Agenda - 06-21-1999 - 10d - Laserfiche WebLink

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term needs. It is recommended that Orange County and Carrboro develop plans to match other funding with the current payment -in -lieu funds to use these resources. Even with its limitations, the existing payment -in -lieu program should be kept and modified where possible. The potential for an impact fee or impact tax should be explored, using existing legislation. H. Address Existing Needs While more thorough standards are needed, a population -based standard from the 1996 Assembly of Governments report was used to determine needs for parklands. Using this standard, the County as a whole has a current deficit of 645 acres of parkland. With expected population growth, this is County and Towns combined with have a deficit of 1,265 acres by the year 2025. Based on average land sales (weighted for urban and rural lands) and existing bond funds, the cost of purchasing lands to erase the long -term deficit is $10.12 million in 1999 dollars. Since this will unquestionably rise in the future, the Work Group again recommends immediate action in terms of land acquisitions. I. Use of Current Funds and Future Funding Needs While it may be more practical to develop recreation facilities over time as the population increases, a more - proactive approach to land acquisition is needed to identify and purchase sites that offer both active and low- impact recreation potential. Matching funds from the different jurisdictions (coordinated through the aforementioned joint capital funding mechanism) should be an important component, and an acreage threshold and additional standards for joint school /park sites are also warranted. To address long -term needs, the Work Group recommends that the following actions occur: ➢ The remaining $2.89 million for land acquisition from the County parks bond should be used for acquisition of lands identified as sites for long -term acquisition as soon as possible. ➢ The remainder of the $10 million in long -term land acquisition should be addressed through an $8 million parks bond placed before the voters in November 2000. The Parks and Resource Lands Council should develop the specifics of the bond proposal.