HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2002-107 Resolution Regarding Legislative Matters 1
NORTH CAROLINA
RESOLUTION REGARDING
ORANGE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE MATTERS
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of
Orange County that the Board hereby requests the Senators and
Representatives representing Orange County to take the following
position on legislation regarding the following matters :
REVENUES
1) Support an increase in the cigarette tax with a portion
of the new revenues being dedicated as a funding source
for the Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and for the
creation of regional processing centers to create value-
added products and help promote farm options;
2) Support an increase in the alcohol tax with a portion of
the new revenues being dedicated for mental health and
substance abuse rehabilitation treatment programs;
3) Support balancing the State of North Carolina budget by
closing tax loopholes, including ending the sales-tax cap
on boats, planes, and railway cars, doing away with a
sales-tax cap on business machinery, repealing a tax
credit for cigarettes manufactured in North Carolina but
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sold overseas, and eliminating an interest expense
deduction for banks;
4) Support legislation to reinstitute State funding of local
school system utility costs;
5) Support legislation to allow all counties to enact
various revenue options, with optional local referenda,
that have already been authorized for counties in other
parts of the State, including real estate transfer taxes,
impact taxes for school facilities and other
infrastructure, prepared meals taxes and occupancy taxes;
6) Support the North Carolina Association of County
Commissioners (NCACC) and North Carolina League of
Municipalities (NCLM) positions regarding state
government reimbursements to local governments;
7) Support NCACC' s position regarding the Article 44 Sales
Tax and an additional half-cent sales tax to replace the
current state reimbursements to local governments;
TRANSPORTATION
8) Support establishing a permanent prohibition on billboard
advertisements along Interstate 40 [S 1098 (2001) 1 ;
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9) Support funding for the establishment and implementation
of Rural Transportation Planning Organizations throughout
the State;
10) Support legislation providing the North Carolina
Department of Transportation with flexibility statewide
in addressing acceptance and maintenance of post-1975
recorded subdivisions with unpaved roads to address
unintended exclusion from the state-maintained road
system (Examples : 1)Developed subdivisions based on
unrecorded subdivision plats on pre-1975 unrecorded
subdivision plats which plats include publicly dedicated
roads and 2)Unexpected Death of Original Subdivision
Property Owner and Lack of Owner' s Right-of-Way
Dedication Signature on recorded plat) ;
SOCIAL SAFETY NET
11) Support legislation to maintain the current level of
funding for State Aid to Counties in the Social Services
Budget . These funds have been available from the state
for decades to support the administration of state and
federal public assistance programs provided through
county governments . These funds are used to pay some of
the costs of the staff who determine eligibility for
Food Stamps, Medicaid and other financial assistance
programs . These programs are experiencing growth in the
number of persons needing assistance, which has
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increased the workload for the staff at Social
Services . The state should maintain its current level
of funding to support the county administration of these
programs, especially since this is one of the few
sources of state funds in any of the operational costs
of the local Social Services programs . The Senate
budget proposes to cut $5 . 5 million of these funds which
would reduce Orange County' s allocation from
approximated $69, 000 to $11, 000 annually. Since these
funds can be used to match federal funds, loss of these
funds could result in $116, 000 in funds for staff at
Social Services .
12) Support legislation providing that the State is
responsible for providing services to children in need
of residential mental health treatment (Example: S 1469
[1999-20001 ) ;
13) Support adequate funding of the Criminal Justice
Partnership Program (CJPP) and other alternatives to
incarceration programs with the understanding that
diverting these funds is penny-wise and pound-foolish
and would lead to greater costs for the correctional
system as well as the general public;
14) Support adequate funding for Dispute Settlement Centers
and other similar entities as these resources provide
viable alternatives to the court system and thereby
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diminish court costs and the strain on the limited,
already over-burdened judicial system;
15) Support legislation directing that the North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services put on hold
further efforts regarding mental health reform until 1)
adequate funding is provided to local governments to
address implementation costs and 2) adequate planning
and funding is provided to address the costs which will
be incurred with the de-institutionalization activities
that will certainly occur as an outcome of reform;
16) Support legislation involving programs and funding to
expand the in-home services available to seniors;
17) Support legislation which promotes reform of the medical
prescription system that incorporates provisions
included in the State of Maine system;
18) Support legislation which maintains adequate funding for
Smart Start statewide and ensures that children across
the state can have the opportunities for success in the
same manner as those detailed in the attached Exhibit A
from Orange County Partnership for Young Children;
19) Oppose cuts in funding to the University of North
Carolina Pharmacy School and related activities;
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20) Oppose cuts in funding to the University of North
Carolina Dental Clinic;
21) Oppose cuts in funding to the North Carolina Poison
Control Center which provides immediate life-saving
assistance to families across the state and reduces
costs to the public, the state, and medical institutions
by reducing the public' s need to utilize emergency rooms
and other medical facilities;
SOLID WASTE
The State of North Carolina has not demonstrated adequate
leadership on recycling efforts . It has failed to
implement strategies and incentives to encourage recycling
and also has not instituted penalties sufficient to ensure
that recycling opportunities are pursued. This deficiency
could begin to be reversed as follows :
22) Support bottle deposit legislation to be applied to any
liquids bottled for human beverage consumption including
soda, juice, beer, milk, wine, tea, water, and whiskey;
23) Support legislation making permanent the existing 20
advance disposal tax for scrap tires as detailed in the
attached resolution (Exhibit B) approved by the Orange
County Board of Commissioners on June 4, 2002;
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24) Support legislation requiring an advance recycling fee
(ARF) and a subsequent ban on landfilling or
incineration of televisions, computer monitors and other
devices using a cathode ray tube (CRT) to display an
image on a screen;
25) Support legislation that promotes and supports the
recycling and disposal of white goods;
EDUCATION
Orange County believes that cosmetic political initiatives
regarding education that create unfunded mandates for local
governments should be opposed. Examples of these include:
26) Legislation which seeks to reduce class size if the
State does not include the necessary funding (capital
and otherwise) and thereby creates additional pressures
on local school systems for construction of new and
expanded school facilities and for additional support
staff;
27) Legislation that expands programs such as � More at
Four that obligate local school systems ' space if the
State does not include the necessary funding (capital
and otherwise) and thereby creates additional pressures
on local school systems for construction of new and
expanded school facilities and for support staff;
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28) Legislation cutting or reducing funding and other
support to the UNC School of Government (Institute of
Government) which has the effect of reducing its
effectiveness in assisting local governments in finance,
planning, and the many other areas where local
governments across the state depend on its breadth of
knowledge;
OTHER
29) Oppose legislation involving changes to the Alcohol
Beverage Control (ABC) system unless local ABC Boards
and local governments are included in discussion and
formulation of proposed changes and that any changes
"hold harmless" the services and funds provided to local
governments under the current system;
30) Support legislation that continues the current level of
State funding for all existing positions in County Soil
and Water Conservation offices;
31) Support legislation requiring county commissioner
approval for any proposed exercise of eminent domain
power by any utility operating in a deregulated
environment;
32) Support legislation enabling process free, gratuitous
transfers of equipment and supplies from one unit of
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local government to another during emergencies/natural
disasters;
33) Support amending the annexation laws to require
consultation with counties, including joint city-county
public hearings, on any proposed annexation, and to
provide planning and revenue option incentives to county
and municipal governments that enter into cooperative
planning agreements;
Upon motion of Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner
Halkiotis, the foregoing resolution was adopted this the 18th
day of June, 2002 .
I, Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk to the Board of Commissioners
for the County of Orange, North Carolina, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that
the foregoing is a true copy of so much of the proceedings of
said Board at a meeting held on June 18, 2002 as relates in any
way to the adoption of the foregoing and that said proceedings
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are recorded in Minute Book No. 31 of the minutes of said
Board.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of said County, this 24th day
of June, 2002 .
®tir¢° call. Clerk to t Board o C mmissioners
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cat Its
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May 20 02 01 : 25p Orange county Partnership 1 919 933 1008 p. 1
r Elkhr�i�
Orange County Partnership for Young Children
i8z9 L Franklin Street,Sulte 1200-B
Chapel Hill„NC 27514
919-967-gogs wo 7 phone
919-933-goo8 7 fax
OCPYC BOARD MEMBERS
Please distribute this fax to the following people in your agency:
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON
Orange County Cooperative Extension Fletcher Barber
Chapel Hill Town Council Flicka Bateman
Chapel Hill/Carrboro Head Start Terry Blanton
University of North Carolina Harriet Boone
Orange County Schools Randy Bridges
Attorney Jay Bryan
Dept. of Social Services Nancy Coston
UNC School of Public Health Anita Fare[
Vietri, Inc. Susan Gravely
Orange County Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis
University of North Carolina Jill V. Hamm
Chapel of the Cross Martha Hart
Central Carolina Bank Ted Laws
Orange County Manager John Link
Chapel Hill Training Outreach Mike Mathers
OPC Mental Health Tom Maynard
Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools Neil Pedersen
Division of Speech and Hearing Sharon Ringwalt
Child Care Services Association Sue Russell
Chapel Hill Cooperative Preschool Kate Sanford
Orange County Family Day Care Association Margaret Shelton
Orange County Public Library Brenda Stephens
Orange County Health Department Rosemary Summers
DATE: May 20, 2001
TO: OCPYC Board Members
FROM: Michele Rivest
RE: N&O article on Smart Start
Here is the response by the N. C.Partnership for Children to the Sunday N&O article on
Smart Start. If you have any questions about this, or need to see a copy of the article,please
let me know. Thanks. Michele
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RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT CONTINUATION OF EXISTING SCRAP TIRE ADVANCE
DISPOSAL FEE AND TO REMOVE THE SUNSET PROVISION THAT WILL REDUCE THE FEE
FROM 2% TO 1% EFFECTIVE JUNE 30, 2002
WHEREAS, the 2%Advance Disposal Fee is the central component of the North Carolina State.
Scrap Tire Program;
WHEREAS, this is one of the few areas in recycling and in promotion of solid waste reduction
where the state of North Carolina has actively demonstrated leadership and vision; and
WHEREAS, the program has been highly effective here in Orange County and throughout the
state;
WHEREAS, the fee has previously been 1% and was found to be inadequate to fund the essential
programs related to managing scrap tires;
WHEREAS, the fee supports abatement of nuisance tire collection sites and has been utilized here
in Orange County for that very purpose;
WHEREAS, the fee supports and encourages scrap fire recycling activities; and
WHEREAS, the fee directly contributes to the significant reduction in illegal dumping of scrap tires
across the state by providing and fully funding a program that efficiently and effectively manages
this waste material.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Orange County Commissioners that the
Board fully supports the continuation of the 2% advance disposal fee and urges the legislature to
make the existing Scrap Tire Disposal Program permanent.
This, the 4th day of June, 2002.
Barry Jacobs, i
Orange Co Bard Coun Commissioners