Education Budget Advisory Committee
As part of the budget development process, two citizen-volunteer committees annually present recommendations to the Board. The Citizen's Capital Budget Advisory Committee (CCBAC) provides its recommendations on the capital projects requested for FY2008-2018. The chair of this committee is scheduled to present CCBAC's recommendations as part of the capital budget process later this summer.
The other committee is the Education Budget Advisory Committee (EBAC). EBAC is charged with providing a recommendation on the budget request of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Unlike previous years, the acting chair of this committee and active members have requested that EBAC be excused from making a recommendation this year. Instead, the members would like to offer the Board a proposal on how to revise and reconstitute this committee to provide more meaningful input to the Board.
To understand the basis for EBAC's request, it's useful to provide some background. First, over the past two years, membership interest in EBAC has waned considerably. For example, meeting quorums have not been achieved since last spring. Also, a significant portion of the committee members involved in EBAC deliberations over the past year have expressed concerns that the Committee is perceived as not being useful in the Board's decision making on CMS funding.
However, rather than resigning, the active EBAC members decided to develop a proposal to reinvent and reinvigorate the purpose and usefulness of a citizen-volunteer advisory committee on public school funding. Therefore, these members would like to present their proposal to the Board at a future workshop.
Given that EBAC is not prepared to provide recommendation to the Board on CMS funding, we have opted to defer a meeting between the Board and EBAC until after the FY08 budget is approved. If you have any questions about this matter, please contact Hyong Yi at
Hyong.Yi@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 704-336-6945.
Key Dates for the Budget Process
The following are key dates and events related to the Board's development and adoption of an operating budget for Fiscal Year 2008. In addition, the Board will receive the Recommended Capital Budget for FY2008 at the June 19 Board meeting.
May 22
3:00 – 5:00pm Public Policy Workshop – CMS and CPCC will be presenting their budget requests.
May 24
6:00pm Public Hearing – This is the public's opportunity to comment on the County Manager's Recommended Budget and/or make requests to the Board
May 29 – 31
5:00pm (Dinner)
5:30pm (Working Session) Budget Workshops – Board discussion about the budget. Straw voting on funding levels for services.
June 5
6:00pm Board Meeting – The budget is scheduled to be adopted on this date.
Health Department Receives Federal Grant
The Mecklenburg County Health Department is the recipient of federal grant funding of $2.85 million for Ryan White Part A. This is one of the largest single grants ever awarded to the Health Department.
Due to its status as the largest provider of HIV/AIDS services in the region, Mecklenburg County will administer the funding for a six-county region including Anson, Cabarrus, Union, Gaston and Mecklenburg in North Carolina, and York County in South Carolina.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) requires awardees of these funds to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to all qualified agencies that serve the targeted population and administer funds in accordance with their guidelines.
Currently $1,893,000 is available to be distributed to eligible providers throughout the six-county region through this RFP process. This funding is to be used for outpatient medical care, medical case management, transportation, medications, and other services for HIV/AIDS patients with no other means of payment. The remaining monies are designated for administrative costs, quality management (required by HRSA) and funding for continuation of programs and transitioning to Ryan White Part A.
Comprehensive information regarding the RFP process is available on the Health Department website at
www.meckhealth.org/ryanwhite.htm. The deadline for responding to the RFP is June 29. Notification of awards scheduled for July 30, 2007.
Two information sessions/bidders conferences have been scheduled for Monday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at the Hal Marshall Services Center and Tuesday, May 29 at 10 a.m. at the Mecklenburg County Health Department at 249 Billingsley Rd. Please encourage all interested parties to attend one of these meetings.
