HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2010-070 Resolution Detailing Orange County’s Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the NC Assoc. of County Commissioners’ (NCACC) 2011-2012 Legislative Goals Package~~5-ao~v ~7°
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations
Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the
North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC)
2011-2012 Legislative Goals Package
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC)
organizes a process every two years to develop a legislative goals package; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the package is to develop a consensus of broad
support on legislative goals and issues for matters affecting -North Carolina
counties that may be addressed during the upcoming North Carolina General
Assembly sessions during next two calendar years; and
WHEREAS, the goals and issues included in NCACC package, with their broad
support, guide and strengthen NCACC representatives and staff as they
converse with individual legislators and committees on legislative matters; and
WHEREAS, NCACC has begun the process to develop its 2011-2012 Legislative
Goals Package and Orange County and all other North Carolina counties have
been asked to submit proposed legislative goals for consideration for inclusion in
the 201 `1-2012 Legislative Goals Package by September 15, 2010; and
WHEREAS, Orange County continues to support legislative goals included in
past NCACC legislative goals packages such as:
1) Support for the expansion of revenue options and protection of
revenue sources available to county governments;
2) Opposition to legislation shifting. the state's existing responsibility for
funding transportation construction and maintenance projects to
county governments;
3) Support for legislation to provide state assistance to meet public
school and community college construction needs caused by
increased enrollment, mandated reduction in class size and other
factors;
4) Seeking legislation to ensure that state-funded mental health,
developmental disability, and substance abuse services are
available, accessible and affordable to all citizens and that sufficient
state resources fund service provision costs inclusive of sufficient
crisis beds; and
5) support for legislation to allow public schools systems to regain
access to sales tax refunds (Orange County believes a more
comprehensive solution is supporting legislation to exempt counties,
cities, school boards, community colleges, and local utility authorities
from payment of state and local sales taxes on purchases within
North Carolina); and
WHEREAS, Orange County believes there are other issues of importance to all
North Carolina counties that should be included as goals in NCACC's 2011-2012
Legislative Goals Package;
NOW THEREFORE we the Orange County Board of Commissioners do hereby
recommend that NCACC also include the following goals in the NCACC 2011-
2012 Legislative Goals Package:
1) Bio-solids Disposal -Support legislation which provides county
governments some opportunity to regulate and/or have input into, but
not prohibit, bio-solids application activities, including the acceptable
"classes" of bio-solids for application and the prohibition of bio-solids
application in certain environmentally sensitive areas such as critical
watersheds. The appropriate application of bio-solids for agricultural
use should be allowed with counties playing a role in the process;
2) Energy Efficiency Standards in Local Building Codes -Support
changes in State law to allow local governments to include standards
for energy efficiency in local building codes that are higher than those
contained in the State Building Code;
3) Fire Protection -Additional State Funding for State-Owned
Buildings - Support legislation to provide additional State
compensation to municipalities and local fire districts providing fire
protection to state-owned buildings;
4) Entertainment and Sports Event Fee to Support Transportation
Needs -Support legislation to permit a fee to be charged on tickets
purchased for large entertainment and sports events, with the
revenue shared by the respective government jurisdictions and
dedicated to the support of public transit and transportation
programs;
5) Wastewater System Classifications for Volunteer Fire
Departments -Support actions to change North Carolina Division of
Water Quality (DWQ) wastewater system classification rules which
currently classify a spray irrigation system such as one utilized by
volunteer fire departments as "commercial". When the flow
generated by the system is domestic quality/non-industrial process
wastewater, the system should be held to the same monitoring and
testing standards as a residential wastewater system under DWQ
jurisdiction. In the alternative, volunteer fire departments should be
excluded entirely from the "commercial" classification. The annual
inspections and testing costs associated with a "commercial°
designation for a spray irrigation system serving a volunteer fire
department can be several thousands of dollars. .Accounting for the
type of flow actually treated by a system rather than assigning a
blanket "commercial" designation would significantly reduce volunteer
fire departments' annual costs across the state; and
6) Homestead Exemation Revision -Support Homestead Exemption
provisions of the Machinery Act to provide greater, opportunities for
low-income seniors to remain in their homes and not be displaced
due to property tax burdens, eliminate the discriminatory features of
the exemption provisions relating to couples, and address the
ineffectiveness of the exemption provisions in communities where
property values increase at substantial rates over short periods of
time.
This the 2"d day of September 2010.
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Valerie Foushee, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners