Funding Delayed Until New Fiscal Year

The Chapel Hill Town Council voted Monday to postpone the payment for several community projects to save $300,000 toward a nearly $1 million budget cut.

The capital improvement projects will focus on local community centers such as William T. Hargraves Community Center, A.D. Clark Pool and the Parks and Recreation Center. The projects were scheduled to begin earlier this fiscal year, but delays in building and renovation planning have rescheduled construction.

Town Manager Cal Horton said the earliest projects that will be ready are the Hargraves Center and A.D. Clark Pool.

Horton said he expects that those projects will begin in April of next year and that payment for them would begin after July 1, the start of the next fiscal year.

Chapel Hill Finance Director Jim Baker said the architects for the projects have yet to finalize their plans.

"At last year's budget, we looked ahead and thought to begin these projects in this fiscal year," Baker said. "But since they are not ready, we will delay paying for (the projects)."

Baker said that the town will start payment for these projects six months after construction begins.

The projects will be funded by a process called Installment Contract Financing, which functions like a loan. The town borrows money and then pays back the money over a period of time.

Baker said the project's high costs -- the Hargraves Center and A.D. Clark Pool together will cost more than $1 million -- led the town to select this payment method. "You either have to pay for it with a million dollars or you borrow a million dollars and pay it back," Baker said.

But Horton said that while the measures help avert a budget crisis this year, further economic downturn could cause even more delays. "We think that the shortfall is focused in this year when the state is facing economic hardships and the economy is sluggish," he said.

But Horton also expressed hope that economic improvements will allow for a rebirth of construction projects in the future. "Most economists are predicting that the economy is showing slow signs of improving," Horton said.

Baker said the town will have to handle the situation on a year-to-year basis. "I wouldn't anticipate that it would go down as much as this year; it's something we'll have to think about," he said.

"Quite frankly, it's too early to tell."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.