8
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2005
Town tries to get grasp on budget
BY JAKE POTTER
STAFF WRITER
The hazy components of Chapel
Hill’s impending budget became a
little clearer Monday after Finance
Director Kay Johnson fielded ques
tions from the town’s budget review
advisory committee.
Johnson responded to several
questions, submitted by committee
members after the group’s meeting
last Monday.
The committee is looking to
help the Chapel Hill Town Council
avoid a projected 9.6-cent property
tax increase.
Committee member Julie
Brenman raised concern about
low tax growth rates. The town’s
preliminary estimates assume a 1.5
percent property tax increase and 1
percent sales tax increase.
Johnson said constantly chang
ing factors, such as University
refunds from sales taxes on cam
pus construction projects, create a
challenge in determining final tax
rate recommendations.
“We will continue to look at
projections as we go along in the
budget,” she said.
Questions were raised about
THE Daily Crossword By Doug Peterson
ACROSS
1 Big Mac layer
6 Pueblo people
10 Stare stupidly
14 "My Own Private "
15 Black, to Blake
16 Angler's doodad
17 Jotted down
18 Skimpy skirt
19 Oscar role for Julia
20 Chow down
23 Parched
24 CIA forerunner
25 "Monsters "
26 Cruise the mall
28 Take a chill pill
32 Psychic's gift
35 Catchall category
37 Backwoods
38 Get into scoring posi
tion
framework
60 Room at the top
61 Top Norse god
62 Mickey and Mighty
63 No longer novel
64 Small fry
65 High point
66 Intrinsically
DOWN
1 Sonar echoes
2 Love
3 Steppes settler
4 City on the Nile
5 Luke’s Jedi mentor
6 Globe division
7 Final bios
8 Corn dish
9 Ab _ (from the begin
ning)
10 Singing group
11 Invisible emanation
12 Court document
41 111-humored
42 WWII riveter
43 Smoked salm
on
44 Asa group
46 Light on one's
feet
48 Broadway
background
49 Routing word
50 Windmill ele
ment
54 Flee from
police
58 Island near
Sumatra
59 Crisscross
and| a | s |hMg| a | t |e|sM a | d | d |s
0 1 Li E OMa NOD e|m I CE
1 P I A L I A
N T J3_E E_ S | ST A RlTt
lllal s l£°s sj_p||
A ill aj. c o n
i£ill£ A liil°Ji£A
E jN._N.Aßf__E_ z ß n I ECE
IliiiMS 12.1M111
M-L-k-L D AMBf!.A£AAA and
e r 1 a y o n n AAAI
W|A c sße L ¥Tn~ I Me AMS
o]n|e|sßs|e|n|dlsßt|r|e|k
(ka CAMPUS RECREATION UPDATE
ALWAYS COCA-COLA. ALWAYS CAROLINAII
; % |i unc s,udcm rßcrea,ion cemer
SIGN UP TO PLAY TODAY
VALENTINE’S DOUBLES :: 2 players * mil Uf
Event date: Feb. 14,4 PM jUU UIU A
WALLYBALL :: 4 players [Sign up: Feb. 7-15]
SWIM MEET:: individual & team relay January is done ...
[Sign up: Feb. 14-18} February has just begun.
$$ OFFICIALS WANTED $$ II d ° n 1 St ° P nO % continue
>INDOOR SOCCER Official's Clinic m pUrsU,ng your fltnesS 9 ° als
Feb 15th, 6pm, Woollen Gym 303
?'s: contact jgford@email unc edu
[open to UNC students only] pj ■ 1
— ■ check out our fitness resources at
Sign up In 203 Wootten :: 919.843.PtAY w* sic unc edit
CLIMB!’ 8 " I i||!l Join us for a day on the mountain!
Support ng Businesses
o nnn Baßisl CAR Spotswear - Camxxo. NC
Sign up m 203 Woollen Gym:; 919.962.4179 BaBU H.*srM Mount* rom-Bom. nc
AREA MUNICIPAL TAX RATE COMPARISON
A comparison of the county municipalities' tax rates, including fire services and the special city
schools district tax, as presented to the town of Chapel Hill's budget review advisory committee.
Orange - - SO.BBOO
Carrboro $0.2000 $0.7148 $1.7948
Chapel Hill $0.2000 $0.5750 $1.6550
Hillsborough - $0.6200 $1.5000
Note: The county-wide tax rate of SO.BBOO applies to all areas.
Cedar Grove $0.0730 Eno $0.0640 Orange Grove $0.0390
Chapel Hill $0.0200 Little River $0.0520 South Orange $0.0920
Damascus $0.0300 New Hope $0.0650 South Triangle $0,0300
Efland $0.0465 Orange Rural $0.0510 White Cross $0.0480
SOURCE:TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL
how the town’s transit system
would factor into the budget.
Transportation Director Mary
Lou Kuschatka said the town’s
marketing budget for the tran
sit system last year was about
$30,000.
Committee member Gene Pease
asked whether boosting that num
ber or creating low-cost fares could
13 Author Kesey
21 Sends packing
22 Requested but not yet
delivered
27 The Pope's jurisdiction
28 Enter under multiple
headings
29 Roberts U.
30 Burkina
31 Display muscle
32 Latin 101 verb
33 Knock senseless
34 Salon treatment
36 Earth-friendly prefix
B 6 7 8 9 , “Tjßß"ur" 11 12 13
_
Ta
■■ “U
U 25
Ig |■r^-
38 39 40 ”
“’"“■■p? Us
56 K/ '
58 ■■s9 K
m*. u k
~~T ——
News
DTH/MICHELLE FURLER
potentially help the town.
Another of Brenman’s concerns
centered on costs for Chapel Hill’s
public housing program.
Town Manager Cal Horton said
the program, which provides 337
housing units, will have a safe place
in the budget’s intricate equation.
“What we have forecasted for hous
ing is a balanced budget.”
(C)AKJb 1 noune Media services, inc.
All rights reserved.
39 Kodiak populace
40 Attack like a puppy
45 Mark of Cain
47 Actress Mimieux
49 Give tongue to
51 Sacred stand
52 Toe protectors
53 Host at a roast
54 Fanfare syllables
55 Enthusiastic
56 Stumble
57 Padlock's partner
58 lota
Johnson noted that the town’s
public works department provides
$125,000 for landscaping services
for the housing.
“We don’t have a single public
housing unit that I wouldn’t be
willing to live in,” Horton said.
Several commended the tax
base’s “healthy mix” among the
departments, as coined by council
member Bill Strom.
“The fact remains that whenever
there’s a tax here, no one shows up
to complain,” said committee mem
ber Aaron Nelson.
And that balancing act has not
gone unnoticed.
The Government Finance
Officers Association named
Johnson and the town as recipi
ents of its Distinguished Budget
Presentation Award on Friday for
last fiscal year’s budget.
It marks the seventh time the
town has taken home the award.
But, Nelson warned, the town
must find funds to counter the pro
jected tax increase this year.
“We either need to raise money
or to cut back on spending money,”
he said.
Cutting back on some expendi
tures might not be ideal for the town.
The town paid almost $1 million in
consulting fees in 2004, according
to a memo from Town Information
Officer Catherine Lazorko.
Fourteen of the 35 consultants
hired earned $15,000 or more for
their work. Included in that group
is MAXIMUS Inc., the firm hired
to assist the budget committee.
Johnson said the budget typically
does not include contingency funds
for unexpected consulting studies.
Budget discussions will resume
when the committee meets Feb. 24.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Fund to pave way to UNC system
Money will aid employees’ children
BY RACHEL BROCK
STAFF WRITER
Roberta Massey, a UNC house
keeper, never thought that her son
would become part of the commu
nity she serves everyday.
Although her son, Joshua, is
only 3 years old, Massey already
wonders how she will pay for his
college education.
But anew scholarship to provide
the children of UNC employees with
a shot at a college education might
put an end to Massey’s worries.
The Family Scholarship Fund,
established by employee Bruce
P°TpTTr€pT PITAS SALADS
(Bmi'lJl IIP VEGGIE OPTIONS
FrsK Tkinkinj, rUaJtky
OPEN LATE
919.933.4456 115 EL Franklin St
UNCW Cameron School of Business
k Vnml ill illTSft'flmnVrmmS
MASTER of SCIENCE in ACCOUNTANCY
At UNCW, our goal is to prepare leaders for the changing
business world. Our Master of Science in Accountancy
offers an intense, highly interactive, team-based program that
places students nationally in Big Four, national and regional
accounting firms as well as corporations.
Your MSA program can be completed in 10 months.
All undergraduate majors are accepted.
Applications are due April 1.
For more information, contact Kathy Erickson, assistant dean
of graduate studies, at 910-962-3903 or ericksonk(-;uncw.edu
UNCW is an E 1.0/A A institution
Confronting Genocide in Darfur
Seminar given by John Prendergast
of the International Crisis Group
Tuesday, February Bth8 th
7:30 PM
Caroll Hall, Room 111
For more information,
please call 843.4887
Co-sponsored by Great Decisions and
the Duke - UNC Rotary Center for
International Studies in peace & conflict resolution
Group to take 2nd
shot at allocations
BY KATHERINE EVANS
STAFF WRITER
After almost overextending
their budget, members of Student
Congress’ Finance Committee now
are trying to balance the equation.
The committee was forced to
temporarily cut funding for the
executive branch of student gov
ernment by $33,000 Sunday night
in order to avoid individual meet
ings with the 94 organizations that
receive funds.
The budget now is in limbo as
members of the committee plan to
create a more conservative baseline
and more defined priorities before
Budget Weekend in two weeks.
“It’s a fixable problem,” said
Natalie Russell, student body trea
surer. “There is plenty of money in
the annual budget. We can provide
every group with a limited but rea
sonable budget that will help them
fulfill their mission as a group.”
While officials said they will not
rework all of the allotments, any
cuts will correspond to priorities
outlined in the Student Code.
Top priority is gauged based on
the number of students involved in
a group, the necessity of a program
to the organization, the uniqueness
of a program to the student body
and the amount of outside funds
generated by the organization.
Student Congress leaders credit
the committee’s fund overextension
to long hours and lack of foresight.
Russell said the committee tradi
tionally gauges how much money to
allot to groups by maintaining a bal
ance as it processes requests.
However, this balance has been
knocked off kilter because 20
additional groups were eligible to
receive funding this year.
Egan, will award need-based
scholarships to children of UNC
faculty and staff members start
ing this year. Recipients can use
the money to attend any of the 16
schools in the UNC system or any
of the state’s community colleges.
“By doing this, we’re promot
ing education all across tbe state,”
said Egan, associate director for
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Information
Technology Response Center.
He said the program is unique
because students have a variety of
schools from which to choose. N.C.
State University has a similar pro
alip Daily (Ear 34M
“There were a bunch of large
requests at the end,” Russell said.
“It’s always harder to make cuts
the first day because the committee
wants to give all groups as much
money as they can.”
Committee chairwoman Daneen
Furr echoed Russell’s complaints,
noting that 30 hours of finance
meetings in one weekend make it
difficult to analyze the first group in
the same manner as the last group.
“Once we set a pattern with one
group, we wanted to do the same
for all the others,” Furr said. “We
were a little overzealous.”
Organizations expressed mixed
reactions to potential budget cuts.
The Carolina Athletiq
Association was allotted only
$521.29 almost $9,500 less than
its original proposal.
Treasurer Ginny Franks said that
if this amount is certified, the CAA
will not be able to raise the bar for
next year’s Homecoming concert.
Franks credited the allocation
problems to the changeover in
members of Congress and increased
organizational demands for funds.
Zach Howell, treasurer of the Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender-
Straight Alliance, said his group
receives only half of its budget from
Student Congress and is not too
concerned about budget shortfalls,
“I don’t think we have a lot of
room to complain,” he said. “None
of our projects will be cut.”
But Howell also said that
because of curtailed funds, the
group will pursue other sources of
funding, such as alumni develop
ment and grants.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
“Asa single parent
with two kids in
college, I have
struggled to keep
them there ”
TOMMY GRIFFIN, FORUM CHAIRMAN
gram, but students can only receive
funds to attend NCSU.
A $200,000 seed grant from
the Office of the Chancellor and
$4,000 in contributions from fac
ulty and staff members laid the
foundation for the fund.
Applicants will be evaluated on
the basis of need by UNC’s Office
of Scholarships and Student Aid. A
committee of two faculty and two
staff members then will allocate the
scholarship funds, which Egan said
should be at least $4,000 for the
program’s first class of students.
The fund not only will cover a stu
dent’s first year at the University but
also will reserve the scholarship for
the student’s future years in college.
Egan said the University’s com
mitment to the program is evident
in the funding that has flowed from
several comers of campus espe
cially because those who will ben
efit from the program are helping
to pay for it.
The program’s benefits are
twofold, Egan said, noting that
employees want to provide oppor
tunities for education at the same
time as they foster a deeper sense
of community.
Chairwoman of the Faculty
Judith Wegner said the program’s
creation demonstrates a University
wide commitment to education.
“The next generation has a
chance for the future,” she said. “A
scholarship can make a big differ
ence. I know that it did for me.”
Tommy Griffin, chairman of the
Employee Forum, said staff members
think the program is a great idea. “As
a single parent with two kids in col
lege, I have struggled to keep them
there,” he said. “In today’s world a
college education is not cheap.”
Peter Desaix, president of the
University Managers Association,
which aims to identify ways to rec
ognize UNC employees, said his
organization wholeheartedly sup
ports Egan’s efforts.
“We are all very excited with the
fact that Bruce has taken this initia
tive across the University,” he said.
Massey stressed that the fund
will allow parents to send their
children to college when they might
not have had that chance.
“The important thing is that
people who work on the lower level
understand the impact this could
have on their families,” she said.
Egan credited his colleagues for
making his vision come to fruition.
“It’s one thing to come up with
an idea and it’s another to roll up
you sleeves and make it happen,” he
said. “Because of their support this
dream is becoming a reality.”
Contact the University Editor
udesk@unc.edu.