1. Board of Commissioners (BOC)

TOWN OF PITTSBORO BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DECEMBER 6, 2023 BUDGET MEETING MINUTES PAGE 1 OF 2 Town of Pittsboro The Pittsboro Board of Commissioners met in Special Session on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 5:30pm in the meeting room at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center with Mayor Pro Tern Pamela Baldwin presiding . The meeting was called to order at 5:44pm. Elected Town Officials Present: Mayor Pro Tern Pamela Baldwin, Commissioners John Benitz, Jay Farrell, Kyle Shipp and James Vose. Elected Town Officials Absent: Mayor Cindy S. Perry. Town Staff Present: Town Manager Jonathan Franklin, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Engineering Kent Jackson, Police Chief Shorty Johnson, Finance Director Heather Meacham, Public Information Officer/Emergency Management Coordinator Colby Sawyer and Town Clerk Carrie Bailey. Introduction & General Overview of Agenda Finance Director Heather Meacham detailed the purpose of this budget scoping session and provided a brief overview of the concepts and considerations to be discussed by the Board and staff during this meeting. Budget Schedule for Fiscal Year 2023-24 Finance Director Heather Meacham reviewed the proposed budget schedule for the development of the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 annual budget for the Town. Meacham shared that today's meeting, serving as a budget scoping session, was designed for the Board to propose projects and initiatives for staff to program into the next fiscal year budget. Meacham referred to the budget schedule advising Capital Budget Request Forms and Operating & Maintenance Budget Request Forms would be delivered to Department Heads in January 2024 and due back to the Finance Director Meacham prior to February 2, 2024 . Meacham shared a Department Head Budget Retreat for staff will occur in March 2024, a Board of Commissioners Budget Retreat is scheduled on April 5, 2024, a public hearing will be scheduled for the consideration of the proposed annual budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget on May 13, 2024 with an anticipated budget adoption date during the regularly scheduled June 10, 2024 Board of Commissioners meeting. Discussion of New Budget Requests for Fiscal Year 2024-25 Town Manager Jonathan Franklin discussed staff budgeting priorities for the next fiscal year with the continued need for affordable housing reimbursements and incentives. Other items that were mentioned were streetscape, quaintness of downtown Pittsboro, concerns of sidewalk slope and tripping hazards downtown, including downtown steps are not to code and the slope is a concern especially from business of Screaming for Vintage past Virlie's. Facilities are another consideration including the police department, park bathrooms, park design, Town Hall, fire , public works and parks and recreation . Other items are salaries for police which are five 1  TOWN OF PITTSBORO BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS DECEMBER 6, 2023 BUDGET MEETING MINUTES PAGE 2 OF 2 thousand dollars short of where we need to be to be competitive, engineering staff salary, public works to provide livable wage, additional considerations of staffing needs after the fiscal year begins. Franklin recommended five and two tenths to five and three tenths percent (5.2%- 5.3%) cost of living allowance (COLA) organizational wide while moving toward a performance- based organization and recommends for the upcoming fiscal year of two percent (2%) merit. The Board shared the following items for consideration for the 2024-2025 budget year: Affordable housing needs, staffing and police salary increases for retention, 15/501 widening project funding, increased employee benefits, support for merit-based salary increases, north section fire station , Fire Department salary increases, bond rate, land acquisition resources set aside for land, leasing vehicles instead of purchasing, greenway and sidewalk connections, shuttle or trolley service, agenda management system , public communication such as newsletter, electronic signage, social media additions. Additional budget considerations are upsizing utility lines, study for police station additions for anticipated growth, ABC Store growth plans, customer service work order system, continued pedestrian connectivity and crosswalks improvements, staff training for racial equity, funding to allow minutes prior to 2018 included on website, continue funding for trees and application for Tree City USA, electrification of vehicle fleet, skate park and grapple truck. Adjournment Commissioner Shipp made a motion to adjourn at 7:01pm, seconded by Commissioner Vose. Vote: Aye-5 Nay-0 Motion passed unanimously. KyleShi~ Attest: 2