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2 <br /> Mr. O’Connell said staff is looking at combining healthcare with City Schools. <br />He said there is a range of other areas that can be looked at, including information <br />technology, human resources, and purchasing. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown suggested that a future topic for a School Board/Council lunch <br />meeting might be combining human resource services. <br /> <br /> Mr. O’Connell said that consolidating certain services with Albemarle County can <br />also be explored. <br /> <br /> Mr. Huja said some regional planning could possibly be done with Albemarle <br />County, and he would be interested in looking at consolidating Parks and Recreation <br />Departments. <br /> <br /> Ms. Edwards said she would be interested in seeing a matrix of things we have in <br />common with police and fire. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said there may be savings in overhead costs for Parks and Recreation. <br />He said there would be value in the City and County having the same rules, i.e. planning. <br /> <br /> Mr. O’Connell suggested that two Councilors and two members of the Albemarle <br />County Board of Supervisors meet to look at consolidating police, fire and parks and <br />recreation. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown suggested that we independently look at where we could cooperate/ <br />consolidate, then see where there is overlap. <br /> <br /> Mr. Huja said he would like to see a joint City/County effort regarding housing <br />issues. <br /> Mr. Norris suggested adding housing to our discussion with Albemarle County. <br /> <br /> Mr. O’Connell noted that one of the study recommendations was to look at the <br />City’s funding formula for City Schools. <br /> <br /> Mr. Hammer said that the recommendation was to make School performance a <br />part of the formula, not assessment growth, or a combination of the two. <br /> <br /> Mr. O’Connell said that the issue of the funding formula will come back up in the <br />fall. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Huja, Mr. Hammer said that an amusement <br />tax would add cents on the cost of amusement tickets. <br /> <br /> Mr. Aubrey Watts, Director of Economic Development, noted that fees from <br />Pavilion sales go back into maintenance of the Amphitheater. He said that if the City <br />instituted an amusement tax city-wide no additional fees could be collected from Pavilion <br />sales because of the terms of the contract. He said if the County did not institute an <br />amusement tax, theaters would likely move to the County. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he is not interested in moving quickly on an amusement tax until <br />the County instituted one. <br /> <br /> Mr. Watts noted that there are different rules in the County regarding amusement <br />taxes. <br /> <br /> Mr. Norris and Ms. Edwards said they did not think an amusement tax was a good <br />idea. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Huja, Mr. O’Connell said that it would cost a <br />lot for the City to get back in the garbage collection business. He said private providers <br />can provide the service for less cost because they pay less in salary and benefits. Mr. <br /> <br />