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The departments of Social
Services and Public Health may
be consolidating.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth County com
missioners plan to vote on
authorizing staff to explore
consolidating the depart
ments of Social Services
and Public Health.
Commissioners are tenta
tively set to vote on this
issue on March 15.
Last year, the county
hired Cansler
Collaborative Resources to
do a study on consolidating
the two departments, which
mainly involves who runs
tnem. Alter a presentation
by the firm’s founder, for
mer N.C. Health Secretary
Lanier Canslef, during the
county’s Winter Work
Session on Thurs., Feb 22,
the commissioners decided
that they’ll vote next month
on authorizing staff to fig
ure out how consolidation
would work in Forsyth
County. The vote does not
mean they will consolidate;
only that staff is exploring
the option.
Currently, the two
departments have their
own boards, which hire
those department’s direc
tors. Consolidation would
put commissioners and the
county manager more
directly in charge of them.
Cansler said this is an
option they might want to
consider since a new state
Witherspoon
law will hold counties
directly responsible for
their Department of Social
Services (DSS). Each
county will have a contract
with standards and goals
for its DSS. If it falls short,
there will be corrective
action plans. If that doesn't
work, the state may tem
porarily take over the
department. The county
will have to pay the state
back for the benefits
received by anyone who is
enrolled in Medicaid that’s
Photo by Todd Luck
Former N.C. Health Secretary Lanier Cansler
makes a presentation to Forsyth County commis
sioners.
not eligible.
“How do you avoid
potential takeover, poten
tial loss of funds, etc?”
asked Cansler.
He said consolidation
would mean the county
would have the power to
fire a DSS director who is
mismanaging the agency.
The existing DSS board,
which already has two
commissioners on it, actu
ally did fire DSS Director
Debra Donahue last month
for what it said was mis
management. Cansler also
said there may be greater
efficiency in services from
consolidation.
The Cansler study said
that combining the boards
of the two departments into
one Human Services board
would be the best option.
The department would be
headed by a Human
Services Director, which
the county manager would
hire with the board’s advice
and consent. The State
Human Resources Act
would be optional, so
Human Services employ
ees could be under the
same policies as other
county employees instead.
County Commissioner
Chair Dave Plyler, who is
on the DSS board, said
he’d support consolidation
if it can make the service
Martin
better for clients of both
departments.
Commissioner Gloria
Whisenhunt, who is on the
Public Health board, said
she thought it made sense
because they’re on the
same campus.
Commissioner Ted Kaplan
said he supported it as did
Don Martin who thought it
would help clients, mini
mize risk to the county and
simplify personnel policy.
“We’ve been looking at
this issue of consolidation
for some tune,” said
Martin. “I kind of look at
things, ‘What’s the worst
thing that can happen?
What’s the biggest down
side?’ and quiet frankly I
don’t see one.”
Commissioner Richard
Linville wasn’t ready to
approve consolidation but
did support having staff
explore the option.
Commissioner Fleming El
Amin, who chairs the DSS
board, said he also wasn’t
sold on the concept, but
was okay with exploring it
il> IUU5 tw 11 IUV1UUVU VTilCU
it takes for DSS and Public
Health staff to meet new
state standards.
Commissioner Everette
Witherspoon was the only
hard “no” to consolidation,
saying he was cynical of
Cansler and felt that con
solidation won’t solve the
issues at DSS.
“It sounds good politi
cally, but the problems at
DSS are the under funding
and staffing of DSS,” said
Witherspoon.
Commissioners talk taxes, turnover and debt
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The consequences of tax reform, a
county sales tax, employee turnover and
enhancing Safe on Seven were some of the
topics discussed during a Winter Work
Session held by Forsyth County commis
sioners last week.
The effects of tax reform
“Tax reform is not our friend.”
That’s how Forsyth Comity Chief
Financial Officer Paul Fulton began his
presentation on the effects of tax reform
on the county’s debt. Tax reform, passed
by Congress last year, lowers the corpo
rate tax rate and eliminated the corporate
Alternative Minimum Tax, both of which
lowers the demand by corporations for
tax-exempt municipal bonds, like what the
county uses for bond referendums and
capital projects like the new court house.
In addition, the Federal Reserve has
announced that there will be numerous
rate hikes in the next two years. This will
make the borrowing rates go up, so the
county will pay more for its future bor
rowing.
A county sales tax?
Budget Director Kyle Wolf told com
missioners about Article 46, a state statute
that gives counties the ability to charge a
one-fourth of a cent sales tax. This would
have to be approved in a voter referendum
on an even numbered year and would not
apply to groceries or gas. The county
could apply the money to whatever it
chooses.
Staff estimated the tax would bring in
$12.7 million with 33 percent or $3.3 mil
lion being generated by non-Forsyth
Wolf
County residents.
County Commissioner Don Martin
liked the idea, saying that new in-county
generated revenue could be used to lower
the property tax rate by 23 cent, which is
the same amount that taxes are scheduled
go up in the next budget to pay for court
facilities debt leveling. However, Commis
sioners Everette Witherspoon and Flaming
El-Amin called it a regressive tax that
would give property owners a break while
everyone paid more, including many
lower income people who don’t own hous
es. They didn’t believe residents would
vote for such a tax.
Martin said some of the $3.3 million
could be used for teacher pay incentives.
He believed voters would approve it
because polls show voters are willing, to
support taxes that raise teacher pay.
Commissioner Chair Dave Plyler was
the only commissioner who also said he
thought it was a good idea, so the commis
sioners decided to table the discussion and
move on.
Robinson
Why are county workers leaving?
Human Resources Director Shontell
Robinson told commissioners that the
turnover rate in the county remains higher
than its peers.
The county had a 18.45 percent
turnover rate last fiscal year compared
with the City of Winston-Salem’s 11.08
percent. Guilford and Mecklenburg have
about 10 percent and Wake has 11.92 per
cent.
The highest turnover for the county is
in Emergency Services, where it’s 24 per
cent with most of it coming from
Emergency Medical Services.
“The majority of them is from the
EMS division and they are losing a lot of
employees, not really for pay,” said
Robinson. “A lot of them will actually
leave for lower pay, but a lower workload,
in some of the other counties.”
The Sheriff’s Office had the second
highest turnover at 19.12 percent.
Robinson said that changes in pay and
work conditions at the Detention Center
has caused a 12 precent increase in work
satisfaction and 10 percent increase in
those planning to stay there. She also said
that the Sheriff’s Office is working to fill
vacancies in both patrol and detention
divisions, with 32 positions left to fill.
This is down from 78 vacancies in
February 2017.
The average pay of county workers is
$44,558.59 and includes health, basic life
and dental insurance as well as a 401k
contribution. Robinson said 17.24 percent
of employees are paid above their market
range.
She said they’ll be doing an employee
survey to try to determine why the
turnover rate is that high.
Safe on Seven enhancement
A study by county staff of court servic
es suggested changes to Safe on Seven, a
one-stop service center for domestic vio
lence victims, that was formerly housed
on the seventh floor of the Hall of Justice
and is now in the Behavioral Health Plaza
on Highland Avenue.
Staff looked at the national Family
Justice Center model being used in
Greensboro. It provides multiple services
for domestic violence victims, but also
features adult and child protective services
with full time staff. Family Services,
which is one of the partners in Safe on
Seven, is studying the model to see if it
should be adopted locally.
County staff recommended using a
combination of state and county dollars to
fund positions for Safe on Seven, includ
ing navigators to help victims navigate
services, and turning the coordinator into a
program manager position under the coun
ty
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