Tonight, as part of the capital budget process, the Citizen’s Capital Budget Advisory Committee, chaired by Michael Murdock, will be presenting its recommendations on the projects submitted this year.  Before he presents however, I want to personally thank the CCBAC members for their public service and hard work.  They have taken their charge seriously and spent many hours to provide a citizen’s perspective on capital needs for this community.

With that, Michael Murdock will present the CCBAC’s FY2009 report.  I will follow with my recommendation on the County’s FY2009 Capital Budget.

<Michael Murdock>

Chairman Roberts, members of the Board, distinguished guests, and Mecklenburg County residents…

I am pleased to present my recommended capital budget for FY2009.  I am proposing a capital budget totaling $704.6 million for 14 projects.  In terms of dollars, the majority of the budget is focused on addressing two needs: law enforcement facilities; and park and recreation needs.  These two areas comprise my recommendation for two bond referenda this November totaling $560 million.  In addition, my recommended CIP includes funding for government facilities, courts, libraries, Solid Waste, and WTVI.   

Consistent with the recommended operating budget, the recommended Capital Improvement Plan emphasizes public safety.  On this point, the CIP proposes to fund the construction of a new jail, and to fund the next phase of the 1999 Court Facilities master plan approved by the Board.  Based on the jail master plan, we now have greater clarity and specificity to recommend funding approximately $360 million to add approximately 1,600 jail beds that will serve our needs through 2020. We also need to perform renovations to the Civil Courts Building to relocate community corrections as a prelude to building additional space for the District Attorney Office.

I also am recommending the Board place on November’s ballot a bond referendum of $200 million for park and recreation facilities and land. This recommendation is consistent with the parks master plan recently approved by the Board. 

Other projects contained in the recommended CIP would be funded by Certificates of Participation or other non-voted financing methods.  In a moment, Hyong Yi will provide more details on these recommended projects, the proposed funding mechanism and comparisons to the CCBAC recommendations.

As Hyong will mention, there are numerous projects that were requested from various agencies that are not contained in my recommended CIP.  For most projects, the rationale is that funding is not needed until 2010, so these projects have been deferred.  In addition, I concur with the CCBAC that in the case of public libraries, we need to take a step back and re-evaluate the role of the physical library in our community. So, I have also included $350,000 in my recommendation to fund a capital planning process for libraries to develop a community consensus on this matter.  I also am recommending we defer funding for Central Piedmont Community College for one year.  This will allow CPCC to plan for a potential bond referendum for the November 2009 ballot with potential other education facilities. 

Before I turn it over to Hyong Yi, I’d like to express my thanks and appreciation again to all those who have worked extremely hard, under tight deadlines to produce this capital  budget.  They have done a tremendous job and their work is very much appreciated.

Now, madam chairman, I would ask that you recognize Hyong Yi to provide the Board and the public more details on the recommended budget.