BC 2014 05 19 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 19, 2014 (Regular Meeting) Page 2033 this is very difficult to measure without historical numbers to compare. Although our current year experience does not appear to meet the revenue volume projected for FY2014, using projections from the State and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) we expect the economy and the sales tax revenues to grow 3 percent for FY 2015. 2. FY 2014 one -time budgeted revenues related to lottery funds, the Tax and Tag Together program for the Division of Motor Vehicles revenues, and debt proceeds totaling $7.8 million are excluded from the FY 2015 budget. This creates most of the net decrease of revenues for FY 2015, which is 1.77 percent. 3. During the Board's Retreat in January of this year, Professor John Chesser shared current trends and projections of expected growth in our County and throughout the metropolitan region. He magnified the importance of preparing for the impact of this growth and the resulting increase in need for public services, especially for the growing aging population. 4. Cabarrus County is experiencing an increase in residential, commercial and industrial growth and over the past year, this has resulted in increased activity in our Register of Deeds and Planning and Development departments. This supports Professor Chesser's theory of continued growth in construction and population during upcoming years. Certainly the recent sale of the Philip Morris site and the recent announcement of multiple industrial distribution /logistics buildings (shells) bode well for the economy of Cabarrus County and its future. We eagerly anticipate the growth and employment opportunities that these projects will bring to our county. 5. Cabarrus County's current unemployment rate is 5.8 percent. This decrease is very encouraging; however, we will need to continue to create more economic and employment opportunities for our citizens. To do this, our economic and workforce development efforts must continue to market our County, assist existing businesses and industries to grow, train our workforce, and remain flexible enough to adjust to the ever - changing needs of the market. Our community can only achieve this through the combined efforts of our local governments, public /private school systems, and our community college system. 6. The financial impact of Federal health care and State Medicaid reform is unknown at this time. Increased eligibility in both programs has the potential to strain already maximized workloads and service levels within our Human Services department and the Cabarrus Health Alliance. The implementation of the NC Fast and NC Tracks systems by the State have resulted in loss of efficiencies in our local human services operations. Our Department of Human Services is evaluating workloads and work flow in an effort to improve our efficiency and ability to provide services in a timely manner. 7. Operational and Capital needs of the Cabarrus County Schools, Kannapolis City Schools, and the Rowan Cabarrus Community College have continued to grow. As we move forward with future budget discussions, the County will need to establish a comprehensive funding approach that will have to balance the needs and time constraints of the school systems and the ability of the County to fund in an appropriate manner. 8. The Governor has outlined a proposal that will give new school teachers a base salary increase to $33,000 in FY15 and a second increase to move their base salary $35,000 in FY16. In addition, all remaining teachers will receive a 1 percent salary increase. The fiscal impact of this proposal on our locally funded positions is included in the proposed FY15 budget. 9. As the economy continues to improve and service expectations of our citizens continue to grow, we must continue to maintain competitive salaries and benefits of our employees to avoid