Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Let us have an order, please. This is a special meeting for the purpose of adopting our annual county budget. But before we consider the primary budget ordinance adoption vote, I want to share that North Carolina General Assembly Section 14-234.3 prohibits public officials also who serve as directors or officers on governing boards, members of nonprofits, prohibit them from participating in making or administering any contract with those nonprofits. When the governing board considers a contract with a non-profit, including any award of money, commissioners involved in that non-profit must recuse themselves from any deliberation and record their recusal with the clerk. The recusal vote will excuse each recusing commissioner from deliberating and voting on appropriations and expenditures for non-profits with which a public official is a director, officer, or governing board member, as outlined in exhibit C of the budget ordinance. For contracts that fall within the purpose of budget ordinance adoptions vote, I would like to recuse myself and also our Vice Chairwoman Foster. for myself, for any funding consideration for the International Civil Rights Center Museum, and funding consideration for the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce, for Commissioner Foster, for any funding consideration for High Point and High Point Market Authority. Is there a motion and a second for the recuse of vote? Move approval. Second. Okay, it's been moved and properly seconded. Madam Clerk, I assume that's a recorded vote?

It does, yes, sir. And I have Commissioner Cook and Commissioner Murphy on our Zoom with us.

So they would vote also. So please cast your vote. Commissioner Murphy and Commissioner Cook, how do you vote?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

So that passes on the unanimous vote, thank you. I'd like to entertain a motion to adopt the budget ordinance including Exhibit C, items to be considered under separate votes. Commissioner Foster, would you read it?

Mr.

Chair, excluding the items on C. Excluding the items on Exhibit C, right. Read the budget ordinance according to what's been considered.

Since the presentation of the recommended budget on May 7th and the public hearing on June 4th, Senate Bill 889 was enacted into law. placing a moratorium on Guilford County's state mandated reappraisal. Accordingly, revisions to the budget were made to comply with the requirements of the new law while maintaining compliance with North Carolina General Statute 159. I move to adopt the fiscal year 2027 Guilford County budget along with related budget and capital project ordinances as amended to incorporate final board changes and related items including all related provisions as included in the county manager's recommended budget and revisions to the recommended budget to comply with Senate Bill 889 outlined in exhibit A, the following Board of Commissioners adjustments and revenue changes as outlined below and in exhibit B, Approve the allocation of $1,780,000 for community-based organizations for consideration and selection in a future 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting. Consider funding awards in the general fund for community-based organizations included in the county's base operating budget under Exhibit C under a separate vote to allow recusals pursuant to North Carolina general statute Section 14-234.3 and other applicable laws or policies. The Fiscal Year 2027 Guilford County Budget Ordinance, Exhibit D. The following project ordinances and grant ordinances as attached to the documents provided to the Clerk, set the general Guilford County tax rate for fiscal year 2027 at 78.95 cents per 100 of the assessed valuation. Set the fiscal year 2027 fire district, fire special district, fire protection district, and fire service district overlay tax rates at the rates included in the attached Guilford County budget ordinances. adopt the resolution to direct expenditure of opioid settlement funds, authorizing $164,406 in expenditures for opioid community engagement and task force coordinator, $100,000 in expenditures for naloxone distribution, $615,000 for medication assisted treatment at the Reverend Prince Edward Graves Residential Recovery Center $557,470 for long-term group live and recovery beds at Gibson Park. $636,000 for GC stop post overdose and response team and OUD clinic. $306,411 for EMS MAT induction program. $301,547 for community outreach and education. 91 000 for syringe service program 100 000 for nc survivors union harm reduction clinic and 25 000 for gc stop post overdose response team transportation exhibit e approve the cancellation of the opera contract for the summerfield water infrastructure project and allocate the unspent funding to the County Operating Expenses Project as a substitute project as defined by the previous reporting to United States Treasury. Approve fiscal year 2026 year-end budget transfers and amendments included in Exhibit F. Adopt a resolution designating certain general funds available in the fiscal year 2026 as committed fund balance for school capital funding and future debt service, totaling $47,273,000, Exhibit G, adopt a resolution to formalize a name change to the Health and Human Services Agency, and authorize staff to take all necessary action to update the name where it appears in Exhibit H. Is there, that's the motion.

That's the motion. Do I hear a second?

Second.

Alright, we're moving on property. Second discussion on emotion start here with Mr Grayhill. Any discussion?

thank you mr chairman as we navigate these unprecedented times i want to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to our county manager his team our budget staff and every county employee who has worked tirelessly throughout this process their professionalism adaptability and relentlessness work as we've navigated challenge after challenge deserve our appreciation I also want to acknowledge my fellow commissioners for the many long and difficult discussions as we work together to find the best path forward for the people of this county. Tonight, I am speaking for myself with these comments. The reality is this did not have to be this way. Last month, our county manager presented a recommended budget based on the reappraisal values that Guilford County was required by law to complete. That recommendation actually included an 11.5 cent tax decrease. Then the North Carolina General Assembly stepped in and changed the rules in the middle of the process, delaying those reappraisal values for a year. This law is not a solution. It is simply kicking the can down the road. Next year, we'll be right back here having many of these same conversations. We often hear that government works best when decisions are made closest to the people. Yet, when it came time for Guilford County to do the job we were elected to do, Raleigh decided that they knew better. And I want to be clear, the people playing politics here face tough primaries and have general elections coming in November and are already positioning for 2028 comebacks. They pushed for this to happen. They are kicking the can down the road at the expense of real people's lives. I hear their frustrations because I share them. We are all feeling the effects of record inflation every time we swipe our cards at the grocery store, we are feeling the effects of tariffs, and every time we put gas in our cars we're paying higher prices because of a war overseas. The county is not exempt from these pressures either. We too are absorbing rising costs on top of new unfunded mandates from the federal government, on top of continuing to stand in and try to fill the gaps where the General Assembly is failing to properly fund public education. These are unprecedented times, and they demand unprecedented levels of courage from every one of us tonight. I'll be honest, this has been the hardest vote I've faced since taking office, and this was not an easy choice. But it's the necessary choice with the hand that we were dealt. I did not decide how I would vote until this very morning. This did not have to be this way if the General Assembly had simply allowed us to do the job that we were elected to do. We would not be standing here tonight. In fact, we would have passed a budget last week because we know how to have hard conversations and work together to actually pass a budget. The people of Guilford County deserve leaders who put their lives ahead of elections, and tonight, that is exactly what we are trying to do. Thank you.

Raheel, Ms. Cash? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, I had thought that surely before I left this board there would be a budget that I would be happy about, but it hasn't happened. And again, this is another budget that I don't like. It's a bitter pill, but it's the hand that we've been handed.

Thank you to the staff.

for continuing to pivot with every turn and try to keep us informed and present to us just exactly what we needed to consider. And considering where we are and the options that we have, I'm going to support this budget but it is a bit of pill, and it's not something I want to do, but I will, because I think fiduciarily, really don't have another choice so we have to pay the county's bills and we have to do what we can to sustain education gtcc as well as our public schools and i think we made every effort toward that so thank you mr chairman

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to thank staff with their tireless efforts in developing multiple budget and multiple options for this board to consider and thank my fellow commissioners for including Pat and I as the two Republicans on the board in the discussions. But based on the tax increase that this budget brings, I will not be supporting it. There are things within this budget that I think are very important. Things like public safety. Supporting our public safety responders, including law enforcement, EMS, and our fire districts is vital to the safety and well-being of our community. Supporting our schools with their safety and security initiatives is a valuable asset that's important for the welfare of all of our students, you know, 70,000 give or take students that are in our school system. I think that's important. Our behavioral health programs and the work we're doing with our drug and recovery and mental health outreach, those are important things. But there's also some things I think within our budget we could have tightened our belts on and try to hold the line. I hear from many of my constituents that are in fear of losing their homes with tax increases, whether the revenue, whether the values stay the same or go up. In both categories, they're struggling, retirees, those on the fixed income, and others that have significant expenses going on in their lives at the, you know, what I'll say, in the fourth quarter of their life sometimes, where they don't have additional revenues coming in to cover those. And I think we have to be cognizant of the fact that tax burden is one of those that impacts their daily lives. And sometimes people say, you know, we got, give or take, a five cent increase. You know, it's not that big a deal. Well, for a lot of people, it is. It is a big deal. You know, $20 can make a difference sometimes in people's lives from month to month, whether they eat, get their medicine, et cetera. So based on these things, I think there's some areas we could look at, tighten our belt. We have mandated services, and we do some really good things that are not mandated. And just like in our personal lives, sometimes we have to make sacrifices, we have to make cuts, and I think we could have taken a harder look at that. But based on these things, and I do want to say that Senate Bill 889 didn't preclude this county from raising taxes. What it did do is remove the cloak and dagger of doing it under a reevaluation. And it asked for transparency to ensure that if this board wants to raise taxes, they do it. It's not a tax decrease, it's an increase. It may have decreased the tax rate, but if our citizens are paying more money, It's a tax increase. And based on all of these things and some others I won't get into, I'm not going to be supporting the budget. Thank you.

Tim, if you could hold one second. I forgot we had Ms. Murphy and Ms. Cook online. Ms. Murphy, you want to go next on comments?

Sure, that's fine. Thank you. Can you guys hear me okay?

Hello? We're ready.

Oh, you can hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay, thank you. First, I just want to say that the budget is the single most important law that we pass, and it is our most important duty, and we do it every year, timely and in compliance with state statute, and this year is no different. I want to say first thank you to the chairman and to my colleagues for all of your hard work on this budget. It has required many pivots and lots of hard work to get here. And I really appreciate your commitment and participation in the process. I also want to give a huge thank you to Mr. Manager and to all of the staff. This has been quite a long and tedious budget process, as it is almost every year, but this one with lots of surprise twists and turns. And I'm grateful for your leadership and your hard work to help us get here today. Budgets are tricky because they almost never make anyone happy. Whether you support the tax rate or the property values or neither, it's always either not enough money or too much money. I'm proud of this budget because it is built on compromise. In the face of unprecedented circumstances, we built a budget that I truly believe strikes a solid middle ground. It improves the county's financial structural balance while also continuing to invest in schools and in our community. Will it be enough for everyone? No. Will some people think this budget is entirely too much? Of course. But I believe that in these unprecedented times, we have built a budget that strikes a balance between new investment in our community and fiscal responsibility. And I want to be really clear that the Board of County Commissioners are not the villain in this history. The supermajority and the General Assembly have sought to strip power from local governments and consolidate that power for themselves. They have failed to timely pass a budget forcing significant hardship on entities that receive state funding like our school system. They have failed to fund Leandro and to meet their constitutional obligation to provide all children with a sound basic education, and they have committed to continuing to enrich wealthy corporations and billionaires by planning to drop the corporate tax rate to zero. These choices harm local government's ability to govern, to do the job we were elected to do. They harm children and they harm families in our community. There is one villain in this history and it is not the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. I look forward to supporting this budget for all that it accomplishes in a compromise in spite of unprecedented times and circumstances. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Murphy. Ms. Cook?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will echo some of the comments that we heard from Commissioner Cashin. No budget process that I participated in so far has been easy, and I think this year was made especially difficult by the changing requirements imposed by our General Assembly. Unlike their body, we don't have a choice but to pass a balanced budget by June 30th, and every year that requires compromise, this year maybe more than others. We're not accomplishing everything I'd like to see in this budget, nor are we able to avoid an increase in the rate as I'd hoped. It's not perfect. It never is. But I will be supporting this budget as the best option that attempts to strike a balance between the rising cost to provide public service to our community and the need to avoid any financial burden on our residents with unsustainable tax increases. I want to thank and commend the county manager and his entire team for their extensive work over the last few months to consistently adjust and adapt to the changing circumstances, for the efforts that went into finding efficiencies and ways to cut expenses in county operations wherever possible, and for the thorough support that they have provided as we work through these difficult decisions. I also want to thank the county manager and Guilford County School Superintendent, Whitney Oakley, for their teams and their teams for their hard work that went into creating a multi-year funding plan. This is something I have encouraged for years, and the work that they did to get to Common Ground has not gone unnoticed. Although we were not able to move forward with that plan that was jointly proposed because of the drastic changes to our primary local revenue source, I am hopeful that we can continue working together as we move forward towards our shared goal of a successful and thriving public school system. And last, thank you to my colleagues on the board for your willingness to collaborate and compromise to get us here, even though I'm not sure any of us are thrilled with the outcome. I think we did the best we could under the circumstances. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Cook. Mr. Tillman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, there's a great quote. It's attributed to a few different people. And it says, and I quote, a budget tells us what we can't afford, but it doesn't keep us from buying it anyway. And I always think about that quote in particular as we and I've been a part of many. This one was unquestionably the most difficult that I've ever experienced due to the changing of the goalpost, if you will, multiple times. And it forced us to do really hard things. And I think that's a part of what the job is, is to do hard things. And to me, the hard decision was not to raise taxes or not it was that we had to make that decision and i think the hardest thing to do in this for me is to not support this budget because there are many things i like i want to just echo the kudos and lift up our county manager mr isler toy all the acms all the department heads our tax director everybody involved and all of those that i'm failed to mention for not only doing the work, but then having to reset and start over. And while I do agree, I think that what came down from the legislature that we're talking about, the boards, I think part of it is a transparent truth in government. It's okay if you want to raise taxes, you're gonna do so and you're gonna be on record and the public is gonna know. I do have a fundamental disagreement the time it took them to do that. I think it could have been done much quicker, and I've made that known. And I really do hope out of this that we do what we need to do, and that is to have an exemption for the first $100,000 of your property is tax exempt. That would solve so many of these issues that we're facing right now. And I think that would have a lot of impact support broad support and consensus but that's that's for the long session i'll go back to march well really february when the reval came out and then i'll and we heard from hundreds of speakers from this from the public not only from here in the public but all the emails and phone calls that we all received that were shocked appalled at the reval numbers And again, that's something that the state mandates the counties to do. And so we don't get to choose when we do the revals. So we did our duty and we did the evaluations and they came in very high across the board. And I think about across all the political spectrums, young, old, Economic, socioeconomic status. We saw all of that from here. And the main message from February, even until today, was give us a break. We have to be held harmless, especially our seniors on fixed incomes. And now we have the moratorium and I'll try to move through this quicker. And so here we are. And so, you know, certainly unique times in history call for unique and drastic measures. And that's where we are. I look at, I also take into account the full macroeconomic picture i was just looking the other day at the cost of fertilizer talking to some farmers and fuel we all know about fuel that's going to continue to drive our food cost up over the next 18 months if you look at the commodities there's no question about that so you factor in food costs everyday costs fuel, Duke Energy, I think they just came back down somewhat on their proposed increase, but that's still gonna be an increase of at least 10 to 11%. We look at our folks across the plaza just last week with a significant tax increase on our citizens within the city limits. And then, oh by the way, water usage rates are going up. And so for these reasons and others, I won't take the time up here on the dais to share, I cannot support the budget. I support a flat 73 cent tax rate. And during this temporary time, we've got a color in the lines. I've heard that said. And that means all of us. And that's a shared burden that we're going to have to endeavor in together. And I've talked with the school folks, and I appreciate all the input from former board members. And I know this is something you may not want to hear, but that's where I am, Mr. Chairman. Thank you again, staff, all of my colleagues for the long hours and the work that you put in. I think everybody on this board comes at this with a good heart and to do the best for Guilford County. But I'll be a no vote. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Tim. Mr. Jones.

First, I'll say that I'm not going to repeat all of the comments from my colleagues, but I do appreciate the words of Commissioners Grayhill, Cashin, Commissioners Cook, and Murphy thus far. And what I'll say about this year's budget process is that I think it particularly stings because we saw the potential of what could have been. And because we had unprecedented levels of collaboration with multiple stakeholders and multiple partners throughout the process, I had reached what we felt would have likely been a budget that could have passed at the 61.9 cent rate and accomplish a lot of the things that we as a community have spoken out and what we heard in the multiple town halls that we had. And then to an extent, the road was pulled from up under us. And it was pulled up from under us at the last minute. And some people may say, oh, well, you guys knew it was coming, or you could have planned for it. But we did have... contingency plans, but it doesn't sting any less, especially after it took so incredibly long and the governor, to the extent that he had wanted to veto, had all the way up to last Saturday to do so. That's how tight we're talking about in terms of a timeline when we had to essentially shift course. And so that's what we're left with here. We're left with here with some saying, you didn't do enough to cut. Even though you've got all these mandated responsibilities, even though you've got unfunded mandates, even though there's been impacts from the federal government with cuts from the big, beautiful bill, you should have cut more. And on the other side, we're saying, well, you didn't increase enough. You should have given us more money and raise it and then give additional ammunition for those who say, well, the county tax rate in Guilford County is too high already, but then the same people arguing that want us to increase it further. We have emails from people who have argued against any tax increase at all, sitting here sending emails asking us to increase the tax rate, but won't do so in the public sphere. So that's really where you're caught in between. And that's where we are. That's literally where we came. And we said, what is it that we absolutely have to do this year and how do we get there? And also what is so misleading, and the word that I'm using is misleading. I'm not calling it unfair. I'm not operating in that terminology, but I can be quoted as misleading. It is misleading when our median tax value, as quoted by our tax director, coming out of the 2022 valuation, $171,000. Yet we get compared to counties with median tax values at least twice ours. But then on top of it, those same counties, and specifically Mecklenburg and Wake, also have higher sales taxes that this community has rejected multiple times and also has a prepared food tax. Put it even simpler, if you look at our county, if you look at the median income compared to the larger counties we constantly get compared to, we're at somewhere between two thirds to 70%. So put all that together. And what does that sound like? It sounds like that this commission was caught between a rock and a hard place and it said, what can we do in light of these circumstances? And so as a community, as a county, we have to get through this identity crisis and figure out who and what we want to be. And what we're saying here is that since fiscal year 21, if you look at the funding for education for the operating budget for Guilford County Schools, that number's up almost $80 million. $80 million. Now, some people think that's too much. Some people think it's not enough. And so that is what we're striking. So we can have conversations about do more, do less. But that is we have shown consistently $80 million since fiscal year 21, counting this year in operating budget, while facing at least two times that the sales tax failed. And we're trying for a third in the fall. So keep that in mind. We don't have the additional revenue. So we don't have the additional revenue coming from the sales tax or prepared food tax. We kept the tax rate the same since 2017. And so all that to say that at this point, in the face of rising costs, in the face of inflation, where every single person has seen their costs go up since 2022, the concept that we would be able to hold it at exactly the same for any longer is a farce. But what we did do is mitigate the full extent of it because we didn't go as far as someone is to, and I guess as far as we could have gone. And in a big correction, we do not, we do not have the highest tax rate of any county in the state. So whoever's continuing to print that is a misstatement. But here it balances where we say our priorities are by focusing on increased funding for the school system, for GTCC, reducing our reliance on fund balance, and then leaning into areas that we have set our priorities from a county perspective. As a lawyer, sometimes people say in the mediation, you know, you got it right when both sides leave unhappy. And I think that may be where we are today. But what I will say is that if you're trying to quantify what the impact is of what we're prepared to approve, it comes out to about $59. per $100,000 valuation for each home, which breaks down to a little less than $5 per month. I'm not minimizing it, I'm quantifying it so that when people are using numbers, we can have a real conversation as opposed to some of the chaos that's been created over the last few days. The last thing I will say, If Raleigh really wants to have a serious conversation about how to help people, I would like them to use as liberal a construction as they have of the uniformity clause to figure out how to pass this moratorium. I'd like them to use that to adjust for AMI, the homestead exemption, the circuit breaker exemption, because the fact that those income thresholds are the same in Guilford County as they are in Caswell or in other counties is ridiculous. That number should be adjusted across because if you have a higher cost of living, then that number should be adjusted too. And that is entirely within their purview. And they have demonstrated a new way to interpret the uniformity clause in Raleigh, and I hope they do so to help taxpayers here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's hard to follow an attorney in it. So I won't try to repeat everything that's already been said, because I do agree with all of my colleagues and what they have said. This is a very tough budget. One day we had money, the next day, not enough. You know, the property reevaluation would have yielded additional dollars, but the moratorium canceled all of that. I wholeheartedly support Guilford County Schools and I understand the needs of the school and I understand the position of the school board and Dr. Oakley and all of the staff because I started my political career on the Board of Education. So for seven years I sat where you're sitting on the other side of that podium asking commissioners to give more dollars to the schools. But if we could give more dollars, if we could find more money, for all that you asked for and even more, and still take care of our county responsibilities, that would have created the ideal budget. But looking at the climate around us, this budget just does not allow for a larger tax increase without putting a tax burden on the citizens of Guilford County, as you have heard people say. So I do want to thank the manager of TOEI and all of the staff that worked so diligently on this budget. I want to thank Guilford County Schools, Dr. Oakley, the Board of Ed, Tyler, and all of your staff for taking a strong stance and for advocating for the schools because just like that's your job to make sure that all of the schools and all of the students in Guilford County and all of your staff are taken care of, we have that same responsibility here as county commissioners to make sure that all of our county needs are met and that our county staff and all of our responsibilities are taken care of as well. So thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Foster. You know, as chairman, you try to be the closer. But at this point, you know, I don't really want to say nothing because it's already been said. And I really don't want to take away anything that my six colleagues on this board who spoke in favor of this budget has already said.

I want you all to marinate on that.

Because I don't want to say something that, well, then you remember that last word said. Now remember what these colleagues said about this budget and let it sink in. That's all I want you to do. Just concentrate on what they said. And they spoke loud and clear and said the same thing that I would have said it. But they said it more articulate. They said it with a whole lot of passion. And you can see it in there. And I'm very, very proud that they was able to speak to the real issues that are facing this budget. So enough has been said about that. Let that sink in with my colleagues that spoke. But I do want to thank again the manager and your staff. Okay, you had a lot of things pulling here and there. We're pulling here and there. All the department heads pulling here and there. We didn't pass the budget on the 18th like we thought we was going to do. So a lot of back and forth. But guess what? You all stood strong. And I just want us to give our county manager and our staff a round of applause. Because they are the ones who did all of this hard work. And it wasn't easy. And a lot of them, they know they didn't get what they wanted in their budget. Okay? But no one is called in the commissioners fussing about that. Okay? But again, the colleagues, my colleagues that spoke tonight, they said it all. And there's nothing else to be said about that. So with that, Mr. Manager, again, thank you for your hard work all the way up until 11 o'clock this morning, passing out the budget before we can be able to take a look at it. And again, your staff is wonderful. So give them a pat on the back for all the hard work that they did. With that being said, Madam Vice, I'll turn it over to you for recusal.

We got the vote on it.

That's right. Again, I thought I was already voting on it because everything's already been said. So please cast your vote on the budget. And we'll record a vote for Ms. Murphy and Ms. Cook. Ms. Cook? Ms. Murphy?

Yes. All right.

Please cast your vote. That passes on a 7-2-2 vote. All right, may I turn it over to Vice Chair?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So with the recusal's on record, a separate consideration vote from the adoption of the budget ordinance is needed to appropriate and administer a contract through our Coordinated Services Department for the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in the amount of $200,000 in accordance with the existing contract agreement. This vote will exclude Chairman Austin. So do I have a motion?

So moved.

Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, please proceed to vote.

One amendment, it should say budget department, not coordinated services. I accept that amendment. It is written as coordinated services. It shouldn't say budget department.

And I accept that amendment to reflect budget department rather than coordinated services.

I vote yes. Is this for the recusal, not the, correct? No, this is the vote for the, this is for the, oh, okay. This is the vote. It says recusal at the top.

Commissioner Murphy? Yes. Commissioner Cook?

Yes.

Thank you. Passes on a 72 vote.

Sorry, 62, sorry.

62 vote, okay. I'll entertain a separate consideration vote for the adoption of the budget ordinance to appropriate $200,000 to the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce for business and economic development support. This vote would also exclude Chairman Austin. Is there a second? Okay. Any discussion on the motion? Please proceed to vote.

I vote yes.

I also vote yes.

Thank you. And that passes on the 72 vote. Okay, I'll turn the meeting back over to Chairman Austin.

Madam Vice, completing the separate consideration votes under Exhibit C, I entertain a separate consideration vote for the adoption of the budget ordinance appropriating $65,000 for Ford High Point for business and economic development support. This vote would exclude Vice Chair Foster. Do I hear a motion? Move approval. Do I hear a second? Moved and properly seconded. Discussion on the motion. Hearing none, please cast your vote. Ms. Cook, how do you vote?

Yes.

Ms. Murphy?

Yes.

That passes on a 6-2 vote. Also, and last, I entertain a separate consideration vote for the adoption of the budget ordinance to appropriate $125,000 to High Point Market Authority for business and economic development support. This would also exclude Vice Chair Foster. Do I hear a motion? Second. Move to prompt a second discussion. Hearing none, please cast your vote. Ms. Cook?

Yes.

Ms. Murphy?

Yes.

That passes on the six to two vote. That completes our business for the day. I'm gonna take a motion to hold a closed session pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 143, that's 318.11a, one, three, and six. Do I hear a motion? I'll move. Second. Moved and properly seconded. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Ayes have it. We stand in closed session. Thank you.

So moved. Aye. So moved.