Chapel Hill's forthcoming comprehensive plan is supposed to accomplish many things, one of which is to guide Town staff as the transition to from an incremental budgeting system to one that is priority-driven. Since the Town is beginning to use priority budgeting this year, I have been unsure as to how this will work. Last week, as part of Chapel Hill 2020, the Town hosted a budget simulation exercise called Budgetopolis to learn more about value-based budgeting. This exercise, facilitated by staff from the UNC School of Government, was held at the NC Botanical Gardens. Because of my role as an advisory board chair, I was invited to participate.

Tonight, the Chapel Hill Town Council will have their first public forum on the FY2012-2013 budget. This is in anticipation of the Manager's presentation of the recommended budget on May 14. The full budget calendar can be found here.

District Court Judge Page Vernon has resigned her seat. She was elected to the post in 2008, and would have stood for reelection in 2012.

According to the District 15B Bar listserv,  there will be special meeting of the Bar on November 9th to select three nominees to fill the vacancy. These nominees will be sent to Governor Perdue, who will make the appointment. 

Here is the entire text of the email:

Last week was a bad week for local and regional transit. The County Commissioners voted to postpone the half-cent sales tax referendum for increased service and future light rail, and Chapel Hill Transit submitted a budget with heavy service reductions (including cutting service completely to two neighborhoods). With these decisions, it is likely that it will be several years before we see improvements to our transit system.

It's budget season, and here in Chapel Hill the impacts of decreased revenue and increased costs are being felt- especially in Transit. In the Manager's recommended budget, the Transit Fund will receive a 1.5% increase, but due to increased costs for administration and vehicle maintenance, Chapel Hill Transit is proposing the following service cuts:

Weekday Fixed Route Service

The Town of Chapel Hill's Parks and Recreation Department is starting the process of updating their master plan. The current plan is almost 9 years old, and is considered out-of-date. The Town is partnering with Site Solutions (a Charlotte-based firm) to develop the new plan, which will take into account the Town's changing needs and current economic situation.