Orange County NC Website
Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would like information that he can understand about <br /> the utilities. He would like to know what it would cost the County if it had to send out new <br /> valuations, such as going back to 2005 values. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said that she would like to see some categories with the <br /> revaluation and how many properties have had very large increases. Regarding <br /> communication, she said that every op-ed should be on the County's website. She would also <br /> like to address, on a future agenda, the citizens who have always lived in Orange County and <br /> who are now on fixed incomes. This is a problem that is only going to get worse. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that the County Commissioners heard from people that <br /> property values in Orange County have fallen, but he has heard from realtors that this is not <br /> true. He asked the Manager get an assessment of house values in Orange County from a <br /> realtor's association or related group. He said that Orange County has had 20 years of tax <br /> increases in a row and people have hit the wall, and when the Board of County Commissioners <br /> say it is going to be revenue neutral people do not believe them. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that there is a lot of talk at-large about opportunities on how <br /> to do things differently. He would like to think strategically about revaluations and whether a <br /> four-year cycle is smart or if it would be more responsive to market changes to have a shorter <br /> cycle. He would like to know the ramifications of this in terms of staffing, budgeting, etc. For <br /> years, there has been very little comment about revaluations. He would like to be more <br /> proactive to avoid the "sticker shock" of this year. <br /> Donna Coffey went back to the salmon-colored sheet and said that she took the revenue <br /> base from last year, the $174.3 million, and based on the Board's target funding for education, <br /> 48.1% would be $83.84 million. Out of this, $18.6 million would be dedicated to debt service. <br /> This is in line with the current funding plans that the Board of County Commissioners will have <br /> in April. The debt service will be postponed for one year and will be picked up in 2010-11. This <br /> will impact 2010-11. <br /> Regarding Recurring Capital, 2.2 cents of property taxes is dedicated to this. The $3 <br /> million will be split between the two districts. Long-Range Capital is $4.3 million. In accordance <br /> with the Board's practice for the last 3-4 years, Fair Funding has been allocated to the two <br /> school districts to pay for School Resource Officers, a portion of the school nurses, and a <br /> portion of the school social workers. This is $988,000. When all of this is taken out, this leaves <br /> $56.9 million available for current expense. If this is applied to the number of students <br /> anticipated, this equates to $3,011 per pupil compared to $3,200 per pupil in the current fiscal <br /> year. <br /> Commissioner Nelson asked about the $3,011 per pupil and if the proposed school <br /> budget was based on this and Donna Coffey said that it was based on the $3,200. She said <br /> that staff met with the Superintendents on Tuesday to let them know about these numbers. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be useful at some point to track the years of per <br /> pupil spending and see the rise. He said that 48.1% is still pretty high and it has driven the tax <br /> rate to some extent. <br /> Donna Coffey made reference to the third page and said that she took a similar <br /> approach with the County operation side, which is 51.9%. This equates to $90.5 million, which <br /> is a decrease of$4 million for County operations. There are some mandated items that the <br /> County has to fund. The County's share of the debt service for next year is $7 million. Worker's <br /> compensation is mandated and is $1.25 million. Unemployment insurance is about$60,000. <br /> There should be no more Medicaid in the budget. There are other mandated DSS programs <br /> that total $2.53 million. The remaining funds for the County after the mandated items total <br />