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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20070830APPROVED 1 01912 0 0 7 Orange County Board of County Commissioners {BOCC) Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board {ARAB) .IOINT WORK SESSION Thursday, August 30, 2007 5:30 pm {Dinner) 6:00 pm {Meeting begins) The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Joint Work Session with the Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board (ARAB) on Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and Commissioners Valerie Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Mike Nelson COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Brian Ferrell COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County Managers Willie Best and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) ARAB BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Martha Hoyleman, Vice-Chair Artie Franklin, and members Barbara Mull, Ida Ballard, Rashii Purefoy, Gary Gaddy, and Jabrina Robinson ARAB BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Vivian Herndon-Latta, Steven Clemens, Alejandro Hansen HOUSINGICOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STAFF PRESENT: Tara Fikes NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE Introductions and Opening Comments Introductions were made. Chair Carey said that Commissioner Nelson was out of town. II. Orange County Housing Authority Proposal Housing and Community Development Director Tara Fikes said that last fall Commissioners Jacobs and Foushee met with a few local housing non-profit directors to discuss various issues, such as interest in utilizing housing bond money for land banking. There was some concern about the County acquiring property because of the State laws regarding disposition of property. The conversation then turned to using a legal entity, The Orange County Housing Authority, as the entity that could acquire land and hold it for development. The group has been investigating the possibility of using the housing authority for land banking. After some research, she found that a resolution of the Orange County Board of Commissioners was passed in 1969 declaring a need for a housing authority. She distributed a copy of the minutes from September 2, 1969. The resolution also declared that the members of the Board of County Commissioners were the members of the housing authority. In December 1969, the Board approved bylaws for the housing authority. She said that the housing authority was incorporated on November 28, 1969. She said that the housing authority has been the entity that has to be in place in order for the Section 8 Housing Assistance program to exist in the County. There is no evidence of there being any further appointments to this housing authority. Basically, the County Commissioners have taken care of housing authority business at their regular meetings. Jabrina Robinson said that the AHAB Board crafted a general proposal of having the Orange County Housing Authority to be able to acquire and sell property, especially for land banking purposes. The main emphasis with the land-banking program is talking about having a separate board from the County Commissioners to govern the Housing Authority to avoid conflicts of interest. The proposal focuses on establishing a separate board with seven members, with at least one County Commissioner and at least one member from the Section $ Housing Choice Voucher Program, as well as former and current AHAB members. There could also be people with expertise in areas helpful to housing -finances, real estate, legal, etc. The seven members would be appointed by the County Commissioners. Functionally, Tara Fikes acts as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority. Anew Executive Director would be appointed in this proposal, which would act as the Secretary of the Housing Authority. The proposal also includes quarterly reports to be provided to the County Commissioners. Commissioner Jacobs asked for an explanation of conflicts of interest that the County Commissioners would have. Jabrina Robinson said that there are potential conflicts of interest with the land-banking program, since the County Commissioners approve the proposal and the Housing Authority would act as an entity applying for land banking funds. The goal is to have an arm's length with the decision-making process between the group applying for funds and the group approving the funds. Commissioner Jacobs recommended that the membership include people who know land use planning -Planning Board members or farmer Planning Board members, etc. This would make it easier to get the recommendations past the County Commissioners. Commissioner Jacobs asked what would happen if the Board of County Commissioners wanted to purchase property and land bank it. Tara Fikes said that if the County decided to purchase land with its own money, there would be no need for approval by the Housing Authority. Commissioner Jacobs said that everyone who serves on the Housing Authority should sign a conflict of interest statement. Laura Blackmon said that the problem with the County purchasing land for land banking is that it is prohibited from the disposition of it to anon-profit. Geof Gledhill said that it is not impassible, but it is difficult to dispose of the property. Chair Carey said that this could be considered as a two-stage process because the by- laws will need to be reworked and the Board of County Commissioners would approve the by- laws before creating a new board. He said that the County Commissioners need to review this in detail since the by-laws are from 1969. Commissioner Foushee agreed with Chair Carey. She commended the ARAB. She said that some of this came out of a conversation that she and Commissioner Jacobs had at a conference that they attended and there was discussion about what would happen to some of the areas in the County if development were to occur where there are now mobile home parks. She agreed with the two-stage process. She hopes that the Board sees the value in moving expeditiously. Commissioner Gordon asked Geof Gledhill for further explanation on the County buying land for land banking. Geof Gledhill said that the County could not dispose of property except through a public process. It would have to be put out for public sale, and anyone could buy it. This would make it difficult for land to be put aside for affordable housing purposes. On the other hand, the Housing Authority could use the land it owns for affordable housing purposes. The County could convey its interest in land to the Housing Authority. Chair Carey asked if the Housing Authority would have authority through the statutes that is less limiting. Geof Gledhill said that housing authorities have different powers than counties. He also said that conflict of interest is not the right legal term. He said that the ARAB thinks that the Housing Authority should be a board separate from the County Cammissianers so that there is independence. Artie Franklin said that one of the main benefits is for the County to hold the property until anon-profit has the capacity to do something with it dawn the road. He said that using the Housing Authority would provide the County with a tool to reserve affordability for the future. Commissioner Jacobs asked why it was being called Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. Jabrina Robinson said that this was the default language in the statute. Commissioner Jacobs said not to use this language. He asked Geof Gledhill to write aone- page explanation about what the Board of County Commissioners' authority is or is not on this issue. He is very concerned about the mobile home parks and where people are going to go if those get developed. He would like to have a safety net where there can be affordable housing. Chair Carey suggested a revision of the by-laws and to include an adoption of principles related to the long-term affordability goal and something about where this activity should occur. He asked the AHAB to work on this and get something back as soon as possible. Jabrina Robinson said that they had originally thought of having the new appointed Housing Authority to write the by-laws and Chair Carey said that he would like the current Board of County Commissioners to adopt the changes and the AHAB to write them. III. Mobile Home Concerns including the Daniel Boone Village Revitalization Project Martha Hoyleman said that the last time there was a meeting in a working session between the AHAB and the Board of County Cammissianers, one of the follow up items was to look at the issue of what happens when residents are displaced due to the mobile home parks being said out from under the residents. This has happened with the Boone Campground and trailer park. The AHAB partnered with the Town of Hillsborough to see what the Town would do about this situation. The Town of Hillsborough worked with UNC and a group of students to work with the residents at the campground and trailer park to see what could be done to help them out. The summary and conclusions that the students reached are in the agenda packet. The first thing the students did was put together a questionnaire for the residents to learn more about the specific situation. Secondly, it was good to have an agency be an advocate for displaced residents. There are a lot of options, but some of them are long-term. She said that the residents said that they were afraid to go to County services because their children might be taken away, they might lose some assistance, etc. Another non-profit, or a church would be more helpful, according to the residents. During the course of the study, the campground was closed with very little notice and the residents dispersed. A couple of days ago, the Hillsborough Planning Board and the Hillsborough Tawn Board had a work session with the developer to look at the plans and to discuss the questions and concerns about this project. She made reference to the copies of the book that she distributed to the County Commissioners, which was written by Adam Rust, who is involved in the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina. The book addresses manufactured housing, or mobile homes, the pros and cans, etc. Tara Fikes said that this book talks about not only the challenges of the closing of mobile home parks but also the opportunities and things that have been done in other states to try and help those affected by the closing of a mobile home park. Commissioner Jacobs said that he has heard and read from the survey that many own their own mobile homes but cannot move them when they are displaced. He said that there is no affordable housing organization that sees providing manufactured housing as an answer to affordable housing. He asked if the County precludes this as an option, or if this should be considered. He asked if the Manufactured Housing Association would work with the County on this. Tara Fikes said that this group would be glad to work with the County. She made reference to page 52 of the book, which has a model manufactured housing development in Garner. Commissioner Jacobs said that he thinks the County is prejudiced against manufacturing housing as an option for affordable housing. He wants to put it to the AHAB if this is a prejudice that should be changed. Artie Franklin said that he has been reading the task force report from 2001, and one of the comments was the "possibility of mobile home parks purchased to be permanently managed as affordable rental lots for mobile homes." Also, this might be something for the Housing Authority to work on. Commissioner Jacobs asked the ARAB about the Rental Housing Coordinator that the County helped to hire. He would like a report on this position and haw it is working. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hopes the boards will continue to think creatively about affordable housing (i.e., manufactured homes, affordable rentals, land banking, etc.). He suggested having a representative of the Manufactured Housing Association at a meeting to see what it might be willing to do. IV. Housing Band Policy Recommendation Gary Gaddy said that since the fall of 2006, the bond process has been changed from being one that was scheduled to an open format where requests could be made at any time. There was $2.7 million available at the time that this was written. There have been three inquiries and one full application for $450,000, which was approved. Now there is $2.4 million available. Tara Fikes said that one more application was received this week. The second part of this item is an effort to broaden the pool of applicants by amending the definition of eligible applicants to include far-profit organizations even where they were not in partnership with non-profits. Commissioner Jacobs said that on the report part it would be useful to include the number of units with the developments. He also asked about the third page and the uncommitted total, committed total, and total available for land banking. Tara Fikes said that a few years ago the County set aside, from the 2001 bond, about $400,000 from the first round of funding for land banking. There was also some uncommitted money carried over from the 1997 bonds. The initial pool for land banking included both of these pieces and totaled $612,500. The County has spent $452,000 of that amount. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Habitat for Humanity and said that if it is a property acquisition for immediate development, he questions whether it should come out of land banking rather than the other bond money. Tara Fikes said that the remaining bond money could be used for land banking. Commissioner Gordon made reference to broadening the pool of applicants and said that she would like to know how the for-profit entities would be chosen and to make sure that the County is not just contributing public money to afar-profit organization. Gary Gaddy said that it could not be determined that afor-profit can or cannot make a profit. If it is afor-profit entity, it will make a profit. He would want it to make a profit so that it would come back next year, if the aims were accomplished. Commissioner Foushee said that one of the underlying factors the ARAB considered was the capacity for for-profit entities to be able to develop and do something quickly. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County has a density bonus for developers who build affordable units, but since there is not much water and sewer, it has never been used. Commissioner Gordon said that she thinks that there should be same kind of statement that explains how it will be managed with the for-profits and that County money is used for public ends. Artie Franklin asked if there were controls in place for partnerships between non-profits and for-profits. Tara Fikes said that non-profits usually take care of this. Laura Blackmon said that there should be some national programs aut there as examples. The ARAB will look into this issue of the for-profits. V. Advisory Board Member Terms The first terms range from one to three years and the second term is three years. The members would like this to be amended so that every member could have athree-year first term. Commissioner Gordon said that when the board is first set up, the terms are staggered, but after that, board members should be serving full three-year terms. She asked why this had not happened with the AHAB. Clerk to the Board Donna Baker said that the only reason she could think of that it would be this way is if a member came into serve a partial term. Staff will review the AHAB's membership to see why they are not serving three-year first terms. VI. Closing Comments None. VII. Adjourn With no further items to address, the meeting was adjourned at 7:22 p.m. Maces Carey, Jr., Chair Donna S. Baker. CMC Clerk to the Board APPROVED 10/9/2007 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION August 30, 2007 7:30 p.m. The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Budget Work Session on Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Alice Gordon, and Barry Jacobs COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Mike Nelson COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon and Assistant County Managers Willie Best and Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna Baker {All other staff members will be identified appropriately below). 1. Opening Comments None 2. Changes in BOCC Regular Meeting Schedule for 2007 The Board considered one change in the County Commissioners' regular meeting calendar for the year 2007, and that was the scheduling of the mini-retreat. Chair Carey said that he received an email from Commissioner Nelson indicating that he could not meet on September 14t". However, this is the only day that this can be done to get the process started. Chair Carey said that it is more important to get the process started than to delay so that all Commissioners can be present. Commissioner Gordon said that she did see that email from Commissioner Nelson, and he said he would not be able to come on the 14t". He would have to miss work to come to the meeting. She is concerned about having a retreat without all five commissioners being present and wants to find another time when Commissioner Nelson could come. Commissioner Foushee said that she would miss work as well for this. Chair Carey said that he missed work regularly for 18 years while he was working. Commissioner Jacobs said that he responded to Commissioner Nelson that he would raise his concern at this meeting. He said that Commissioner Nelson was very critical of the budget process last year and wanted to participate. He would like to try and find another date. Commissioner Foushee said that she is not opposed to this day, but anytime there is a meeting on a weekday, she will have to miss work. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the Board could make a decision an September 6t"and try and find another alternative. Commissioner Gordon said that Commissioner Foushee has been very gracious in arranging her work schedule to come to day meetings. She thought that Commissioner Nelson had awork-related commitment that could not be broken. Geof Gledhill said that if the Board wanted to have a meeting on the 14t", the easiest way would be to adjourn the meeting on the 6t" to the 14`" The Board will consider this issue on September Otn Commissioner Jacobs suggested proposing alternative dates. The Board decided to ask the manager to find some alternative dates. 3. Resolution Honoring US Navy Pre-Flight Band Reunion The Board considered a resolution honoring the U. S. Navy B-1 Band who trained and served in Chapel Hill during World War II. A motion was made by Commissioner Gordan, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to approve a resolution honoring the U. S. Navy B-1 Band for the service to the nation and its role in history and authorized the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLUTION HONORING THE U.S. NAVY B-1 BAND WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy B-1 Band was officially formed on May 27, 1942, when 44 young men were sworn into service in Raleigh, N.C., and first appeared in Chapel Hill an August 1, 1942 to the accompaniment of jeering as well as respect; and WHEREAS, the band members were collectively the first African Americans to serve in the modern Navy in any capacity other than cook or servant; and, WHEREAS, while the service of the B-1 Band during World War II in Chapel Hill and Hawaii was as a segregated unit, the unit's establishment marked a significant move towards integration of the modern U.S. Navy; and, WHEREAS, the completion of construction of what is now known as the Hargraves Community Center was specifically to serve as a residence hall and headquarters for the B-1 Band, from which it marched daily to duty as part of the Navy Pre-Flight School at the University of North Carolina; and, WHEREAS, during its 21-month wartime stay in Chapel Hill, the B-1 Band performed in parades, war band rallies, and patriotic assemblies throughout the region, at the launching of the USS Merrick at Wilmington in July 1943, as well as with Kate Smith on her regular radio program, broadcast live from Memorial Hall; and, WHEREAS, the B-1 Band brought strong African American role models to the communities of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County. NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Orange County Board of Commissioners da hereby honor the members of the U.S. Navy B-1 Band for their service to the nation during World War II, and their significant role in creating history and goad music in Orange County. This the 30th day of August 2007 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 4. Update an LeaislativelGeneral Assembly Actions • Orange County's 2007 Legislative Priorities o Reference. Attachment 4-7 -Orange County 2007 Legislative Goats Results Summary Laura Blackmon said that last spring, the Board of County Commissioners established some priorities that were forwarded to the legislative delegation. The top priorities are listed on page one. She clarified that on page 3 of the summary under the first priority, the House Bill should be 1613 and not 613. Donna Coffey said that on school construction, she neglected to mention that the State withheld part of the Public School Building Fund money this year of $457,000. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 3 under Employment Anti-Discrimination Legislation and said that there was also an Anti-Bullying bill that was killed partially because it was trying to prevent bullying based on sexual orientation. Geof Gledhill said that he thinks this bill gat passed, but some of the definitions were taken out. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 4 and Land for Tomorrow and said that when he met with the Commissioner of Agriculture about the value-added center, he mentioned that this money was perfect far what Orange County was proposing. He would like to have staff actively contact the Commissioner of Agriculture's office regarding the process of accessing this money. This value-added center is being done with Chatham, Alamance, and Durham Counties. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Open BurninglBurning Permits and said that a citizen told him the other day that during the "no burning" period, one of the fire departments was burning a building. He asked staff to find out if this actually happened. This was on Miller Road. Commissioner Gordon said that the State legislature did little with transportation funding this past session and that, given all of the state's transportation needs, that was problematic. Commissioner Jacobs said that he read today that there was going to be a special session about the Governor's vetoes. • House Bill 1499 -Homestead Exemption and Senior Circuit Breaker Laura Blackmon said that the Tax Collector and Tax Assessor were present. o Reference. Attachment 4-2 -Changes to Homestead Exemption (HE) Program Commissioner Jacobs asked about the 3R fee exemption and Tax Collector Jo Roberson said that now the County qualifies residents on 3R. The majority of them are qualified when they qualify for Homestead Exemption. If someone qualifies for HE, they also qualify for 3R exemption. With the qualifications changing on HE, if the 3R qualifications are not changed to match, then there will have to be separate qualifications. This will double the workload on bath parts. The Board can decide. Chair Carey asked about the bottom chart on the beige sheet and Tax Assessor John Smith said that the middle column shows who qualifies this year for HE and the right side shows haw much the increase would be if they no longer qualify after the reapplication. Laura Blackmon said that it is not known how many people this will affect Commissioner Jacobs said that it sounds like a list of corrections should be sent to the legislative delegation. Ja Roberson said that the NCACC, the School of Government, the North Carolina Assessor's Association, and the North Carolina Collector's Association have already come together once in a meeting to begin this process. o Reference: Attachment 4-3 - "Senior Circuit Breaker Property Tax Benefit" (affecting fiscal year 2009-10) • Impacts on County ServiceslFunctions and Schools Laura Blackmon said that there are two attachments -one from the NCACC and one from the NC League of Municipalities. Donna Coffey said that the staff is also gathering information from departments and how certain items impacted County departments. This information will be compiled and brought back to the Board. Commissioner Jacobs said to track unfunded mandates and total it. Donna Coffey asked Geof Gledhill to elaborate on child support and how the cases are paid. Geof Gledhill said that currently, when a County files a civil action, it does not require a fee, and if the case does not require either side to pay court costs, then the court costs do not get paid. A significant number of child support enforcement cases fall under this category. In this legislation, if it is passed, counties will no longer be exempt from advancing filing fees such as child support enforcement cases. He said that this will now become an added burden on the child support program to collect these court fees. The estimate is $20,OOOlyear. He said there are other things in the budget bill that may impact others too. o Reference: Attachment 4-4 -August 27, 2007 Email from Rebecca Troutman, tUC Association of County Commissioners Laura Blackmon said that this attachment has a list of things that might impact the County budgets specifically. The State legislature increased the solid waste fee $2/ton and the staff is still trying to figure out the impact of this. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the County could access the $300,000 for private well water safety program incentive funds. The staff will check on this. Laura Blackmon said that she is sure the NCACC will be putting forth information on haw other counties are impacted by the State budget. Reference: Attachment 4-5 -August 24, 2007 Email from Lee Mandell, i1iC League of Municipalities This attachment was the green sheet. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 9 of 16, Disposition of Property, and said that this was one of the County Commissioners' legislative goals right after Hurricane Floyd. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to page 11, Cell Towers and Radio Antennas, and asked if the County Commissioners have the same authority that they did before. Laura Blackman said that this bill as introduced would not pre-empt the County, and she does not believe that they were negatively impacted at this time. Willie Best said that there is an issue as to whether the towers will be allowed to be continually placed around certain areas because of citizen concerns. Geaf Gledhill said that this bill talks about creating a streamlined permit approval process for co-location of wireless devices. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 4 of 16 and the changes to the way landfills are regulated. She said that staff needs to pay careful attention to this item. Laura Blackman said that she believes that Orange Caunty is only impacted by the $2lton statewide tipping fee. Commissioner Gordon asked about the rules for the inactive hazardous clean up fund. She said that she would be interested in how this affects Orange County eventually. Laura Blackmon said that the rules have not been determined yet. The Solid Waste Director is involved and up to date an this. Geof Gledhill said that the other hidden cost of the $21per tan is that these new permitting requirements will make the landfill that Orange Caunty transfers to very expensive and mare than what had been anticipated. Laura Blackmon said that as the County Commissioners read through all of these priorities, that they could email her if they have any questions. • Medicaid Relief/Sales Tax Swap o Reference: Attachment 4-6 -Medicaid RelieflSales Tax Swap Staff Analysis Laura Blackmon went through this document. Section 1 is the amount of money the County is expecting over the next five years. This is a three-year implementation plan, with the State assuming 100°~ of the Medicaid costs after three years. Donna Coffey said that these are State estimates as of right now, and it could be more depending an how the expenditures increase. Laura Blackmon made reference to Line 5 and that the public school building funds will be reduced this year by $457,024. Line 7 is the loss of Article 44 Local Sales Tax and the State will take %4 cent beginning October 1St. By October 2009 the County will have lost 100°~ of this sales tax. Line 10 is that the County has to hold the municipalities harmless for the loss in sales tax. Donna Coffey said that when the County starts holding the towns harmless the County's article 39 proceeds will decrease. Line 11 shows the net impact of this Medicaid RelieflTax Swap analysis. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the summary is that the County has perhaps the same pool of funds as if it had enacted a %4-cent sales tax or a .4 transfer tax, but from that more money will have to be subtracted. Laura Blackmon said that in 2010 the State will assume $6 million in Medicaid, but the County will be paying out $10 million in loss of revenue because of the sales tax. If the land transfer tax is passed, then the County will only lose $300,000. The County will suffer most the first year because of the public school building fund monies being taken away, and there is a shortfall because the County budgeted $545,000 less than the State estimate for Medicaid casts. The County instead budgeted the same amount as last fiscal year. Commissioner Gordon said that the State taking the public school building funds is really shocking. She said that she heard that the State had a surplus at the beginning of the budget process. Laura Blackmon said that for the first year Orange County will be $522,377 short. In future years, there is no guarantee of the hold harmless funds or Medicaid relief funds. o Reference: Attachment 4-7 -Excerpts from General Assembly Budget (pages 256 through 262 -State Assume Medicaid Responsibilities) Donna Coffey said that this is the portion of the actual Medicaid bill. • Local Revenue Options o Reference: Attachment 4-8 -Excerpts from General Assembly Budget (pages 262 through 264 -Local Option County Taxes) Laura Blackman said that the County will be considering this for the May election. She sent the County Commissioners an updated list of counties from NCACC about this. Chair Carey said that if the County will not proceed in November 2007 far a referendum, then there must be a plan and money. Commissioner Jacobs said that he was disappointed that there was no agenda item this evening on the specific topic of making a decision on the local revenue option because the public had no way of knowing that we might discuss that. He said that the counties that chose not to proceed in November are the big, urban counties and he is concerned about this. He said that Johnston and Chatham Counties are putting it on the November election. He wants to know what is going to be lost by putting this on the November ballot. He thinks that the County Commissioners have been communicating that they need this far priorities in the County and they do not want to have to keep raising property taxes. Commissioner Foushee said that for her, her hesitancy would come with a good education campaign and whether there is enough time to do what is necessary. She thinks that it is incumbent upon the County Commissioners to let the public know what they are lasing after having gained Medicaid relief. Also, the November election is only municipal, and less people would come out to vote. Chair Carey said that he would not want to act on this tonight even if everyone agreed, because it was not put on the agenda and the public did not know about it. He knaves that there is not adequate time for an education plan by November. Commissioner Gordon said that if this is not put on the ballot in November, then it should be put on the ballot in May. Her preference would be the land transfer tax as opposed to the sales tax. She said that even though the County cannot specify on the ballot what the money will be used for, she would like to say that the first year's funds could go to capital or school costs. She said that the public does not realize what has been lost. Chair Carey said that how the money is used always comes up, and delaying until May will allow the Board of County Commissioners to discuss this. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is also the CHCCS Board elections in November, and those are the most motivated people to get the County more money to spend for education. He thinks that the public can be educated in two months. He said that by putting it on the ballot in November, then revenues can be recovered sooner. He does not think that there is anything to lose because it can be put on the ballot as many times as the Board wants. He thinks that bath of these items should be put on the ballot. Commissioner Gordon asked why this was not put on the agenda. Laura Blackmon said that it was on the agenda last Thursday and the Baard took no action. She apologized. Chair Carey said that this item could have been on this agenda, but no one requested it. Commissioner Jacobs said that he requested this at the August 21St meeting. Chair Carey said that he is concerned about the lack of unanimity of putting one or bath items an the ballot. He said that this discussion needs to take place before it is on the agenda. Chair Carey said that, while the Board has an opportunity to put it on as many times as it wants, he is not sure it should be put back on a ballot if it fails the first time around. Laura Blackmon said that the concern of putting both issues on a ballot is that the vote may be split. The other issue is that there have been some discussions from local municipalities about them not getting anything, so that is another area where there needs to be education. Commissioner Gordon said that if the County Commissioners want to proceed, then she would like to get pros and cons of the two taxes, a way to present the case about what has happened to the County financially, a timeline for an educational campaign, and what happened to Orange County in the legislature. Chair Carey said that this should be treated as a bond issue and it should start now. He asked far a draft plan at the September 19t" meeting. ^Reference: Attachment 4-9 - (North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, Estimated Additional County Revenue Authority 5. Proposed 2008-18 Capital Investment Plan and 2008-09 Budget Timeline Reference: Attachment 5- ~ -Fiscal Year 2008-09 Timelines and Milestones Laura Blackmon said that she would make a presentation in October, the public hearing would be in November, and it would be adopted in December. Implementation of the ordinances could be in February or March 20Q$. This early implementation would help the schools get started on summer projects while students are not in school. In the past, approval was not until late spring. Commissioner Jacobs said that this is tied in with the fund balance issue that needs to be resolved. Commissioner Gordon said that the general idea is a big improvement. Her concern is that the tax rate is not set until June and both operating and capital budgets affect the tax rate. If there is not an idea of what the operating budget will be when the capital budget is set, then it will be difficult to manage. She would like to make a final decision a little later so that the operating and capital budgets can be intertwined when the tax rate is set. Laura Blackmon made reference to the budget process sheets and said that there are some specific dates. She wants to add the school systems to some of this process so that by January and February, there can be discussion about the budgets. She said that staff is looking at setting up some work sessions in February through April so that the Board can give her same direction similar to the direction that was given in June of this past year. She said that she does not look at the Proposed Manager's Budget as something she creates and gives to the Board, but she views it as a collaborative effort. Some issues should be discussed way in advance (i.e., proposed fee schedules, etc.). Chair Carey said that he likes the idea of moving this process up two or three months earlier. Commissioner Jacobs said that this is an improvement and the outside agencies should be notified of the budget calendar being moved around. Laura Blackmon said that the staff has already had discussions on this and will bring it forward to the Board of County Commissioners at a later date. There have also been discussions with the schools. 6. County Capital Funding Policy and 2008-18 Capital Plan Revenues Reference: Attachment 6-1 -County Capital Funding Policy (Apri124, 2007) Laura Blackmon said that there are implications with the legislative actions this year, so she wanted to outline some of these issues. The first issue is lottery proceeds. The Board of County Commissioners adopted an amendment to the funding policy by budgeting in arrears. The Board has other options, and she asked far direction as to whether the Board might want to discuss these options. Commissioner Gordon said that she thought that someone was going to ask the legislature about quarterly distribution of lottery proceeds. Donna Coffey said that she thought the letter was written and she will check on this. The second issue is dedicated ad valorem property tax for debt service. Laura Blackmon summarized this. She said that there were property tax revenues dedicated to be paid to debt service on the 1988, 1992, 1997, and 2001 voter-approved bonds. With the public school building fund and school construction impact fees, those are dedicated to all of the non- bond projects. Regarding the dedicated ad valorem revenues for recurring capital, the intent was to set aside three cents for recurring school funds and one cent for County capital projects. Currently, these are the only two cents budgeted. There is an option to levy a sales tax or a land transfer tax, and it appears that the County Commissioners are interested in the land transfer tax. Laura Blackmon said that she would like to talk about the revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year. She said that one of her concerns, being new to Orange County, is the amount of debt service the County has and the number of schools that are being built. The debt service is $25 million, and this is huge. Most of this is paid out of property tax, so there is very little flexibility in what can be done with the remaining property tax. She explained the chart, "Options for Dedicating Revenues to Repay Annual Debt Service." The blue line was the current funding policy. The red line is the required property tax to make up the difference if public school building funds, impact fees, and lottery were dedicated to pay for school debt. The green line includes the land transfer tax. She said that she would like the Board to consider, instead of relying heavily on property tax to pay annual debt service, to look at opening up the ability to use the property tax with more flexibility. Commissioner Foushee said that the County Commissioners have talked about how many years taxes have gone up and talked in the abstract about what could be done to change that. She is glad to see something now that may be viable and appears to be easily communicated. She wants to start somewhere. She said that she is grateful for this moving forward, which is showing an effort of meeting County needs without increasing the ad valorem. Donna Coffey said that it is a way to maximize the uses of the available revenues and make them work far everyone involved -for operating and capital. Laura Blackmon said that the other issue that is part of this is increasing the value of one penny. This can be done by broadening the tax base or having property values rise. She said that rising property values is creating hardship for many citizens. She said that economic development and broadening the tax base is something that the County should really consider. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the chart and said that she will have to ponder it and see how it pays down the debt service. She is glad that the Manager is trying to take a fresh look and examine the old assumptions. Commissioner Jacobs said that Commissioner Foushee summed up the benefits well. He said that he would like to include a discussion of revaluation every two years versus every four years. He made reference to economic development and said that this Board has been working hard to put it in a position with the municipalities that provide water and sewer to where economic development can finally happen. He thinks that people misunderstand how much the Board has tried to move this forward to get to this position of diversifying the tax base. Chair Carey said to share the chart with school collaboration group. ?. Adiourn A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to adjourn the meeting at 9:57 pm. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board