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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-23-2005-7bORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: .June 23, 2005 Action Agenda Item No. ~~__. SUBJECT: Initial Report on Orange County Schools District Tax/Countywide Schools Tax Referendum DEPARTMENT: Manager/Attorney/Elections ATTACHMENT(S): 6/21/05 County Attorney Letter w/attachments 6/15/05 Elections Director Memo 6/17/05 OCS District Tax Questions PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No INFORMATION CONTACT: Rod Visser, ext 2300 Geof Gledhill, 732-2196 Carolyn Thomas, ext 2350 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To receive a report on issues related to possible referenda on an Orange Ccunty Schools (OCS) supplemental district tax or a countywide supplemental schools tax, BACKGROUND: During the regular meeting on June 7, 2005, County Commissioners discussed the possibility of calling a referendum during the scheduled November 8, 2005 election on the implementation of either a supplemental school tax applicable within the Orange County Schools district, or a countywide supplemental schools tax. The Board asked the Manager, Attorney, and staff to return before the summer hiatus with a preliminary report on the timing, authority, and other parameters that would be associated with pursuing one referendum or the other, The County Attorney has prepared a letter outlining the major considerations associated with supplemental school tax referenda, That letter, along with previous relevant correspondence between the Attorney and BOCC, is attached as background information. With regard to timing of specific actions related to a possible November 8 referendum, the attached memo from the Director of Elections indicates that ballot language would need to be received by the Board of Elections no later than September 1 to provide adequate lead time for ballots to be printed and distributed so they are available within statutorily specified timeframes. In light of the BOCC's established 2005 meeting schedule, the Board must take, at its August 16, 2005 regular meeting, whatever action it intends to take regarding calling a November 8 referendum, If the Board indicates on June 23 its inclination to hold one referendum or the other, staff will develop draft ballot language far the BOCC to review at its August 16 meeting, Staff and the Attorney would take the time between August 16 and September 1 to carry out whatever legal review and administrative steps might be needed so that ballot language could be provided to the Board of Elections on or before September 1, 2005. The County Manager has received communication from OCS Board of Education member Elizabeth Brown posing a range of pertinent questions about district tax issues, The Manager believes that it is important for the BOCC to identify by August 1, 2QQ5 all questions or additional topics that the Board wants researched for the Board's deliberations at the August 16 meeting, That should provide adequate preparation time for staff to develop responses tc any such additional Commissioner questions, FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact associated with receiving and discussing this report, RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report and provide appropriate direction tc the Manager, Attorney, and staff, L~4w or-r-icEs COLEMAN, GLEDHILL, HARGRAVE &. PEEK. a PROF@5510!JAL CORI'OR:ITION I'9 G "flit'ON STRBGT P O UR4WL'R Li?9 p{ILL513C1ROU~fI i. ~ORTFI (:AROLI~ A '_T„ iR Fax ~>iN-7 ;Jane7 .cu a~ c^undh onn June 21 Moses Carey, Jr., Chair valerie P. Foushee Alice M, Gordon Stephen Halkiotis Barry Jacobs Orange County Board Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, North 20C5 of Commissioners Carolina 27278 3 P30pI 7liC gf51: OP GEOEFREI'G GLEDhO LL 61.1: \I L: vc~arcu~pl::ihill ~~~ce~~uJ6 ami RE: Orange County Administrative Unit, Special Tax District; Orange County-wide, Special Tax District Dear Board Members: This letter answers school supplemental tax referendum related questions intended to help the Board in its discussion on June 23, 2005, It provides, in a numbered bulleted format, pertinent provisions of North Carolina law that would pertain if there were a county commissioner initiated election for a supplemental tax for the Orange County school district or for the entire County. All of what is described below is in the general law. By special or local act any number of modifications or variations to the general law are possible. Also, 1 have written to the Board several times in the past about supplemental school tax elections, A copy of each of my prior letters accompanies this letter. 1. A voter approved supplemental tax for school purposes is for the purpose of "supplement[ing] the funds from State and county allotments and thereby operat[ing] schools of a higher standard by supplementing any item of expenditure in the school budget...." N,C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-501. 2. An Orange County School District tax for supplementing the public school budget cannot exceed 50G on each $100.00 of 4- Orange County Board of Commissioners Paae 2 June 21, 2005 prODert'i ~ialUe. (The Grange Gounty SCY'_001 Di_St"L1Ct 1.5 a school administrative unit/district ha-ring a total pcpul_=.t ion of less than 100,000.) P_ County-wide supplemental tax cannot exceed o'Ofi en each $100,00 of property value. (The County as a whole is an "other sc"r_ool area" ha~rir_g a total populatio::. of 100, 000 or more,) N,C. Gen. Stat, § 1150-502. 3. The ta,c is effec~ive the nest fiscal year following the election, N,C, Gen. Stat. § 115C-508. 4. The board of count,: cemmissioners calls the election and fixes t'r_e date of the election, N,C. Gen. Stat, § 115C-501; § 115C-506, County staff has determined, with the Y!e1p of the Orange County Board of Elections Director, that August lo', 2005 is the latest date an election can be called in time for a November 8, 2005 referendum, That information is provided as anor_her attachment to the agenda item abstract for yct.tr consideration, 5. T_~e ballot language determines the tax rate limit (not exceeding tl-.e statutory ma:timum) and permitted uses of tre suppl=mental tax proceeds. N.C. Gen, Stat. § 115C-502; § 115C- 511(a), 6, If the tax is approved by the voters, *_he boarrd{s) of educatior_ in the annual budget submitted to the board of county commissioners "shall request the rate of ad -ralorem tax it wishes to have levied on its behalf as a school supplemental tax not exceeding the rate approved by the voters." The board of county commissioners may approve or disapprove the...request, in whole or in part, and may levy a rate of supplemental tax "as it may find to be in the best interests of the ta:cpayers and the public schools, not in excess of the rate requested by the board of education," N.C, Gen, Stat. § 1150-511(b) In my December 2, 2003 letter to you, I addressed what I think the Board of Commissioners would be required to do in the case of each Board of Education requesting a different tax rate for a County-wide supplemental tax, I concluded then as I do now that the lower rate requested each year is likel;- to be the cap on the levy for the tax each year. Diorth Carolina. statutes are silent as to whether a supplemental tax ballot- question could time-limit the tax, And, there are no decisions of the North Carolina appellate courts addressing that question. However, a supplemental tax can be abolished by referendum, the referendum called in any manner 5- Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 3 June 21, 2005 a-railable to ca11 a r'efe-rendum to authorize the supplemental tax. I therefore recommend against time-limiting the tax in the referendum, in the absence of e,cpress authorization to do so from the General Assembly. Very- truly yours, COLEMAN, GLEDHILL, HARGR.~VE & PEEK, P.C. edhill GEG/lsg Enclosures xc: John M. Lin'.~c, Jr. lsy: le ttecs`,~doi rom cc adm uni~ scec dirt ta:< ler. dcc LAW OFFICES COLEMAN, OLEDHILL, HARGRAVE & PEEK A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 129 E. TRYON STREET P O. DRAWER 1529 HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA Z7Z78 919~~73b2196 FAX 919-732 7997 www cgandh com Barry Jacobs, Chair Margaret W; Brown Moses Carey, Jr. Alice P4 Gordon Stephen H. Halkiotis Orange County Board Post Office Bo:c 8181 Hillsborough, North December ?, 2003 of Commissioners Carolina 27278 RE: Supplemental Tax to Operate Standard Dear Board Members: FROMI THG DESK Of GEOFFREY E. GLEDHILL EMAIL gm~TnvR4dh~IIC'c6+nJh com Schools of a Higher During the Board's recent work session to discuss responses to the school merger public hearings and the staff prepared analysis of potential impacts resulting from possible school merger, several supplemental tax questions were raised. This letter answers those questions in the conte:ct of "no merger" of the school systems. There are special rules related to supplemental ta:ces in the context of the merger of school administrative ur_its. And, it is an analysis of the general law only, Other options could be available through local act of the General Assembly. ' P_ board of county commissioners has no inherer_t authority to "call" elections, Any election called must be one authorized by law. The la~~~ can be general or special/local, Subchapter VIII, Article 36 of Chapter 115C of the North Carolina General Statutes authorizes voter-approved supplements for school purposes. DT. C. Gen. Stat. s 115C-5ol(a) authorizes the board of county commissioners to ca11 an election to ascertain the wi11 of the voters as to whether there shall be levied and collected a special tax to operate schools of a higher standard by supplementing any item of expenditure in the school budget. Such an election can be for one administrative unit/special tax district, more than one administrative unit/tax district (with 7 Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 2 December 2, 2003 the same or' different authorized amounts less than the ma:timum permitted for each of the districts) or county-wide. If an election calling for a county-wide supplemental tax passes, the taxes collected are apportioned among the local school administrative units in the county pursuant to DT. C. Gen. Stat, § 115C-430, N,C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-430 requires a current e.cpense county appropriation in a multi-school administrative unit to be apportioned according to the membership of each unit, The total money collected from a county-wide supplemental tax would therefore be divided by the total school membership in the entire county for each budget year, as determined by and certified to the board of county commissioners by the State Board of Education, and then appropriated, per pupil, to each of the administrative units according to their membership, P_ county-wide supplemental tax in Orange County could not exceed sixty cents on each one hundred dollars of property valuation (tax district equalling or exceeding 100,000 population), A supplemental tax for one or each of the administrative units in Orange County could not exceed fifty cents on one hundred dollars of property valuation (each tax district would have less than 100,000 population). N,C. Gen, Stat. § 115C-502. One of the ways the law provides for the election to be called is as the result of a petition. Local boards of education may petition the board of commissioners for an election in their respective school administrative units. There is also a provision for twenty-five percent (250) of the qualified voters who reside in a local school administrative unit to petition the local board of education for an election. N_C. Gen. Stat. § i15C-503. In the event there is a successful voter petition, that is, one where 250 or more of the qualified voters who reside in a local administrative unit signing the petition, the board of education of the administrative unit receiving the petition must give "due consideration to [the] voter petition.,.." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-505, That means, a qualifying voter petition does not require the board of education receiving it to petition the board of commissioners for an election, 'The special district tax in effect in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City special tax district has an authorized maximum of thirty-five cents on one hundred dollars valuation of property. Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 3 December 2, 2003 A petition requesting a special school election bearing the approval of a board of education, when presented to the board of commissioners, carries with it the requirement that the board of commissioners call the election. It is therefore the "duty of the board of county commissioners to call the election petitioned for and fix the date for the election.." N.C, Gen. Stat. § 1150-506. A county board of election conducts the election called by the board of county commissioners and, where the election is the result of the board of education petitioning for' it, the board of education pays for the election. N.C. Gen. Stat, § 1150-507, The board of commissioners sets the date for the election regardless of the method by which the election occurs. That is, even when the election is called because of the petition to the board of county commissioners from the board[s] of education, the board of county commissioners sets the election. date. The statutes authorizing local tax elections do not explain what happens when, in the case of a multi-administrative unit county, one board of education petitions the board of commissioners for a county-wide supplemental tax and the other does not. This is so notwithstanding the fact that the law appears to make it mandatory for the board of county commissioners to call a county-wide supplemental tax election only within the administrative unit whose board of education petitions for it. A question that further muddies this water is what happens if the election is actually conducted and passes in only one administrative unit? One answer to this question is that the ta;c would be imposed only on property in the administrative unit where the election is conducted but the tax proceeds would be distributed county-wide on a per pupil basis, I can't say that I think the General Assembly intended this result, I can say that I would expect such an outcome to result in litigation. Presumably, if the Board of Commissioners of Orange County were to receive a petition from only one of the boards of education in the County seeking an election on a county-wide supplemental tax, it would use its authority to call an election county-wide, If a board of education petitions the board of county commissioners for an election, the board of education may withdraw the petition 25 days before the election. If the petition is withdrawn, the election is not held q Orange County Board of Commissioners Page ? December 2, 2003 unless it is called by the board of county commissioners pursuant to other statutory authorization, There's one other important difference between a petition- initiated election for a county-wide supplemental tax and one called by the board of county commissioners pursuant to its statutory power to call for the election. N.C. Gen. Stat, § 1150-504 contains the information which must be in the petition. Subsection (5) states: (5) If the petition for an election is to supplement and equalize educational advantages, and if any school districts in the area in which it is proposed to vote such a tax have heretofore voted a supplementary tax, the petition and the notice of election shall state that in the event such election is carried, it will repeal all local taxes heretofore voted in any district except those in effect for debt service in any district, unless such debt service obligation is assumed by the county or otherwise provided for. There is no comparable provision for' a county commissioner- called county-wide supplemental tax election. Thus, it seems to me, that the General Assembly is providing a board of county commissioners with similar flexibility in calling for' supplemental tax elections as it provides a board of county commissioners in calling for school merger. Merger is accomplished by a board of commissioners without a vote of the people. Nterger accomplished by initiation of boards of education can be made subject to a vote of the people. County-wide supplemental tax authorization can be approved by the voters without impairing an already authorized district tax if the election for a county-wide supplemental tax is called by the board of commissioners on its own initiative. Tf the voters approve a supplemental tax the board of county commissioners is authorized to levy it, generally for the purpose of supplementing the local current e:cpense fund, the capital outlay fund, or' both, The ballot language will determine the tax rate limit (not exceeding the statutory maximum) and permitted uses of supplemental tax proceeds. N.. C. Gen. Stat. § 1150-511(a) If the tax is approved, the board of education in Ora_^_ge Ccunt_; Beard of Commissi~r_Ers Page 5 December 2, 2003 -o the arrua'~ :ot.dcet it s~.zbmits tc the board of county CGm:m ]. EiOP_ErS "steal! requESt trc rate of ad ~: nlora-~ ta:c it wis~~ES to have levied on its behalf as a school supplemental to=: r~Ot ° ::.'ee'~.'"nCJ t'f'_e rate app l'O'Jed }J".; t11E ~iO ters." T1?c board Of county cc~~mi.ssioners may approve c- disapprove the board of educatior_ request. in whole or in part, and mar le~~;r a rate cf SupDlE'.itE?='=a.L tax "as 1C ma"'/ flrid tO bE iP_ trE best 1nteYeSt Cf the ta.cra_,;ers and tine public schools, not in excess of the rate requested b-, the board of education." N.C" Gen. Scat, § 115C- 511(b) Ancl, it is unlawful fer any part of a supplemental ta.c to bE used for purposes ether than authorized by the electior_. N.C. GEn. Stat, § 115C-511(c). Tine law rec~iires interpretation as to the responsibility of the board of commissioners in a multi-school administrative unit county where there is a county-wide supplemental tax in effect. Presumably Each board of education would make a recommendation for the county-wide supplemental ta:c.. If the request of the two beards of education fo-r the rate of the county-wide district tax are not the same, the lower rate requested is likely to be the cap cn the board of county commissioner levy for that tax.. The last important thing to mentior_ with respect to supplemental tastes is how they differ from appropriations cf county funds to boards of education fo-r current expense and capital, As you know, the beard of cotuzty commissioners has wide discretion in appropriating county funds to the boards of education for both current e:cpensE and capital,- That discretion allows "appropriation by purposE, function, or project as defined in the uniform budget format" (a chart cf accounts promulgated by the State Board cf Education). Pi..C. GEn. Stat. § 1150-12?(b). On the ether hand, supplemental ta:ces collected arE not county appropriations to the board of education at all. Pather, the fasces, once colleetecl, are fur_ds of the school administrative units and "sha11 bE remitted to the local school administrative n:nit[s] within 10 days after the close of each calEndar month," Di, C. Gen. Stat. 3 115C-511(b), 'This discretion is limited, however, by the per-pupil allocation required for current e:tpense and by statutory appeal rights available to the boards of education concerning both current expense appropriations and capital appropriations, Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 6 December 2, 2003 S have enclosed earlier correspondence to you concerning supplemental school taxes. The letters enclosed provide some additional information and some additional detail to the information that is provided in this letter. Very truly yours, COLEMAN, GLEDHTLL, FiARGRAVE & PEEK, P.C. 1 GEG/lsg Enclosures xc: John NI, Lin]c, Jr. lsg:letters\bdo£comsupplemeataltax 1tr L.~W OFFICES COLE1~fAN, GLEDHILL &. HARGR4VE ~ a .~ PROFEiEIONAL CORPORjT[CN L9 E TRYON SKEET Jun e 8, 2 0 0 1 R O DRAWER ti29 HILLSBOROUGH. NORTH CAROLINA ? i'_79 91973??196 FROM THE DESK OF Fir 9I9~J?7997 VIA FACSIMILE GEOFFREYE GLEDHILL WEBSITE WW`U CGANDH COrrt Stephen H, Halkiotis, Chair Margaret W, Brown Moses Carey, Jr. Alice Ni. Cordon Barry Jacobs Orange County Board of Commissioners Post Office Box 8181 Hi1_lsborough, North Carolina 27278 RE: Local Tax Election Dear Board Members: This letter is in response to an inquiry of me by Commissioner Halkiotis in response to questions raised by citizens at the June 7, 2001 budget public hearing. The subject of this memorandum is local tax elections. In brief, the question posed is how can there be an election in the Orange County School District for a supplemental tax? The short answer is the election can result in any one of the following ways: 1, The Board of County Commissioners can call for an election on the establishment of the supplemental tax on its own initiative. 2, The Orange County Board of Education may petition the Board of County Commissioners for an election on its own initiative, 3, The Orange County Board of Education may petition the Board of County Commissioners by endorsing a petition received by the Board of Education signed by 25a of the qualified voters who reside in the Orange County School District which petition calls for the election, Sn the event a petition of 25~ of the qualified voters in the school district is presented to the Board of Education, the Board of Education must give the petition "due consideration." Thereafter if, in its discretion, the Board of Education determines that the voter petition should be approved, the Board of Education endorses the petition and presents it to the Board of County Commissioners, Orange County Board of Commissioners Page 2 June 8, 2001 The Board of County Commissioners must call an response to petitions requesting local tax election the approval of the Board of Education. The law does however, for a period prior to the election for the of the petition by the Board of Education in which c election is not held. ~3 election in s and bearing provide, wi tl?drawal ase the Enclosed is previous correspondence related to this inquiry which contains more detail. P_s you all know, I will be out of town next week. I will check in with Commissioner Halkiotis during the week for any follow up questions that I might be able to answer while I'm away. Ver~,r truly yours, COLEMAN, ~':~~~/ Geoffrey GEG/lsg ~ / xc: John M. Link, Jr. Rod Visser GLEDHILL & HARGRAVE, P.C. 11 1sg:letters\bdo2comlocalt a:<e lection,ltr CDi,Ei~IAN, BE.RNHC '., BERNHOI:Z, GLEDHILL. &: HARGR.AtiE iTTORNEYS AT L.:>.W' P O DR-~wi:R 1529 I29 E, TRYON Sr HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27'7`3 9!9-73?-?196 914-943-8000 F.4X 919-73'-7497 CHAPEL HILL OFFICE SUITE 300. TFiE CENTER, :506 E. FRANKLIN STREET CHA?EL HILL. NC F514 919-9T3--1151 FAX 9i9-9.9-389: ALONZO B COLEtit.-~`!. 1R STEVEN A.BERNHOLZ ROGER B BERNHOLZ GEOFFREY E GLEDHILL CCL'GLAS HARGRA VE G. NICHOLAS HEAAIAN KI ~1 K. STEFFAV NATH.~INIEL. E. CLEMENT bIARiLYN E. 70hIEi lOE L. WEBSTER TERRY G. HARN JA VET B DU77OV REX T SA VER'1. 1R 07 Counsel BONNER D SAWYER (I90? - 19i7) January 4, 1990 MGSes Carey, J.L., ChdlrmdR Stephen Halkiotis John Hartwell Shi-rley E. Marshall Don Willhoit Orange Caunty Board Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, North of Commissioners Carolina 27278 Re: Supplemental School Tax Dear Board Members: 14 Moses has requested our input into the idea of equalizing, by means of a county-wide school district tax, funding of the two school systems operating in the County. In this letter, we will outline briefly the school district tax enabling legislation both by statute and by local bills and offer comments and suggestions based on our discussion with Ellen Liston, The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district presently has a supplemental tax in place. That tax came into effect by virtue of the favorable result of an election called by the Commissioners in 1.951, which election was authorized by the General Assembly by Chapter .1169 of the 1951 Session Laws and a 1967 election authorizing a higher tax rate. Prior to the ratification of Chapter 1169 of the 1951 Session Laws, a supplemental tax was levied in the Chapel Hi11-Carrboro school district by authority of Chapter 2 of the 1909 Session Laws. The 1951 Act expressly terminated the authority created by the 1909 Act to levy the supplemental tax. county-wide tax could be phased in as the Chapel Hill- Carrboro tax is phased out. When the amount of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro tax reaches zero, the Chapel Hi11- The question is, then, whether a county-wide supplemental tax could be created without first abolishing the supplemental tax in Chapel Hill- Carrboro; that is, whether the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district may have two supplemental taxes in effect at the same time. We see no statutory barrier. The (~ Board of Commissioners Page 2 January 4, 1990 Carrboro supplemental tax could be abolished, either by vote (as provided for by N.C,G.S. §115C-501(e)) or by local act. of the General Assembly. The statutory authority for the school district tax is found in Article 36 of N.C.G.S. Chapter 115C. That article was adopted by the General Assembly in 1955. Prior to that time, supplemental taxes were customarily created by special act of the General Assembly. were the County to choose to create a county-wide supplemental tax, such a tax could be established in either of two ways: by the process set out by N,C,G.S. Chapter 115, Article 36 or b_v obtaining special legislation from the General Assembly. The statutory procedure is outlined below. To establish the supplemental tax by the statutory procedure requires a majority vote of the people. gnly the c board of county commissioners may call such an election, The board of commissioners may call an election of its own initiative. N,C.G.S. §115C-501(a). The board of commissioners must call an election if it receives a petition from the board of education in the district in which the tax is proposed, which petition requests an election and is approved by the board of education, N.C.G.S. §1150-506. The board of education, in turn, has two ways of petitioning the board of o commissioners for an election. The board of education may bring a petition to the board of commissioners on the former's own initiative. The board of education may also receive a petition from 25€ of the qualified voters residing in the ~ district, approve that petition and in turn petition the board c of commissioners. N.C.G.S. §1150-50.3. The board of education, however, has the authority to deny a petition seeking the establishment of a supplemental tax. L u North Carolina General Statutes §115C-507 provides for the notice of the election and form of the ballot, Pursuant to N.C.G.S. §11.5C-507, the tax, which may not exceed 50tr per $100 valuation by N.C.G.S. §115C-502, is effective the next fiscal year following the election. N.C.G,S. §1150-508. The county collects the supplemental tax in the same manner as county taxes, and collections are to be remitted to the school district within ten days cf the close of each calendar month, N.C.G.S. §115C-511. The county may, if it chooses, deduct from the amount collected the actual additional cost to the county of levying, computing, billing and collecting the tax. Id. l~ G J z z J r J L i7 0 z 0 x u z 0 U Board of Commissioners Page 3 January 4, 1990 A final comment on all of this relates to the time of disbursement to the schools by the County of money appropriated to the schools. By agreement with the schools, the County now pays to the schools each month 1/12 of the total annual per- pupil appropriation. By statute, however, the County must pay over supplemental tax receipts to the schools within ten days of the close of each month. N.C.G.S. §1150-511. If the County chose to equalize funding for the schools by the regular County per-pupil appropriation, the County may benefit from the "float." The supplemental tax approach would obligate the County to pay over the revenue generated by the supplemental tax as the revenue is received. Typically, large sums are received in the last calendar quarter of each year, much smaller sums at other times, An analysis of this aspect of the issue can probably be done by Finance. If you have further questions, please call. Very truly yours, Geoffrey E. Gledhill and Marilyn E, Tomei GEG/MET/lsg xc: John _M_, Link, Jr. E11en Liston ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS ~ 110 EAST KING STREET POST OFFICE BOX 220 HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27278 (919)245-2350 TO: Mr. Rod Visser FROM: Ms. Carolyn Thomas SUB.IECT: Election Calendar DATE: .Tune 15, 2005 Below is a time line that we need to meet in order for ballots to be printed, precincts polling places reserved, and precinct officials appointed and trained in time for the November 8, 2005 election. August 11`x' -Deadline for precinct officials' appointments August 16`x' - Board of Elections appoints each official and notifies them of dates for training September ls` -Ballot wording must be in our office so we can layout the ballot and have it approved by the Attorney before going to the State Board and then the printer, Once the printer does the final layout, it must go back to the Attorney and State Board for final approval before the ballots are printed. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for the ballots to be printed. Some counties will be conducting elections in September and October so their ballots will be printed first.. September 2.3' d -Deadline to start advertising all elections October 7°' - By-Mail absentee voting begins October 140' -Books Close October 20`x' -One-Stop Voting begins November 8°' -Election Day Please keep in mind that should Senate Bill 98 be passed, it would also require us to have multiple voting sites with networking provided at each location. That would require additional training for our precinct officials as well as additional time for the IT Department to make sure we have computer comiections to each of these locations. Please let me Irnow if you need additional information RECEIVED PROM LIZ BROWN ~p OG/17/05 Questions regarding Orange County Schools and proposed district tax .June 2005 Tax income 1. How much money would a 1-cent district tax bring in for OCS? 2. How notch would a 1-cent countywide tax bring in for OCS (asswning that roughly 63 percent must go to CHCCS, and remaitring 37 percent to OCS)? 3. To raise the unfunded $2.1 million requested by OCS this year; (to fully fund our budget), what would an OCS district tax have to be set at? 4. What would the countywide tax have to be? (4 cents?) General questions: Land values 1. What is total land mass of county? What percentage is in OCS district? How many total acres is that? 2. What is the average home value (single-family residential) in the OCS district? How about in the CHCCS district? 3. What's the total value of the property-tax base in OCS district? 4. Haw about in the CHCCS district? 5. What is total value of other (non-real) property (cars, boats, other taxables) in OCS? In CHCCS? 6. Haw many dwellings valued at $100,000 or less exist in the OCS district? 7. How many such dwellings exist in the CHCCS district? Tax Bases: Commercial 1. To compare homeowners' tax burdens in OCS and CHCCS districts: What peroentage of CHCCS district isnon-residential/commercial? 2. What percentage of OCS district isnon-residential/commercial? (Not Hillsborough alone, but all of the OCS district, including Hillsborough) 3. What percentage of the whole county is non-residential/commercial? 4. What would it take to pool all commercial tax money (in both OCS and CHCCS district) and disburse it equally per-pupil across both districts? Tax Bases: Farm-use (exemption) Program 1, What percentage of the whale county is in the farm-use program? 2. What percentage of the OCS district? 3. What percentage of the CHCCS district? 4, What does this mean? Is it accurate to describe this as, for example, farmland that would have a market assessment of $1 million is taxed instead at 6 percent of that, and pays taxes as if it's worth only $60,000? 5, How significant is this for the OCS district? Are there any figures that show tax dollars lost because land is entered into this program? (I understand the value of this program; however, I am aware of the costs to the tax base.) Tax Bases: Conservation and Watershed protection 1. What percentage of OCS dishict is in conservation programs, or otherwise non- developable due to legal restraints? (including Duke forest, parks, conservatiot easements, watershed protection, etc; but excluding OWASA) RECC[VGD FROM LIZ BROWN O 06/17/05 ~"' 2. What percentage of this type of land is in the CHCCS district? 3, How many acres of land within the OCS district are protected (pulled off the tax rolls) for OWASA, (or for the city's water supply), including all of the Cane Greek Reservoir? 4, What does this mean in tax dollars that are uncollectible? 5. How many acres of land in the CHCCS district aze protected (withdrawn from tax rolls) for OWASA? 6. How many acres of land in CHCCS is non-tax-paying, university owned? 7. How many such university-owned acres are in the OCS district? 8. How many OCS district households use water from OWASA? 9. What is the value of water preserved for OWASA, within the OCS district? What would it take to compensate the OCS dishict for this water and this land designated in watershed protection? Tax Bases: County Government land and buildings 1. How many acres in the OCS district are set aside (non tax-paying) for county and/or city govenunent works? (e.g., courts, landfill, public works, etc.) 2. How many in the CHCCS district? Tax Bases: Land-Use planning 1. How many acres in the OCS district are limited by 1-, 5-, or 10-acre (or other size) restrictions? 2. Same question for land in the CHCCS district? 3. How many acres, or what percentage of total, in rural buffer reside in the OCS district? 4. What percentage (or number of acres) lies within the CHCCS district? 5. What are the coral buffer restrictions? (Are they lot size, or prohibition against running water and sewer lines, or what specifically?) 6. What is the estimated tax impact on both districts, to restrict this land from development? (How much land is taxed at alower-than-market rate because of these restrictions?) 7, Which governing bodies set the rules for the coral buffer? 8. What would it take to lift the restrictions from the rural buffer in the OCS district? 9. What would it take to eliminate lot-size requirements in the OCS district? General questions 1. What areas within Orange County, other than schools, are treated separately? For example, are there separate public works departments for different sections of the county, or separate fre or sheriff protection? Are northern and southern areas of the county treated as distinct when it comes to funding parks, or senior centers, libraries, etc? 2, What percentage of county commissioners resides in the OCS district? 3. What percentage of members on the county's planning board resides in the OCS district? How are these members assigned to the board? Elected or appointed, and by whom? RECEIVED t:ROM LIZ BROWN 06/17/05 \\\ 4. Same question for OWASA's board: What percentage resides in OCS district? How are they appointed or elected? By whom? 5. What percentage of residents in OCS district has children in the schools? 6. What percentage of residents in CHCCS district has children in the schools? 7. What is the average income of residents in the OCS district? 8. What is the average income ofresidents in the CHCCS district? 9. What is racial demography of OC.S district? (especially minority and low-income populations) Of CHCCS district? General questions: Schools and district-tax scenarios 1. What percentage of CHCCS' local budget is funded by its district tax? 2. What is the maximum rate for this tax? (it is currently 20 cents). Is it currently capped at 35 cents? Could it rise to 60 cents if the district's population reached 100,000? What would cause it to rise? 3, If CHCCS' district tax were currently set at its maximrlrn, and its total local budget remained the same (roughly $44 million), what percentage of its local budget would this fund? 4. If CHCCS' district tax had been set at its maximum THIS YEAR, (assuming the same ratio of 10,700 CHCCS students to 6,700 OCS students, and the same budget requests submitted this year), what would the OCS district tax have to he set at to fully fund this year's requested OCS budget? In other words, what would the ad valorem tax have to be set at to fully fund the OCS budget request, if there were no CHCCS district tax at all contributing to CHCCS' budget? 5. IrI the complete absence of a CHCCS district tax, to fund both CHCCS and OCS this year, what would the tax rate have to be on a countywide tax to fund OCS with $20 million? 6. I've read that cornrnissioners discussed capping an OCS district tax at 10 cents. What is the purpose for that? Z If the OCS district tax reaches its limit - of 10 cents, for example -how would the commissioners fund the OCS budget if there was still a shortfall, given the per-pupil request from CHCCS? (Is there another option once that cap has been reached?) 8. What guarantee would OCS have that the commissioners would set the OCS tax at the appropriate rate to fully fund its school board's budget request? 9. If commissioners refused to set the OCS tax at the aniount requested by the school board, what remedy could the school system seek? 10. For the next 10 years, what are projected capital projects (new construction and major renovations) for OCS? For CHCCS? 11. Will these school-building costs be borne equally by all residents in the county, paid for by countywide taxes? 12. Would it be possible, instead of delegating district taxes in each district for per- pupil funding, to instead delegate special district taxes for capital building projects only?