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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 09-30-1999 - MemoMEMORANDUM To: Board of Commissioners From: John Link, County Manager Date: September 30, 1999 Subject: County Services Provided to the Town of Hillsborough Attached are the services the County provides to the Town of Hillsborough. The summaries of County services were complied in March 99 and updated in May 99. 2 ORANGE COUNTY SERVICE PROVISION TO AND BY THE TOWN OF HILLSBOROUGH Recreation and Parks Services are not directed to particular locations or municipalities, but most participants attend activities at the facilities nearest their home. Larger programs are offered at facilities in and around Hillsborough because the primary recreation center and most county schools are located in Hillsborough Township. Using Hillsborough Zip Code (27278) as the reference point, 60% of the Recreation and Parks participants are from the Town of Hillsborough or Hillsborough Township. The only County costs for Hog Day 1997 were in the Recreation and Parks and Sheriff's Departments. Recreation and Parks staff and other costs associated with Hog Day are as follows: Hours Costs Full time staff 248.5 $4,070.63 Part time staff 50.0 296.04 Total 298.5 $4,366.67 Other miscellaneous costs 660.00 Total Recreation and Parks $5,026.67 The Sheriff's department provides security for Hog Day. Deputies provide coverage for the Hog Day activities beginning on the Friday evening, prior to the event, as well as all day Saturday during the event. Sheriff Deputies spent a total of approximately 170 hours providing security for Hog Day 1997.. The cost of this service was approximately $4,200. Note: all staff costs for Recreation and Parks and the Sheriff include benefits. *The total cost to the County for Hog Day 1997 was approximately $9,227. Animal Control Division of the Health Department During fiscal 1997/98 Animal Control responded to approximately 320 calls for service originating in the Town of Hillsborough. Calls required an estimated 800 visits to the sites to properly deliver the service requested. Animal Control Officers impounded 232 animals from Hillsborough, while Hillsborough residents impounded an additional 110 for a total of 342. Li_Li_ brarv The total number of Orange County Library registered patrons projected for fiscal year 1998-99 is 9,000. Hillsborough residents represent 33% of the total registered Library patrons. The Town of Hillsborough does not allocate funding to the Library. Elections County conducts Hillsborough's elections based on Town's 1973 request. Town reimburses County for cost of elections. In 1997/98, this amounted to $3,263.00. Emergenc Management 1. County provides a portion of Town's mandated fire inspection program, and is reimbursed for cost of the program. 2. County provides emergency management planning/disaster response to Town at no charge-(true also for CH & Carrboro). 3. County provides EMS service to Town for no charge. Unscientific estimate of cost if Town tried to provide similar level of service could be $150,000 - $250,000 (fair to note that EMS is an elective service for either County or Town, however). (true also for CH & Carrboro) 4. County provides emergency telecommunications service at no charge to Town. If Town chose to provide similar round-the-clock dispatching coverage, could easily cost $125,000 - $175,000 per year. (true also for CH & Carrboro) 5. Town/Orange Rural Fire Department provides fire protection to County buildings at no direct cost to County. County Fire Marshal provides technical assistance (e.g. arson investigation) to Town/Orange Rural at no cost (also to other VFDs). Fire Marshal provides general fire protection planning services to Hillsborough businesses at no charge. 6. The County provides HAZMAT assistance. to the Town; however, the parties responsible for the incident are billed. Finance Tax deposits and related services encompassed within municipal tax collection on contract. Land Records Reproduction of requested property maps (on an ad hoc, infrequent basis). 4 Public Works Fuel for the Town of Hillsborough vehicles and equipment based on a 1995 agreement between the Town and County. The fuel station cost $247,121 and the Town of Hillsborough contributed $54,425, in return the county would provide fuel to the town and bill them monthly for fuel cost only. The Town of Hillsborough residents use the Solid Waste Convenience Centers. Revenue County collects all municipal property taxes under a 1980 contract (CH & Carrboro are parties to same agreement). Collection cost is apportioned out to Towns based on their share of the taxes collected and number of tax bills collected on behalf of each jurisdiction. For 1997/98, Hillsborough paid about $9,200 for tax collection (real, personal, and vehicles). It seems realistic that it would cost the Town several times that amount if they handled this service themselves, but we have not studied that issue as all parties seem satisfied with the cooperative approach. By law, the County must collect motor vehicle taxes for the Towns, and can charge up to 1.5% of total vehicle taxes collected. We don't charge on this basis at this time - we have continued to charge for motor vehicle tax collection on the same formulaic basis, under the 1980 agreement (this works to the Town's advantage). Tax Assessor By law, the Assessor's office provides the municipalities with parcel values. County is not required to bill real/personal property taxes on behalf of the Towns (as noted, we must bill and collect motor vehicle taxes), but we have chosen to do so for years since County must bill County taxes anyway. County is not compensated by Towns for this service. We have not studied how much it might cost Hillsborough to do its own tax billing; however it would be a significant expenditure. Planning The county performs all building and inspections permits for Hillsborough which represents about 5% of all of our permit activity. Economic Development Hillsborough provides $6,000 to EDC for economic development efforts during fiscal year. County Engineer The County Engineer and Orange County provide a service to Hillsborough (and to the Orange Alamance Water System and to Piedmont Minerals) through coordination,ofthe Eno River Capacity Use Agreement and through the operation of Lake Orange. The Capacity Use Agreement helps preserve the aquatic life of the Eno during periods of low flow and also helps maintain or preserve the assimilative capacity of the river for discharge of treated effluent from the Hillsborough wastewater treatment plant. The operation of Lake Orange has essentially enabled the Town of Hillsborough (and the others) to avoid purchasing most or all of their water from Durham, OWASA, Mebane or others during the " " low flow/dry months of the year (typically early July through mid-December).