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Orange County rejects FY26 Q2 transit work plan amendments and directs funds to hold
Summary
The Board unanimously voted to reject the FY26 Q2 Annual Work Plan (AWP) transit amendments — including GoTriangle staffing cost-share and Route 800 funding requests — and asked the Staff Working Group to hold the associated funds in undesignated fund balance pending a current staffing study and clearer financial modeling.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected a slate of FY26 Quarter 2 Annual Work Plan amendments for the transit tax district at its Feb. 17 meeting, following staff recommendation to hold funds pending a current staffing study and additional financial clarity.
Vice-Chair Amy Fowler moved to reject the AWP FY26 Q2 amendments as a slate; Commissioner Earl McKee seconded the motion. Chair Jean Hamilton called for a roll-call vote; the motion passed unanimously.
The amendments included a proposed Orange County funding increase of $37,908 to change GoTriangle staff cost-share allocations, a requested FY26 Q2 increase of $123,370 for GoTriangle Route 800 (part of a cumulative 99% increase since 2024), and Chapel Hill Transit (CHT) updates tied to the North–South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) project, including a revised estimated total project cost of $188 million and a $5.83 million amendment to clarify vehicle allocations and match commitments. CHT later asked that some items be removed from the Q2 slate.
Interim Transportation Director Sarah Williamson told commissioners the current staffing request was not supplantation under state law but urged the Board to rely on a timely, local staffing study rather than a 2018 Wake County analysis. County Manager Travis Myren recommended rejecting the slate and holding the funds in undesignated fund balance after staff reviewed an updated tax-district model that showed a roughly $4.2 million FY27 shortfall under prior assumptions.
Why it matters: rejecting the slate preserves flexibility while the Staff Working Group and tax-district partners complete an updated staffing analysis and reconcile the tax-district financial model. The Board directed that the funds be held until the SWG returns with a clearer plan.
The vote: Motion to reject AWP FY26 Q2 amendments, moved by Vice-Chair Amy Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Earl McKee. Result: unanimous approval.
