Orange County staff recommend changes to outside-agency funding after new scoring process

Deputy Manager Kate Finhade presented Orange County's recommended awards for outside agencies during the board's May 15 budget work session, saying the county received 39 applications and that the review used a revised scorecard tied to the county's strategic goals.

Finhade said the requests totaled about $1.1 million and that the new process sought to align performance measures in applications with the county strategic plan. "At the outset I want to say what a difficult job this is for everyone who's involved because we have wonderful applicants across the board," she said.

The county, working with department directors and strategic-plan manager Kelly Guadalupe, reviewed applications and held interviews for applicants requesting more than $10,000. Chapel Hill participated only by staff review rather than in-person interviews, Finhade said. Applications were jointly reviewed by Orange County and Carrboro; Chapel Hill reviewed but opted not to do in-person interviews.

Under the year's scoring rules, agencies scoring 90–100 on the scorecard were eligible for an increase of up to $7,500 above their base if they requested one. Existing agencies that scored 80–89 received a 10% reduction to their base; new agencies scoring 80–89 received a flat $2,500; agencies scoring 79 or below were not recommended for funding.

Finhade said four new agencies applied and four new applicants are recommended to receive funding totaling $17,500. She said one existing provider, Orange Enterprise, will be moved to maintenance-of-effort funding to align with Alliance Health Funds, and three tourism-related agencies that work in Hillsborough will be moved to the visitors bureau fund. "We realized how much out-of-county traffic they have at each of these places," she said of the tourism organizations.

Board members asked whether moving agencies across funds would change how they are scored. Finhade recommended keeping the same application and scorecard process and, if needed, adding the visitors bureau to the reviewer panel for relevant interviews in future years.

Commissioners and staff noted several agencies that were not recommended under the new prioritization even though they have done long-standing work in the county, including Orange County Disability Awareness Council and Transplanting Traditions; Finhade said scorecard concerns included cost per individual served and program sustainability. She said applicants may request their scorecards and staff will provide feedback. "They can access the scorecards. If they ask for their scorecards, we will provide them, and Melissa spends a lot of time on the phone with them," Finhade said.

Why it matters: the board is using a new, strategic-goal–aligned scoring process to target limited outside-agency funds toward priorities such as housing and healthy communities. Staff said the revised process is intended to be more consistent year-to-year and less dependent on rotating advisory boards.

Finhade and other staff said they tried to reduce siloing by coordinating with municipal counterparts, although Chapel Hill changed its process this year to rely more on staff review and fewer volunteer boards. Commissioners pressed staff to continue interjurisdictional coordination when multiple local governments fund the same providers.

Finhade concluded by noting that a limited number of applicants received no funding this year because their requests did not align with the new prioritization or because submission data raised concerns about cost-per-client measures. Staff said they will continue outreach and offer application assistance to improve future submissions.

Ending: The recommended awards and scorecards will be used in the manager's proposed budget and shared with applicants; commissioners asked staff to track whether moving agencies to other funds requires any process changes for scoring or contract management.