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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03-01-2012 APPROVED 6/5/2012 MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION March 1, 2012 7:00 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, March 1, 2012 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center, Cha el Hill. N.C. P . . . . COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bernadette Pelissier and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, Barry Jacobs, Pam Hemminger, Earl McKee, and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Frank Clifton, Assistant County Gwen Harvey, I Assistant Count Mana er Michael Talbert and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker All other staff Y 9 � members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. Chair Pelissier said that there are additional pages for the CIP for the County Commissioners' notebook and a PowerPoint presentation for item 3. Financial Services Director Clarence Grier let the Board know that Paul Laughton is now the Deputy Finance Director as of today. 1. To review and discuss the Manaqer's Recommended FY2012-17 Capital Investment Plan Deputy Finance Director Paul Laughton said that the County has had a CIP for years and it is a financial planning tool. He said that the CIP tonight is broken into several tabs - county projects, special revenue projects, propriety projects, school projects, and appendices. He summarized the abstract, as shown below: BACKGROUND: for over 20 years, the county has produced a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) that establishes a budget planning guide related to capital needs for the County as well as Schools. The current CIP consists of a 5-year plan that is evaluated annually to include year- to-year changes in priorities, needs, and available resources. Capital Investment Plan —Overview The FY 2012-17 CIP includes County Projects, School Projects, Proprietary Projects, and Special Revenue Projects. The Special Revenue Projects are a new addition in the FY 2012-17 CIP, and includes Economic Development and School related projects funded from the Article 46 (1/4-cent) Sales Tax proceeds. The Article 46 Sales Tax was approved by the voters in the November 11 election, and is effective April 1, 2012. The CIP has been prepared anticipating continued slow economic growth of between 1-2% annually over the next five years. Many of the projects in the CIP will rely on debt financing to fund the projects. A Debt Service and Debt Capacity spreadsheet is included in the Appendices section of the document detailing this planned debt. Also included in the CIP are several new projects that were not part of the FY 2011-16 CIP (See Attachment 2). Additionally, during FY 2012-13 the County should pursue a review and update of its facility needs. Several costly maintenance related projects are planned for a few of the County's older facilities. A thorough analysis is needed of whether these maintenance projects should be pursued or whether the funding for these items would better serve County needs being allocated toward new facilities. We will discuss these items in more detail during the work session, highlighting examples. County Capital — Highlights The County Capital section includes nine new projects that were not part of the FY 2011-16 Approved CIP. Major projects include the following: Southern Orange Campus (Future Planning)—a site master plan is recommended in FY 12- 13, with construction recommended in FY 14-15 for campus buildings not associated with the existing Southern Human Services Center. Expansion of the existing SHSC is included in a separate CIP project. Proposed Future Jail—site related planning costs are recommended in FY 13-14, with the construction of a new 250-bed jail recommended in FY 16-17, at an estimated cost of $30,000,000. Viper Radio System -funding of$543,750 is recommended in FY 12-13 for additional channels on existing towers in Orange County, as well as surrounding areas, to allow for increased system capacity and reduction on busy signals received by field units during times of high demand. Also, the addition of three towers is recommended from FY 13-14 to 15-16 in order to expand coverage and increase capacity. This project is being reviewed as part of the charge to the Emergency Services Work Group. Communication System Improvements— includes recommended funding of$748,000 in FY 12-13 to replace the outdated Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, as well as replacement of 800 MHz radios for Emergency Services. Enhancements to the 9-1-1 Call Taker, emergency police and fire dispatch software, and replacement of 800 MHz radios associated with law enforcement agencies and fire departments are planned in Years 2-5. An option of establishing County Service Districts (Emergency Services, Fire and Rescue, Public Safety) could be explored to pay for these radio replacements. If established, funds to pay for the replacements would come out of a newly created Special Revenue Fund, outside of the General Fund. This project, as well as the option of possible County Service Districts, is being reviewed as part of the charge to the Emergency Services Work Group. Future EMS Stations— planning/assessment funds of$50,000 for future locations of EMS stations are recommended in FY 12-13, with construction of a station in Year 3 and one in Year 5, and two additional stations planned in Years 6-10. The strategic locations have not yet been determined and will be reviewed by the Emergency Services Work Group. Joint Artificial Turf Soccer Fields— recommended in FY 12-13; funds of$623,000 are currently available in the Twin Creeks Park project to construct artificial turf soccer fields in partnership with the Town of Chapel Hill at the Town's Cedar Falls Park. Special Revenue Projects (Article 46 Sales Tax Proceeds)— Highlights The Special Revenue section includes anticipated revenue of$2,500,000 annually, with 50% of the proceeds for Economic Devefopment initiatives, and 50°/a for Education (allocated by the ADM count of the two school districts). In FY 2011-12, proceeds are estimated at one-fourth of the annual amount, for a total of$625,000. A summary is provided within the Special Revenue Projects section of the document listing the recommended uses of these proceeds. Proprietary Projects — Highlights Water 8 Sewer Utilities—Year 1 reflects inclusion of the McGowan Creek Pump Station rehabilitation project costs ($725,00) in the Central Efland/North Buckhorn Sewer Expansion project in order to take advantage of remaining State Revolving Loan funds. Solid Waste— includes recommended funds of$3.1 million to close the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfill in FY 12-13, and establishes a separate C&D Landfill project from this point forward. Also, provides for the delay of purchasing 18,970 Urban curbside carts until FY 13-14, and begins the purchase of 13,000 Rural curbside carts over a three-year period from FY 12-13 through FY 14-15. Sportsplex—funding is recommended in FY 14-15 for a Mezzanine addition at the pool area to include dedicated member change areas, lockers, and workout rooms. Funding is also recommended in FY 15-16 for the addition of a Meuanine in the ice rink to provide additional fitness space, a dedicated group cycling area, and an advanced group training center, as well as funding of a new Children's Activity Center to expand the After School and Summer Camp programs. School Projects— Highlights Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schoo/s—Year 1 reflects the funding of Elementary#11 construction ($21,500,000) and assumes a 1.5% annual growth in Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) funds and constant Lottery Proceeds throughout the 5-year period. Orange County Schoo/s—funding is recommended in FY 14-15 for the construction of an auxiliary gym at Cedar Ridge High School, as well as recommended funding in FY 15-16 for the construction of a 20 classroom addition wing to address over capacity issues at Cedar Ridge High School. 1.5% annual growth in PAYG funds and constant Lottery Proceeds are assumed throughout the 5-year period. Note: Both schools systems provide Funded and Unfunded CIP requests each year. Within the School Capital Projects section, there are three summaries provided that reflect: (1) the Recommended funded projects, (2) the Requested, but Unfunded projects, and (3) the total amount of the Recommended and Requested projects. Appendices — Highlights County Debt Service and Debt Capacity— based on the Manager's recommended funding, the County's annual debt service as a percent of the General Fund budget would remain under 15% until FY 16-17, when it would reach 15.35%. Note: An additional summary is provided in the Appendices section, which reflects the debt service percent if all the Recommended and the Requested, but Unfunded projects were included during the FY 2012-17 CIP period. This would increase the percentage to 16.97% in FY 16-17, and would approach 20% by FY 17-18. Active County Capita/Projects—also included in the Appendices section is a list of all currently active County Capital projects with available balances as of January 31, 2012. Paul Laughton made reference to the old Ag center and the cost of updating this for $1.5 million. He said that this should be discussed before renovating this building. Frank Clifton said that this money could be used to update the Blackwood property instead. Commissioner Gordon encouraged this type of thinking and having a long-term space needs plan. She said that it important to get out of rental space and consolidate County offices. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there was adequate space in the office buildings to accommodate the staff that are currently located in the Environmental/Ag space. Frank Clifton said that there is not enough space right now in one place to be functional. He said that his concern for suggesting this was the cost of maintenance and operation of the older buildings. The Blackwood property would be an opportunity to invest the $1.5 million into this. Commissioner Jacobs said that he agreed with Commissioner Gordon in that they need to have some basic principles on how to analyze space needs. He said that there are finro different Blackwood Farms—one is near Hillsborough and one is not. He thinks that one of the principles is to try and keep the services as close together as possible. He thinks that this should still be a priority. Either way, there are buildings for sale that are not being used. There is also the Annex, the Whitted Building, and downstairs of the Link Building. He said that there needs to be a systematic way to analyze space needs. There are two space needs plans and he suggested starting with these plans first and see what changes need to be made. He wants to make the best of the County's resources. Chair Pelissier asked Frank Clifton when something might come before the Board. Frank Clifton said that the staff could do some analysis and come back next fall for Board review. Commissioner McKee said that he realizes that the costs of maintaining a building can sometimes exceed the cost of doing something new, however, he would caution the County Commissioners to remember the fiscal constraints the County has faced, and that the services to their citizens should come first. Commissioner Gordon said that there was a notebook at one time with all of the County buildings and the space analysis. She said that before Pam Jones retires, she hopes that this information will be updated. Paul Laughton continued going through the components of the CIP notebook. Northern Human Services Center: He made reference to the Northern Human Services Center on page 17. This is consistent with what is in the current CIP. The Board has seen this and reviewed options in January. The $2 million in FY 14-15 is the cost of constructing a new building. Commissioner McKee said that, as they talk about this facility, he would like to please keep the citizens in this area abreast of what the Board of County Commissioners is talking about in reference to this facility. Commissioner Jacobs said that he assumes that there will be a public meeting in this area to comment on the proposed changes to this facility. Commissioner Foushee said that the citizens at the last meeting were not aware that they could speak about this item Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Parks and Recreation Director Dave Stancil said that there will be a meeting March 19th to talk about this facility. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hoped that the Efland/Cheeks Community Center would be a part of the space analysis because it is the sentiment of the community that this space is too smalL Seymour Center: Paul Laughton said that there is consideration of installing a permanent generator here. Commissioner Jacobs asked if there was a bid out for this. There is a business called Power Solutions in Efland that sells solar generators. Pam Jones said that she is aware of Power Solutions and it is one of the go-to vendors. This building was built as a generator-ready building and they will be looking at new technology. Clarifying questions of the County Commissioners were answered by Pam Jones. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners have had to compete for use of this meeting room at Southern Human Services Center and he hoped that when they did a study on this campus, that they would find out who is actually using the parking lot and if it is being used for park and ride purposes, which is not what it is supposed to be used for. Before more parking is added, he would like to know who is using the existing parking. Paul Laughton continued going through the various projects. Commissioner Hemminger asked Paul Laughton to put a footnote that any sale of future buildings will go toward a particular project. Southwest Library: Commissioner Jacobs asked about the process of developing criteria for siting and designing the southwest library. Chair Pelissier said that she sent a letter to the Town of Carrboro stating that nothing else would be done until hearing back from the Town of Carrboro, and there has been no response. Frank Clifton said that he has heard that the Town of Carrboro is trying to form a committee of Aldermen members to review the siting criteria, but nothing has come back to the Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be nice to have some timeline or a timely response from the Town of Carrboro on this process and maybe they could work with the Mayor. Chair Pelissier said that she would call the Mayor and ask what the plans are. Commissioner McKee saicl that he sees a link between the funding for the Chapel Hill Library and the Southwest Branch Library. He would like to have this discussion before discussing the design plans and siting for a Southwest Branch Library. Link Government Services Center: Commissioner McKee made reference to page 95 and the 72% complete figure. He asked if this was just the repairs that have been done with the sprinkler system and what is seen now. It was answered yes. He said that there is a building next door to the Link Center in which there are several employees of the Elections Board. He asked if there was a possibility of moving that department to this area. Commissioner Gordon encouraged the County Commissioners to think about whether this is a temporary meeting solution or if this is a long-term solution. She does not see the space in the Link Center being a good meeting room. She said that the meeting room should be built as a meeting room instead of retrofitting something else. She would like to solve the long-term space planning issue before deconstructing something. Commissioner Jacobs thanked staff for putting money into making the Link Government Services Center handicapped accessible. He said that all government buildings should be ADA compliant as soon as possible. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the figure for this building and said that he thought it was $1 million a couple of years ago. He asked if the geothermal system would be used and if this savings was incorporated. Pam Jones said that the cost of the geothermal system was separate from this building. Commissioner McKee asked if there were figures for putting in office partitions in the downstairs Link Government Services Center and Pam Jones said no. Commissioner Foushee said that she respects the staff for funding needs for ADA compliance, but since they have indicated that it is not known when the space needs study would occur, it seems that it might be beneficial for the Board to be able to see an inventory of the buildings that need ADA attention. Information Technology: Paul Laughton made reference to the blue handout which was the Information Technology Capital sheet for FY 2012-13. This year, the proposal is $500,000, but the green sheet has information on increasing this to $700,000 this year. Clarence Grier said that every year the County spends $500,000 for IT for infrastructure and all. This year, if they add $200,000 to existing allocations, they can get all of the IT infrastructure updated in one year instead of doing it piece meal. Paul Laughton continued summarizing the information. Frank Clifton suggested that the County Commissioners take a tour of the existing jail with the Sheriff. Commissioner Jacobs said that when he toured the courthouse, he heard about the lack of facilities for magistrates. Perhaps they could be accommodated with this potential new jail. Emerqencv Services: Viper Radio System: Paul Laughton said that the Emergency Services Work Group has been charged to look at these projects. Commissioner McKee said that the work group will be addressing the need for the additional towers fairly quickly. He said that he has been informed that a couple of fire departments, working with a private contractor approved by the Highway Patrol, has reprogrammed some of the radios and it is not a fix, but it has improved the reception to some extent. These towers can also be used to expand other services such as internet, etc. There would be multiple uses for these towers. Commissioner Hemminger said that she is ok with this funding as a placeholder for now while they wait for the Emergency Services Work group recommendations. She wants to make sure that these are estimates and placeholders and not definitive things. She wants the work group to come back with recommendations. Commissioner McKee said that the points are well taken. Communication System Improvements: Paul Laughton went through the various improvements. There is an option of establishing County service districts as a way to pay for the radio replacements. This is on page 33. This project would also be reviewed by the work group. Commissioner McKee said that he has several issues with this project. He said that with 800 mHz radios, the fire departments currently provide funding and buy the radios out of their own budgets. He has a question regarding why the fire departments are looking after their own needs and now the County is suddenly taking over that particular part. Emergency Services Director Frank Montes de Oca said that either the County could purchase the radios or the departments could purchase their own radios with the specifications that match up with the radio system. Alamance County mandates the kind of radios that are bought so that they are compatible. His concern is that there are several departments managing their own radios and buying from different manufacturers, and there may be a compatibility issue. Commissioner Foushee said that she is fine with an option being presented, but it just seemed to her that with decisions such as this, she would have thought that this was an issue that the work group would have been charged to review. Chair Pelissier said that does not necessarily have to be done through the County budget, but it can be an agreement that everyone makes. Commissioner McKee said that he is not aware of compatibility issues with departments' radios, but he will know all of this by tomorrow afternoon. Future Emergency Services Stations: The first year has $50,000 for planning and assessment for future locations. No locations have been determined at this point. This would be a charge to the work group for recommendations. Years three through five, there is a new station at $500,000 each for the land and construction. In years 6-10 there are two additional substations. This would be a total of four substations over the next ten years. Conservation Easements: Paul Laughton said that $250,000 a year is going to these from the General Fund starting in year two and continuing each year thereafter. Commissioner Jacobs said that when the Board did a bond in 2001, they were told by the Bond Attorney that they could not do conservation easements with bond money because there would be no public access. That is why it had to come from a different source. Eurosport Soccer Complex: Commissioner Jacobs said that this has been a very successful project as far as usage and it was put there for economic development purposes. Commissioner Yuhasz asked for a measure of the economic benefits of this. Dave Stancil said that this has been discussed lately and he hopes to get some concrete figures soon. Commissioner Gordon said that she too would like to see this impact since they do have competing needs for soccer parks and usage and there are other places where soccer fields could be built. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is a plan for the other Blackwood Farm to fund in year six, but this one does not have a plan and yet it is being funded. The plan for the first Blackwood Farm was worked out with a group of citizens, County Commissioners, and staff and it took about a year. Now, that plan has been shelved and this plan has been moved way up without having something seen or adopted by the Board of County Commissioners. Dave Stancil said that a big part of the rationale here is that there is a funding partner in the Town of Chapel Hill and there is not one at the other Blackwood Farm. Paul Laughton said that the next time the County Commissioners will discuss the CIP is March 15th. There is time allotted for follow-up on the CIP and then they meet again on April 19th for about an hour. Commissioner Foushee suggested suspending speaking on the CIP from pages 47-69 and going to school projects since school staff are here. SCHOOL PROJECTS: Orange County Schools (OCS): Paul Laughton said that this begins on page 69. Included in this section are the requested CIPs from both school systems. Both of them list funded and unfunded projects. Orange County Schools sent a revised CIP, which is at the County Commissioners' places. The changes are highlighted in yellow. On page 81, the Cedar Ridge classroom wing addition was changed to add $300,000 in planning costs in year one. The other change is on page 84 of the revised CIP, which is Elementary School #8. There is also information on reassessing the capacity at Orange High School. This analysis should be completed by early April. The recommended funding for Orange County Schools is continuation of the pay-as- you-go, the lottery fund, and the Cedar Ridge Auxiliary Gym in 2014-15 at $2,175,000 and then in years 2015-16 the classroom wing addition. This would be an addition of 20 classrooms. The current capacity is 1,000 students and the enrollment is 1,129. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS): The '/<-cent sales tax Article 46 is reflected in the special revenue fund section of the CIP. The schools submitted how they would like those proceeds allotted. Page 70 has some "unfunded" projects outlined. Page 71 has a total summary sheet of funded and unfunded projects. Commissioner Gordon asked that the SAPFO TAC information for both schools be provided on larger pages. She stated that the CIP for the new school facilities should conform to the provisions of the SAPFO. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 70 and said that the Culbreth Middle School science labs are still not funded and have not been funded for years. This is a core instructional function. Commissioner Hemminger said that she would also like to know about the SAPFO numbers in the fall. She asked about the enrollment for elementary schools in OCS. OCS Chief Operating Officer George McFarley said that the student rates from the SAPFO for single-family dwellings versus multi-family dwellings have almost flip-flopped. There are more children out of apartment complexes than there were previously. He said that they are considering an elementary school in the vicinity of Gravelly Hill Middle School. A lot of the children from apartment complexes are coming from Ashbury in Mebane. Donna Coffey said that the OCS Board knows this is an aggressive timeline of only two years out, but they wanted to get this on the radar. Commissioner Foushee said that all of this suggests that Orange County needs to invite Mebane to be a part of the SAPFO agreement. Commissioner Jacobs said that there was a meeting with the Mayor of Mebane and the Chair and Vice-Chair awhile back (maybe when Commissioner Foushee was Vice-Chair). There was discussion about the SAPFO and the need to bring Mebane in. He said that it is important to proceed with joint planning with Mebane, but not just for SAPFO. Chair Pelissier said that she and Donna Coffey may want to sit down with the City of Mebane and discuss this issue. Commissioner Jacobs suggested revisiting the projection of the multi-family housing student generation. 2. Retiree Health Insurance Overview Frank Clifton said that the staff is not proposing that the Board of County Commissioners do anything at any specific time but this will affect the County's borrowing capacity. He said that they are going to plan to set aside some funds for a reserve fund. He said that the County spends about$1 million each year to fund retirees' health insurance. Interim Human Resources Director Katherine Cathey went through the information in the abstract. BACKGROUND: The current Personnel Ordinance (Article IV, Section 28-36) requires the County to provide health insurance, up to the same cost as active employees, for retirees who have at least ten years of Orange County service upon retirement. Additionally, employees who retire at age 65 or older and employees who retire due to disability with more than five years, but less than ten years of Orange County service, are eligible for the 50% of this benefit. Health coverage is provided differently depending on the age of the retiree. Retirees who have not yet reached age 65 remain on the County's group health insurance and are eligible for the dependent subsidy. In 2008, Commissioners approved a revision to the Personnel Ordinance to stop subsidizing the cost of retiree dependent health care for employees hired after July 1, 2008. This has not had any noticeable impact on recruitment or on costs to date. At age 65, retirees enroll in Medicare Part A (no cost to the retiree or County) and part B (premium is deducted from the retiree's Social Security benefit), and the County pays for both a Medicare supplement (Plan F) and Part D. Plan F is referred to as a "Medigap" plan because it covers the gaps left by Medicare Parts A and B. Part D is prescription drug coverage. The County has an arrangement with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC (BCBSNC) whereby retirees enroll in the BCBSNC Plan F and Part D, and the County receives and pays one bill for all enrolled post-65 retirees. This reduces the administrative burden on the County but increases the financial burden because there are lower cost providers for Medicare supplements and Part D. While every Plan F includes the same benefits, Part D plans vary from provider to provider. Like every Part D plan, the BCBSNC Part D plan does not cover every medication prescribed for all retirees. Medicare has made several changes in the past few years, as has BCBSNC. Whenever possible, the County has reduced costs for Plan F and Part D by making administrative changes that did not affect the post-65 retiree benefits. The average cost of the County's cost for post-65 retiree Medicare coverage is less than half of the cost of the group health insurance individual premium. As of February 2012, more than 12% (more than 100 individuals) of current Orange County employees are eligible to retire. As more baby-boomers retire and live longer, retiree health insurance will become a greater cost to the County. In 2011, approximately 100 employees were eligible to retire and receive retiree health insurance, and in 2012, the number of employees eligible to retire will exceed 120. Orange County's benefits exceed the average health insurance benefit in North Carolina in terms of co-pays and deductibles. As a comparison, the following information is included: - Attachment 1 —summary of employee health care benefits from other of local government employers throughout the state. - Attachment 2 —Summary of Comparative retirees Health Cost and Liabilities - Attachment 3— Projected Post-Employment Benefit Analysis through Fiscal Year 2017 - Attachment 4— Current Monthly Retiree Health Insurance Cost Staff has previously identified a variety of options that lower the cost of employee and retiree health care. These options were presented at the May 10, 2011 work session. Each option has varying impacts on both retirees and the County. The Manager recommended that the Board receive information on employee and retiree health care and provide feedback regarding options related to employee and retiree health care benefits. The FY 2012-13 proposed budget does not include any specific changes at this time, but does expect to have budget projected increases (up to 15%) in premiums/costs. Commissioner Yuhasz said that at a meeting with OPC Mental Health yesterday, they were told that there are 11 employees that are on the retiree coverage that are under the age of 65, but when OPC dissolves on June 30th, there will be no more opportunities for these employees to have retiree health coverage. It has been suggested and agreed by each of the three counties in principle that those people who dedicated their professional services to OPC deserve to have the benefit. It has been suggested that one of the three counties would accept those 11 people into their health insurance plan and that OPC would fund the expenditure over the period of time within that health plan. Chatham County is not particularly interested in taking all of the people. He suggested that either Orange or Person County might be. OPC would fund the expenditure at a level that is higher than what the County is currently paying. If there is any left over, the county would keep it. If there was a shortfall, each of the three counties would participate in a third of the cost of the overage. He asked the Board if they would be willing to accept these employees into the system. Frank Clifton said that he has been looking at the numbers. If it is funded as discussed, it will not be a problem. Commissioner McKee asked the staff to please make sure that all of this information is put out to post-65 employees. Commissioner Jacobs said that he appreciated the work that staff did to bring this to the Board's attention. He said that starting a fund is a good idea now. He said that the County is not in an emergency situation now, but they need to be clear to their retirees that the County is not going to reduce the benefits, but only tweak them. He wants to be affirmative in standing by the commitments. Frank Clifton said that about 25% of the funds going to insurance are for retired employees. Commissioner Gordon asked if this would reduce the benefits for retirees. Frank Clifton said that this depends on the decisions that are made. Commissioner Hemminger suggested clarifying in the policy about the dependent coverage and how it is only for those employed before July 1, 2008, and it is only 52%. The Board decided to have this issue come back with some prioritization. 3. Presentation Reqardina the 2013 Revaluation of Real Propertv Director of Tax Administration Jenkins Crayton said that staff received some advance information a couple of weeks ago that property values are starting to drop. He made a PowerPoint presentation. REVALUATION 2013 Local Economv Continues Growth For 2011: - Business Property Value: Up 4.8°/a - Motor Vehicle Value: Up 7.8% - Real Estate New Construction and Development: � $�70,000,000 ��.2�io) - Tax Collections: Coming in faster by 26 basis points Charts indicating: Property values have begun to drop and sa/es are fewer Potential Revenue Neutral Tax Increases in 2013 Revenues Needed - Orange County: Up 7.7% or 6.6 cents $9.9 million - Chapel Hill: Up 8.3% of 4.1 cents $2.6 million - Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools: Up 7.6% or 1.4 cents $1.4 million - Hillsborough: Up 6.2% or 0.38 cents $28,000 - Carrboro: Up 5.3% or 3.1 cents $590,000 Frank Clifton said that the County could do the revaluation in the four-year cycle that the Board of County Commissioners has planned, but the cost of doing a revaluation is that every governmental entity in Orange County will need to raise taxes to be revenue neutral. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the alternative is not to do a revaluation and wait until the values catch up, but he is not in favor of that. Frank Clifton said that the requirement is to do a revaluation every eight years. Chair Pelissier said that what worries her is that they would be basing a revaluation on so few sales. She questions whether there would be a good revaluation. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see the percentage of sales that the peer counties did in 2009 versus 2012. Chair Pelissier agreed that this would be good data. Frank Clifton said that the Board would need to make a decision to defer before the budget by this summer and they need to have conversations with the towns. With no further items to discuss, a motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn the meeting at 10:42 PM. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Bernadette Pelissier, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board