Orange County approves school construction interlocal agreement, adds analyst to manage bond projects

The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 3 to approve a School Construction Interlocal Agreement (ILA) intended to strengthen oversight, transparency and coordination for projects funded by the county's 2024 general obligation bond.

The agreement codifies a joint CORE Team including staff from the county and both school districts, requires public reporting and designates liaisons for each governing board. County staff said the ILA will apply to projects that use 2024 GO Bond funding and will continue to function even if one party later terminates.

Budget Director Kirk Vaughn told the board staff reviewed models from other counties and outlined a recommendation to add a county School Construction and Financial Analyst (1.0 FTE) to coordinate the CORE Team, manage public communications and maintain a project dashboard. Vaughn said funds were set aside from project Pay‑Go allocations: "$500,000 were budgeted in FY 2026, and $1,000,000 is planned annually for future years; the County would retain approximately $36,000 for a position starting on Feb. 3, 2026 for FY 2026, and retain approximately $90,000 annually in future years from that pool to fund the position." (Presentation slides summarized by staff.)

School-district staff recommended three textual changes that the board accepted: change references from "approval" to "appropriation" to clarify that budgetary approval constitutes project approval; adjust design payment timing to milestone-based payments; and change the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) requirement to a recommendation because some smaller or non-new-construction projects (for example, HVAC or roof replacements) may not reasonably use CMAR. County staff noted that the school attorneys cited North Carolina General Statutes in their guidance about delegation of procurement decisions.

Commissioners discussed how cost overruns and change orders would be handled, the role of owner contingencies, and whether the CORE Team's meeting schedule should be mandatory. Commissioner Marilyn Carter successfully proposed changing the language that the core team "should" meet at least quarterly to "shall" meet at least quarterly.

Commissioner Carter moved, Vice‑Chair Amy Fowler seconded, to approve the ILA with the agreed changes, authorize the county manager to forward the ILA to both school boards, and establish the School Construction and Financial Analyst position; the motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: staff will transmit the approved ILA to both school boards for their consideration and proceed with hiring steps for the analyst position per the Manager's recommendation.