Fifteen members of the advocacy group TaxWatch and town officials intended Saturday's TaxWatch Forum to focus on the school board's recent emergency-funding request. But other budgetary issues of concern to Orange County residents soon took precedence.
The TaxWatch Forum was scheduled in response to the funding request, which was added to the district's budget proposal last month.
"The state is maxed-out for funds, and we thought now would be a good time to meet and start talking about what can be done and find out where the money is going to have to come from," said TaxWatch Chairman John Ryan.
Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs, Chapel Hill Town Council member Lee Pavao and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board member Gloria Faley instead were asked to justify how town funds were being spent.
Joe Wall, a 50-year resident of Chapel Hill, said he was concerned by the area's ever-increasing cost of living.
"(Town officials) are about to make it so we can't afford to live here any longer," he said. "It's gotten to a point where it's no longer a cost of living but a cost of surviving in this town."
Hugh McFarling, a resident of Chapel Hill since 1956, said he didn't think permanent town residents should have to subsidize affordable housing for people who want to live in Chapel Hill.
"Why can't employers start paying a wage that will allow their employees to live here?" he said.
Jacobs said the wages some people are paid in the area make it impossible for them to live here. "When talking about affordable housing, we only have to talk about one number: in order for a minimum wage earner in Chapel Hill to afford a two-bedroom house, he would have to work at least 113 hours a week," Jacobs said.
