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May 20, 2003 Page 133 Ms. Fearrington also reviewed the revenues and debt service for Cabarrus County. She commented on the reduction in revenues and the increase in debt service. There was discussion about the County's debt and the continued issuance of certificates of participation for financing construction of new schools. It was suggested that the Board may wish to look at general obligation bonds for future school construction as the bonds would be a less expensive method of financing and a bond referendum would help to gauge the public's support for construction projects. Information Technolo~], Systems Ms. Jean Kennedy, Director of Information Technology Systems (ITS), presented an overview of the ITS budgets, including Administration, Systems and Geographic Information Systems. She pointed out that expenditures for the County's local and long distance telephone service have been reallocated to ITS. There was discussion regarding the "phone trees" in some departments and concerns that employees are not answering the telephone when they are in the office. Mr. Day advised he would address this issue at the next staff meeting. General Services Mr. John Page, General Services Administrator, briefly reviewed the proposed budgets for General Services, including Grounds Maintenance, Administration, Street Signs, Building Maintenance, Facility Services and Fleet Maintenance. In addition, he reviewed the budgets for the Courts, including Administration, Building Maintenance and Facility Services. Mr. Page also presented a proposal to provide in-house cleaning services for the Arena and Events Center buildings. The estimated total cost for FY 2004 is $179,757.00 or $492.48 per day. This would be an increase of approximately $97,000.00 from the amount currently budgeted for FY 2004. Mr. Day and Mark Chappuis, General Manager of the Arena and Events Center, discussed problems with contracted cleaning services at the Arena. Mr. Day stated the issue is quality and pointed out the excellent level of service provided by General Service employees in other County facilities. The Board will consider the proposal for in-house cleaning services during a later work session. Recreation Mr. Steve Little, Parks and Recreation Director, reviewed the proposed budgets for Parks and Recreation, including Administration/Recreation, Athletic Division-Youth Basketball, Matching Incentives Grants ($50,000.00), Camp Spencer Park, Frank Liske Park and North Cabarrus Park. He reported the elimination of the paid gym supervisor positions for the youth basketball program and the implementation of a volunteer program to provide supervision during practice and games. Also, Mr. Little stated a background-screening program would be implemented to provide a background check on each volunteer with the youth programs. There was brief discussion regarding youth leagues and concerns regarding financial audits for those volunteer organizations. Librar~ Mr. Tom Dillard, Library Director, presented a brief overview of the budgets for the libraries in Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg and Mt. Pleasant. He explained the State Aid for Libraries and the required level of local funding. Also, Mr. Dillard stated additional space is needed for the Local History Room at the Concord Library and suggested the possibility of moving that room out of the Library to another downtown location. There was discussion regarding methods of collecting overdue fees, including the possibility of collecting food for a local food bank. Arena and Events Center Mr. Mark Chappuis, General Manager of the Arena and Events Center, presented the proposed budget for the Arena. He pointed out the general fund