of the studies that we're actually doing right now. for instance, one on Durham County Stadium. Uh how do how do we leverage some of our existing um resources and what are some other new things? You know, we got the Dur Durham Museum of History. So, I just want to point that out that this is the sales tax revenue is an opportunity also for us to try to address.

Thank you, Commissioner Jacobs. One last thing on sales tax. This is a look at article 39 sales tax. That is the one that is charged when you buy something in Durham County, you pay 1% of your sales tax comes directly to Durham County because it was bought in the

county. What I want you to note here is it's just a reiteration of what I've been saying. If you look at the years, the five years starting from 201617 to 2021, you see growth of $9 million. If you look at the years 2122 through 2526, even though it's higher numbers, you only see $4 million of growth over another 5year period. We are continue to grow, but we are growing at a slower pace. While we're also losing intergovernmental revenues, while our expenditure costs are also increasing, our second biggest revenue is growing but slower than it was, which puts pressure on other revenue sources to make up the difference if we want to continue to grow at the pace we are used to on the expenditure side and support the many services that we do. All right. The other revenue source that I wanted to show you and I spoke of earlier is the state hold harmless funds. These are funds that come from uh historically the county had its article 44 sales tax taken away 15 plus years ago because the state took over paying Medicaid costs, county related Medicaid costs. And if you look at that green line, that is the amount of article 44 money that the state has collected over time that from Durham County sales that supports Medicaid costs or offsets Medicaid costs related to Durham County. those Medicaid costs related to Durham County are the blue line of the two lines you see on the top left hand portion of your screen. The difference between those two, as long as the green line is higher than the blue line, that's revenue coming into the county. And that revenue growth is shown in the bottom graph, that blue line. Look how quickly it went from $700,000 in 1516 to $12 million in revenue to the county in 2223. That's less than 10 years. $12 million is a cent and a half on the tax rate currently. That's real revenue coming into the county. That number is since 22 a high watermark of 2223. The amount of

revenue we get state where the article 44 sales taxes over the Medicaid cost has dropped from 12 million to in the into 2526 was 7.5 million. We budgeted before we knew the $7.5 million $9 million for 2627 as a as a state hold harmless. Clearly, we're not going to get that much. What is happening? Medicaid costs at the state level, at least for Durham County, are exploding. I don't know why. I don't have an answer for that. I just know they are. What I do know is that revenue source is now decreasing at a fast pace. And I have no indications that 2728 is going to be a banner year for less Medicaid related costs for the for the state related to Durham County. So I'm probably going to have to drop that number as a loss of revenue for the county of 2 million or more. That's just another pressure we have and I don't see a positive trend happening there. So we have to be aware of that and account for that. So we've talked about intergovernmental revenues. We've talked about slowing growth in sales tax revenue. We talked about the volatility and lowering amount of revenue from this. It's not great news, but it's something we have to face and begin to consider and I think that's what the manager's been talking about over the last couple years. We are going to talk about property tax. We'll talk about that in just a few minutes. 2728 budget. I want to give you before we talk about how we consider issues in 2728 given some of the news I just told you. Let's try to understand where the key amounts of our general fund budget go. That's where 95% of all Durham County activity happens in our general fund. It's a budget of $700 million. And if you look up there, you see that $263 million of that $700 million goes to education related services, DPS, DTCC, preK, and the Museum of Life and Science. 37% of the budget. Another 37% of the budget goes to personnel required and that includes the benefits cost of

nearly $50 million for 2,300 employees plus their salaries. So that's 70 some odd percent of our budget. 75% of our budget goes to two things, people and education. Then if you add debt service payments, which we have to pay on things we've already bought, that's another 8.5%. you're already at 83% of the entire $700 million budget is allocated before you've made a choice about anything. Then there's annual vehicles we have to replace, keep our ambulances up, our our um sheriff vehicles and things of that nature and some IEP, some contracts we have with private entities for tax payments and that sort. That's another $9.2 million. So 85% of our budget if you want to round up if expenses are allotted to those four things up above. Then the rest of our budget the six largest departments the operating budget for DSS public health sheriff EMS general services and our IS&T $74 million but it's only 10% of the budget. Then every other department included is $29 million or 5% of the budget. So, when you talk about rearranging the deck chairs on the county to try to find money or cut or save money in relation to the revenue issues we've just where are you going to make those choices? That that's a it's not a question for you to answer right now, but it is something to ponder. Believe me, David and I ponder it on a regular basis. Our office does.

Okay, this is an amazing slide. I

Well, thanks to David. This is this is an amazing side because it tell it just really like you say when a picture is a thousand words because when I think about like we're going to talk about the proposed constitutional amendment and you know the number flying around we've heard people been using 2% levy

would have a $21 million impact on Durham County. Where are we going to take that? Where are we going to find $21 million out of out of this?

I think the silence is its own answer. Uh

wait before before you go back sorry I had a question just to break it down more. Um would you be able to David provide us like the debt services payments of like splitting that also into the debt services payments that also go related to education versus other projects?

I'm fantastic you asked that question. We've already answered it in the budget document on the debt service on the capital financing page. If you'll look in that part of the budget documents, the other uh general funds, there's a a graph that shows won't have it here, but it is in the budget document that shows I think 70 80% of that debt is related to DPS and then a smaller part to DTC and a much smaller part to the Museum of Life and Science and then the small part to the county

and then the vehicles and IEP. So when you put economic development, those are the incentives that Can you separate those out to? Okay. Yeah,

we'll break those out

and also provide for us like for us when we're talking to residents and they ask us, they're like, well, you're giving, you know, this amount of money to these economic development incentives, but also if we can have like on the side of that of for that year, how much that project may have brought in revenue? Is there any way to

we will think through how do we show the return on investment on those kinds of things? I think it's It's um we continue to refine how we show where the money goes and each time we have this this

conversation we think about ways to make it better. So we'll go back think about that but also look at what are the returns on some of those investments that are on the chart. So even to the conversation that Commissioner Jacobs talked about. So when we invest in the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, it creates a level of economic development because you have tourism, you have, you know, there's a there's this whole economic cycle that is spun because of that. But then in other places, they may not generate dollars such as justice services, but it is a deterrent. Um we are helping um to ensure that individuals don't return to certain situations where there's high higher cost or in public health because they're getting preventive services is not on the back end costing more because they had um prenatal care. And so we have some work to do in that space and we have a lot of it but putting it together so we can tell that story is important. So we'll do that

on the on the quick answer to the 9.2 about 7.2 I believe is vehicles and two million is in the IEP and to manager's point and to your question it's a it's a almost nebulous thing to say how much these incentives brought back. I mean it's jobs it's then sales tax it's then other types of investment. So it becomes a really

well

complex economic development can probably come up with some stories. Yeah, we have those fiscal impact statements when we do the deals so we can pull those together.

And that's also helpful for us as commissioners for that storytelling piece when people want to understand like well why do you provide economic development incentives to try to paint the picture of like how it's creating jobs uh for residents. And then the last question I had, and this doesn't have to be like urgent or

anything, but I know we've had lots of conversations about like the when we brought in the public health nurses or DPS nurses into public health. wondering if there could be like a breakdown around the benefits um packages that we provide as county employees versus what DPS provides and has available for their employees because I know we've had that conversation about um we move those nurses over and other county employees with those benefits. Are there other areas that we've we've talked with you know DPS uh around general I see manager Hager looking from the side but like general services and other things of like is there actual cost-saving potential and like what is the pluses and minuses

we can definitely do that we can we'll we'll do a white paper on the cost but I would just highlight the fact that right now 37% of our budget is going to our own county funded employees. So the more people that we put on the county's dime, the less money that we're going to have. Like Keith says over and over again, personnel is our most expensive cost because of all the benefits and then you know when people retire. I mean, we can look at that, but I would be

Yeah. And I think what I'm asking for is to have that information to be able to look at it and say it definitively and know it definitively cuz like

yes, it will cost us obviously to have them on the county, but then also giving it directly to DPS like then we also lose that per percentage almost 20% to charters. And so where is there that balancing act of like is there a way for us to equalize that? Um does it overall like get more money to DPS by remaining internal to the county? That type of thing.

But we've also been asking DPS to try to

reduce the locally funded positions because there have been an over reliance on that. So that's another part of it is is making sure that we have as many positions that are funded through the state just because we can't afford it all locally funded positions. So I I it's great to raise the issue, but I just wanted to make sure we're looking at the big picture when we do that. Well, we'll we'll document um sort of what we do compared to um Durham public schools. We philosophically have different approaches because of affordability on some areas. Whereas we contract out and they have employees in certain areas um such as um some of the janitorial services we contract out 90% of ours just because we just couldn't afford it for the other way. So we'll pull that together and come back at a later time.

Yeah.

Yeah. because that's also and like not just for sorry the county but I know um we talked about this on inner city but

also for like parks and wreck from the city to be looking at um some of the general services and maintenance that they run for parks like that with the lawn service and maintenance that DPS has to run is there collaboration ways that like the city could also be stepping in but just like knowing what those costs are. Yeah,

I want to follow up on what you raised about the incentives. I think that's a really great um point. Um and this is again beyond what we're talking about here, but to uh vice chair Lam's point, I think there's also the the JD dig money that gets pulled in. We get funding from the state that coming into Durham County that would not be there. And then um you know first of all

they have to meet the basic requirements related to jobs and property um uh investment to get the incentive in the first place. that we know that but there is a broader view and I would really be interested in understanding better like the fact that we are now one of the top areas in the country for life sciences and biioarma it would be really interesting to go back and I know Andy's not here but going back I know from me sitting here for 14 years seeing how our investments Over time in certain are economic sectors like advanced manufacturing and biioarma and life sciences working with the biotech industry Durham Tech Durham public schools are have that we we've actually helped build that ecosystem through through the work that we've been doing. I think a lot of people don't understand that. Um and so um it didn't just fall out of the sky that Durham County um is now one of the top areas in this for life sciences. So I think us being able to explain that over showing over time our investments again with others in creating this ecosystem um to the point that Nova Nordisk would donate $6 million to Durham Tech for help us with a life science building and that we now have the Bulls Academy. All of that is a very complex ecosystem and um again I think telling that story more fully I think would be would be great.

Y

yeah I just had a question. I know Commissioner Jacobs you said about the 21 million. I just want you to explain

that a little bit more about how that works.

Yeah the on or Okay. We could talk about it when we I know you're going to get to it, but the North Carolina Housing Coalition, they on their web, they have a page about the impact of a 2% levy and they've done projections. They have a map and for each state, I mean each county, they have a I guess they've done some analysis of what that would be. And so for for Durham, it's um 21 million. And I think the North Carolina Center for Budget, the Judge and Tax Center, um I was trying to find it before a meeting. I couldn't. Um they've also done some projections as well, um as to what what what is the dollar amount. So that's where I got that information from.

We'll talk generically about this because there's a lot to say about this and there's a lot of unknowns about this amendment. I want to be clear and careful when we talk about loss of revenue. Any tax levy limit 2% 3% and there are nearly infinite number of possibilities there would not be a loss technically. It would be a loss from what you have historically done in terms of raising property tax rate. It would be slower growth because you would have a cap on how much more you could raise taxes. that the word loss there is weighted and it's not necessarily wrong. It's loss from what you might have done by choice but it's not necessarily a actual loss in property tax revenue. We we clear on that. I think that's a really important term. I'll stop there. But it's it is a powerful way of stating things. All right, we are going to get to property tax and we'll get to that constitutional amendment in real quick. Just want to talk about the budget

development process. We will continue to go undergo deep evaluation of the base budgets of departments during the um FY278 process. Allocations are always going to be evaluated for alignment with general statute quiet requirements. That's another word for yeah and local mandates. That's another word for mandates. Span of control and BOCC priorities. I will remind you that table I need y'all to remember 15% of our budget is in operating budgets for every department. Another 80 plus percent are in those areas. Can't always go to departments and say you need to make cuts continue your services EMS but make cuts to your operating budget and save the day that way. It can be done and we've done a little bit but just statistically it's not the same thing as the other 80% of the budget. operational assessments and benchmark services costs will occur. We're doing that now and continuing to approve that. Thank you, OE. Uh and we will always have contingency strategies to develop for potential shifts in federal, state, and local revenue streams of which we're probably going to have to develop as we have noted some of the changes in the revenue streams that are currently happening. departments will continue to refine their key performance indicators, not only to show better uh versions of the service they provide, but the pressures they're under with lack of revenue growth or expenditure cuts of some sort because performance depends on budgets and available dollars. Key performance indicators. The organizational organizational effectiveness department has worked with departments done a fantastic job and in-depth job to refine KPIs and to include those in the budget process. We have it as a separate document. We're continuing to update those and refine them through the process. And just a reminder, KPIs, those key performance indicators help measure the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and services, which is extremely important as you make hard decisions about where to put dollars that are most effectively and efficiently used. and they are one of several tools management uses and

departments will use to evaluate program and service effectiveness in a constrained budget environment. That's an important part of what KPIs do looking forward to 2728. It's a dark clouds out there. Revenue risk, loss of one-time funds, ARPA and some other things. sales tax stagnation. We showed uh statehold harmless volatility, lower fund balance appropriated as as a portion of our revenue just to make sure we have uh good fiscal stability even in uncertain times. And then the big highlighted one are federal and state policy and law changes that are affecting revenues and expenditures in many different areas. Expenditure pressures, DPS continuation funding, that's a big number. It's been a double-digit million dollar increases for Durham public schools for the last four or five years. PreK funding, there's a desire for the county to continue increasing funding until we get to universal prek. But other pressures include inflation and benefits growth and then there's always transit planning and an infinite number of other needs as we know. So those are just key pressures for 2728. In talking about property tax revenue, just want to remind the board that the last three years have seen three of the highest tax rate increases we have had in the last 35 years, 34 years. We have done that through need and choice. These are property tax rate increases that the board has voted on. It is what it is, but it's a it's it's an example of the pressures you all have felt for the need to find revenue from sources that aren't of other than growth in sales tax, other than growth in stateole harmless, other than growth in supportive state and federal revenue. In order to meet the needs as you all define them in Durham County, you have had to raise the property tax rate. three of the highest ones in the last 30

some odd years. How does that look? When we look at this graph, the blue amount of these bars is natural growth in property tax without a tax rate increase. So, let's look at the four years 2324 through 2627. Those blue amounts add up to 57.3 million in growth in property tax revenue without a tax rate increase. The board of county commissioners from hearing from Durham County voters and hearing from management has then raised taxes on top of that natural growth, thus the green part of those bars over the last four years of $91 million more. There are questions that need to be answered. Is that sustainable long-term? especially given the pressures we've just noted. Sales tax stagnation, intergovernmental revenue reductions, sa statehold harmless instability. There are places that have been identified for needs for continued county investment. Commissioner Jacobs talked of some. How can we support schools better in more efficient ways? But I just wanted to note before we talk about a constitutional amendment to limit sales tax growth, Durham County property tax growth, excuse me, thank you. Property tax growth. Durham County in the last four years has chosen to add $91 million in additional property tax revenue on top of natural growth through property tax rate increases

to address the needs of our community.

Address Absolutely. Absolutely. to address the needs of the community.

Keith, before you go though, I just want to because you said the last three years we've had the

the last three last four years I

Okay. Not because last year, if you look at that and you look at the other side, we we actually lowered our tax rate

dramatically last year from the I mean, yes, we went up a little bit from the revenue neutral rate, but we did lower the actual tax rate and go to the next slide. Okay, we um it was the previous three years were the highest. Last year was lower. We did 2.5%.

2.5 cents.

2.5 cent whereas the previous three years was higher. Okay. So, because you said the last three years, it's three out of four, but not last year.

Last year was higher. the as you have to look at it as a percent of the tax rate. A 2.5 cent tax rate increase on 55 cents is a 4.5% increase.

Whereas saying okay

it's just it's the denominator number we're using here. Yes, we had a lower tax rate but 2.5 cents is a higher tax rate increase of four and a half%

because you're on a lower

percent of increase. Okay. Percent of increase. Okay. Got it. Here's the key thing. I'm going to say this one more time because I I think it's natural growth in property tax increased $57 million in the last four years due to identified needs by elected officials and by citizens by proxy citizens. Another $91 million of property tax was added to that 57 million through property tax rate increases.

Okay. And then Keith, the comment you made about what a levy limit would look like, if we continue to have very little natural growth, then that's when a levy limit would actually be most difficult.

There are all sorts of ways to interpret a levy limit. We haven't we had low

natural growth in 2627 because we had a crazy revaluation year with appeals and laws and different things of that nature. Consistently Durham County over the last 10 plus years and David has this information. Our natural growth in our valuation has been anywhere between three and three and a half%. We hope to get back to that. That is a number that has been consistent year in and year out. So, I don't think we're going to have lower natural growth. A tax levy limit is a tax levy limit. I'll say it this way. We have been higher than 2% tax levy limit. That is a simple equation that you might be using. But let me emphasize in my discussions with the association of county commissioners, I've been privileged enough to be on a uh committee with them as they try to develop a consensus approval of things that they might request to the state legislature to consider if this amendment passes. That would be only one portion of a possible choice that the state ledgers legislature might make. There have been discussions about adding a growth rate for not just a limit of 2% but for population. We've got to take into account natural growth. There are a whole host of ways and we'll talk about that in just a second because it's nearly infinite. The re let me reiterate the the amendment only talks about limiting property tax growth. It doesn't say how that would happen. And that's part of the problem and part of what the NCACC and others are trying to figure out. So, it's hard for us to do analysis on whatifs when the whatifs would be.

In fact, the legislation, as I understand it, and Keith's on a committee that talks about this, but it doesn't even say natural, it doesn't even exempt natural growth from a potential levy limit because natural growth is something that's figured in every year. I know I'm not saying that that isn't

the way it's going to go, but the the amendment is so broad right now that there has to be some understanding of this and that's the committee that keeps working on

and that's part of the reason right now when we get to the slide we'll talk very high level where we we are waiting for additional guidance. Um but any scenario that limits our ability to um raise the dollars through the property tax rate increase to meet mandated services or community priorities just becomes a tough proposition in a in our for our community and a growing community. Real quick just for the you understand the upcoming FY2728 timeline for the budget process. This is not anything unusual. This is sort of the normal process. January February we will have department budget input. February we have our BOCC generally have our BOCC annual budget retreat. Uh we open up the process in the portal. We open up the process to departments in March. We also open up a portal for citizen comment in February. By the end of March, we will have advanced public comments at a BOCC meeting in early May. The manager will recommend her budget. And then in midMay and June, you will again have discussions about the budget and hopefully have approval in early June. Now, on to the state constitutional amendments. We really want to focus on one, which is the property tax amendment. I don't even want to get into the income tax for citizens or anything of that nature because that's a downstream effect potentially on state dollars to counties. What is the constitutional amendment around property tax say? It according to the state legislation, it would be a for or against a constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments. That is a wildly open-ended statement. As David noted, it could be a valuation limit because it

could be a tax levy limit. It could be a property tax rate increase limit. It could be some derivation of all of those things. Who knows? And that's part of the problem. I think that the manager is trying to say before we get into specific examples, we need to see and h gather more information about what may be possible and what what the state legislature is actually considering because there are nearly infinite ways this could be interpreted, which is why you probably will all be lobbyed by the NCAACC once they get a coherent set of guidelines for them to push that as 100 counties. I would like to remind you all just so you understand the potential scope of this because I'm not sure the state legislators do. There's 100 counties. There's over 500 municipalities in North Carolina. But there are 1,200 special taxing districts in North Carolina that could potentially directly be affected by that. What's a special taxing district? A volunteer fire department. Now, you're a small volunteer fire department. you need to buy a $300,000 truck and you are dependent on the property tax rate increase for that fire district. Sometimes you have to go up three and four cents to pay the debt service or to buy the buy the um truck outright. It's very possible depending on choices made here that that special district will not be able to ever raise the levy doesn't matter property tax rate whatever it is enough to handle some of the purchases that they need to do. So 1,200 special taxing districts throughout North Carolina. And how many do we have? How many fire districts do we have?

Five.

Five. We have a special tax district for RTP. It's a different district, but it does a different thing. We have the Durham, the city of Durham has a downtown specific taxing district. All of those could be affected in ways that none of us quite know until we know the laws. But the compounding effect of that could be tremendous. This amendment is currently written does

not specify the manner of property tax rate increases. The actual impact will depend entirely on legislation that has yet to be drafted. So the range of possibilities remains extremely broad. If a levy limited is enacted, it would how it would affect funding for mandated services, schools, public safety, and all of those other things would depend on where the legislature sets the limit obviously and how they set the limit. I think we just read in the newspaper a few days back last week that Senate President Pro Tim Phil Berger or soon to be ex um proim uh announced the creation of a new Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform on September the 17th. The information I've had latest, there's talk about potential discussion at the state level sometime in December or January. It matters when they start and when they when they may or may not start, but these are conversations to be had with Kevin Leonard at the association of county commissioners, and we continue to await future guidance. With that, I will stop and let you if there are questions or clarifications I can give. All right. There was plenty of discussion during um you want to go ahead. Uh Commissioner,

thank you so much, Keith. I'm so glad that you are serving on this statewide commission. That is fantastic.

Well, it's David as well and our office in general.

Okay. Both of you. Even better.

Even better. Thank you.

Even better. So I know that you have a wealth of knowledge um to share um with colleagues at the state level. So I'm that makes me feel so much better that you were both there. Um this whole issue was raised because it is the it the impact of rising property

taxes is a real thing. It is it is a real thing that is impacting people in our community and the reasons for why it is happening are very complex. We know because we've done the work in Durham that we know it's coming from things like less intergovernmental revenue, less state and federal money coming into our counties, less funding for schools because of other vouchers and charter schools and less lottery funds. So we know that it's coming from the burden to take care of people being put more and more on us. But we have a solution to the actual issue. The property tax amendment we know from the research that's been done that it will not benefit it the people who are suffering from higher property taxes who are on fixed income or low incomes. We know from the research that's been been done, it's going to benefit the highest wage earners and it doesn't get to the root of the issue. So, I hope you will bring share best practices on the committee with a real solution, which is our lowincome homeowner relief program in Durham County that does provide property tax relief to people. And of course, you know, the state programs we know need to be changed um that KR has talked about a lot. Um those are the real solutions, not this amendment. So anyway, I hope you'll share what we've done in Durham about because we do need to push out real solutions and we have a model that works in Durham. Um so

yes I that

this committee and the association are very well well aware of exemptions and are strongly encouraging probably will be strongly encouraging that is one of a possible menu of solutions that the state can take to meet the mandate without damaging counties too much. That example is great. David thought up one of his own. We can talk to you off to the side that I thought was really good. But to your point, it is an incomebased solution, which is the issue rather than trying to mess with how the counties and municipalities and special tax districts collect property tax. one point you said property tax rate increases have been significant for a whole host of reasons but in the little bit of research that David and I have done it is largely over the last four or five years that the valuation of houses has not houses of property has exploded it is not the fault of Durham County that a house that was valued at $200,000 five years ago is now 200% more at 600,000 or 400 000 that valuation increase in across the state. In fact, we looked in 2526, there were 11 counties that did a reval where the revaluation growth was over 70%. Never seen that in the history of previous revals. Now, we only went back 5 years, but I can almost promise you that if you went back historically, most revaluations across the state, even in urban fast growing areas, even with 8-year spans, did not hit 70% revaluation growth. Durham counties was 61 some odd percent, I think, if I'm looking at QR. So, we weren't even in the tops. Some of those were uh counties out on the coast, as you might imagine. Some of them were some urban counties, some of them were some more rural. So that revaluation growth is what caused people on fixed incomes to lose their mind because they could not simply believe that their house, for example,

went from this price to that price. Now, many counties on top of that may have raised property taxes on top of that rebal increase, but that property tax rate increase did not equal the same as an increase due to your valuation of your house going up 100%. The tax rate may have gone down 60%. But if your house went up 100%, then you're going to pay a higher property tax bill even at a revenue neutral rate. And that happened all over the state. And to be honest, none of that will change with any tax levy law that the state would put in because it would the revaluation would still happen and potentially a house may go up 100% again and even if you go to a revenue neutral rate, they'll still pay a higher tax bill. So to your point, there needs to be a lot of education and needs to be a wellthoughtout process. To throw a little bit of cold water on that, having a discussion I had with Kevin Leonard at the association because I had an impassion to Keith Lane type of discussion with this group. He said, "I hear you, Keith, and you're not wrong." But he said, "I fear," and this is off the record. This is just me trying

Well, this is paraphrasing, just saying that he there is some concern that com that there is a strong push in certain parts of the legislature to want to make changes regardless. and that is that is what it is. So, we're hoping that we his part of his job with this group is to put some wellthoughtout proposals. We'll see if they're heard and cons thoughtfully considered.

Thank you, commissioners, for um this conversation. We shall see how our voters um decide in November. I think we've done a good job to outline how our dollars pay for the priorities. And over the past

20 years, we've pretty much needed additional dollars beyond natural growth to support our growing community. And so, um, we will come back to you in upcoming conversations. As I mentioned, there there does need to be a a conversation about some of the federal changes that have um transpired and um there were changes to the uniform grant guidelines that were supposed to be effective October 1, but it's been pushed out at least until I think December. And um so we're hoping that more relief can occur. Those are some pretty significant adjustments. And so, um, we will have the attorney's office and, um, John Kefir in his area as well as Christian Finance, um, share in upcoming months about what that means because it will shift how we do business if it comes to fruition the way it's outlined now. So, thank you so much. Thanks to Keith and David for all they do. Um we all were yesterday working throughout the day and refining um what we presented and it's a delicate balance especially when you don't have clarity on what the rules are and um we're doing our best effort and we'll continue to refine our storytelling and um board members if you have questions just let us know. All right. Thank you. And I just look forward to the day when you Keith, you provide a presentation that doesn't have that storm cloud on there. I just I remember seeing that when I was on the school board.

Yeah.

Every year. So, I just hope one day, one day while I'm still involved, we get to see like a sunlight some like a rainbow or something,

you know? just something.

Be careful what you wish for because Keith will just show up with a gif of a of a rainbow in his presentations next.

Even Even when the next budget director shows up, I'll probably show up as a citizen with a rain cloud. Just remind

his bow tie and vest.

Thank you all. Thank you all. That is the last thing that was on our agenda today. It is a work session. We don't need a vote to uh adjourn. So, I will call us adjourned. Thank you all very much. It is 133.