Without national basketball title, Chapel Hill saves money

Although Chapel Hill town officials claim to be die-hard UNC fans, they couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the Tar Heels didn’t make the NCAA Tournament this year.

Without fans rushing to Franklin Street to celebrate, the town saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on preparation, overtime pay and cleanup.

“(Having) no national championship actually saved us money,” Town Manager Roger Stancil said at an April 12 Chapel Hill Town Council meeting.

The town sets aside money in its budget each year for celebrations, snowstorms and other possible events that require police, fire, ambulance and cleanup crews.

“We try to budget for a certain amount of contingency, whether that is inclement weather or an NCAA championship,” said Ken Pennoyer, business management director for Chapel Hill.

“Any time that we can save some money, that’s a good thing.”

The town spent about $25,000 in overtime just for Chapel Hill police officers during last year’s Final Four celebrations on Franklin Street, Assistant Chief of Police Chris Blue said.

The town also hired additional officers from eight other law enforcement agencies to form a force of 300 officers, town spokeswoman Catherine Lazorko said.

The total cost of the championship celebration was $198,747, an expense shared between the town and the University, she said.

When UNC won the national championship in 2005, the total celebration-related cost was $165,000.

“The overtime budget is pretty predictable,” Blue said. “The thing that is difficult to predict is NCAA basketball.”

When the town must pay police overtime for unexpected basketball celebrations, that means less money is available for checkpoints, as well as special details and investigations, Blue said.

Although plenty of people come and spend money at local shops when the team has a good year, the immediate money outflow for overtime expenses is easier to notice, Pennoyer said.

And that incoming revenue is not something town staff takes into account when creating the budget, he said.

“Revenue does not come from people jumping over fires,” said Aaron Nelson, president and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

Lazorko was quick to affirm that town staff were just as supportive of the team as the next Tar Heel fan.

“The town staff is just as happy as anyone else when the Tar Heels are on a winning streak,” she said.

“We are never hoping that the team will lose in order to save us money.”



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.