Chapel Hill Town Council Work Session – February 11, 2026

The Town Council held a work session on February 11, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Library Meeting Room B. Mayor Jessica Anderson called the meeting to order, introduced new Town Attorney Nicholas Yates, and recognized Black History Month. The meeting covered three agenda items: the FY 2025 audit results and FY 2026 financial update, the Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) rewrite timeline, and a report on Town Manager evaluation practices. No votes were taken, as work sessions are conversational.

FY 2025 Audit Results & FY 2026 Financial Update

• External auditor Chad Jackson of Mauldin & Jenkins reported an unmodified (clean) opinion on the Town’s financial statements. The Town received approximately $20.4 million in federal funds and $6.9 million in state funds, with no compliance findings.
• Business Management Director Amy Oland presented that the General Fund ended FY 2025 with $3 million in excess fund balance available for one-time uses, after maintaining the 22% unassigned fund balance policy target. She proposed allocating these funds to: Greene Tract MOU ($100,000), FEMA administrative support, street maintenance equipment ($400,000), downtown improvements (including UNC lot 2 activation, holiday lights, PD substation), Fire Station 4 demolition ($1 million), and an infusion to the Debt Fund to keep the bond referendum schedule on track.
• Mid-FY 2026 trends: property tax collections on target after revaluation; sales tax up from prior year; inspection revenues exceeded projections; expenditures at 48.6% of budget, with projected $2 million in personnel savings.
• Council members requested additional details on downtown funding needs, historical excess fund balance appropriations, prioritization criteria, parking fund performance and revenue strategies, hiring and retention levers for hard-to-fill positions, public safety equipment and fire apparatus needs, public housing capital needs, and support for families displaced by storms.

Rewriting Our Rules – Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO) Update

• Long-Range Planning Manager Tas Lagoo presented a proposed timeline: completing a consolidated draft and technical review in spring 2026, releasing the draft for public review in summer 2026 with plain-language guides and educational sessions, and beginning formal legislative hearings in fall 2026.
• Council members emphasized the need for materials that clearly connect proposed changes to shared goals (e.g., housing diversity, complete community, environmental resilience, small-scale commercial development). They requested a crosswalk showing where each goal appears in the draft, visual examples, hard-copy versions for review, and clarification of public expectations (summer engagement is educational; formal changes occur during the legislative process).
• Discussion included the need for a facilitated work session to confirm shared priorities and prepare briefing materials on missing-middle housing and commercial development thresholds. Council members expressed a desire to agree on a set of “whys” (high-level goals) as a body before diving into the draft. Staff noted that public engagement for broad input is complete; summer efforts will focus on education and helping the public understand how to provide feedback to the Council during the legislative process.
• Council member Theo Nollert raised the possibility of a narrow text amendment to legalize triplexes, quadplexes, and cottage courts before the full LUMO adoption. After discussion, a show of hands indicated a majority preferred to wait for the comprehensive rewrite rather than act piecemeal, given the interdependence of changes and the need to maintain public trust.

Report on Town Manager Evaluation Practices

• Town Manager Ted Voorhees and UNC School of Government professors Carl Stenberg, Julie Beasley, and Colt Jensen presented best practices and a draft evaluation instrument combining quantitative ratings and narrative feedback. The tool is designed to clarify expectations, highlight accomplishments, and set goals.
• Council members discussed challenges in evaluating certain sections (e.g., intergovernmental relations, staff effectiveness) due to limited visibility into day-to-day operations. Several members noted they felt unqualified to rate areas like staff effectiveness (Section 9) and university relations. Suggestions included phasing in organizational metrics over time and incorporating staff input through a 360-degree or 180-degree developmental feedback process.
• Council member Louie Rivers stressed the importance of evaluating outcomes (e.g., whether town-UNC partnerships advanced) as well as process. Others agreed, noting that a focus solely on process might obscure results.
• The mayor suggested that council members submit individual feedback directly to the UNC team rather than via a shared document initially, to avoid undue influence. Manager Voorhees will provide instructions for submitting feedback, propose key dates for the evaluation process, and translate council’s strategic priorities from the retreat into measurable goals for inclusion in the evaluation.

Key Outcomes

• No actions or votes taken on any agenda item; all matters were received and filed.
• FY 2025 Audit & FY 2026 Update: Council will revisit the excess fund balance appropriation at a March 2026 business meeting. Staff will provide additional information on downtown funding, historical appropriations, parking fund analysis, hiring challenges, public safety equipment, public housing capital needs, and storm-displaced families.
• LUMO Rewrite: Staff will design supplementary materials (crosswalk, visual examples, hard-copy guides) and schedule a facilitated work session to confirm council’s shared high-level goals (“whys”). The timeline remains: spring drafting/review, summer public education, fall legislative hearings. No piecemeal text amendment will be pursued at this time.
• Manager Evaluation: Council members will send individual feedback on the draft instrument to the UNC School of Government team by a date to be announced. Staff will develop organizational performance metrics and propose a phased approach for including staff feedback. The evaluation process will occur in fall 2026.