Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
2. Debt service. Board members were asked to consider how much the county should <br /> take on in debt. The county is currently committed to $30 million with additional <br /> projects such as parks, affordable housing and Gateway needing funding. <br /> 3. General fund. Based on historical trends, natural growth in county revenue from <br /> property tax is projected to grow by about 3.9%. This is exclusive of revenue increases <br /> tied to recent real property revaluations. However,the growth in revenue could be less <br /> due to the decline in housing sales. Historical trends in expenditure growth is about <br /> 5.4% <br /> Policy Issues for Board Consideration <br /> 1. Based on preliminary projections shared with the Board in September 2008,there is a <br /> projected $10 million gap between revenues and expenditures. Options for closing the <br /> gap include: <br /> a. Reducing expenditures and raise revenues. <br /> b. Looking for other sources of revenues. <br /> c. Growing the commercial tax base. <br /> 2. If the board decides not to increase taxes and stay with the revenue neutral tax rate for <br /> FY 2009-10: <br /> a. What would the revenue neutral tax rate be and how much revenue will that <br /> generate? <br /> b. How to determine the level of funding for schools and other county priorities? <br /> 3. What level of funding should be provided for schools? Should schools be asked to <br /> "share the pain" with other priorities? Options to consider: <br /> a. Cap expenditures at 48.1% <br /> b. Do not use a ceiling for expenditures and consider other methods for allocating <br /> funding. <br /> c. Allocate no more than 50% of the county budget to schools. <br /> 4. What level of funding should be provided to the community college? Board members <br /> are aware of the role the community college plays in helping citizens retool in hard <br /> economic times. <br /> Priorities for 2009-2010 Budget <br /> The board discussed and voted on the following priorities for consideration in the 2009-2010 <br /> budget. Below is a list of the top 11 priorities. Attachments 1-3 in this document show the <br /> detail. <br /> 1. Conserve high priority natural areas, wildlife habitat, and prime forest. <br /> 2. Implement Comprehensive Land Use Plan. <br /> 3. Develop economic plans for 3 districts. <br /> 2 <br />