Minutes - 20070119 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Chair Carey said that the issue is to put together a plan to bring closure. 2 3 Discussion of priorities 4 5 Taxes 6 Chair Carey said that he would like to limit tax increases to no more than what is needed 7 to pay new debt service. 8 Commissioner Nelson said that he thinks that the Board and the staff, as a team, should 9 really dig down and figure out why the County has had 18 years of tax increases in a row. 10 Commissioner Jacobs said that he agrees with both Chair Carey and Commissioner 11 Nelson. He said that for a couple of years the Board has asked the Manager for scenarios with 12 zero tax increase, and last year the Manager said that he could not do this. He said that this 13 should not be an answer. He would like to challenge the assumptions that some things are 14 inseparable from County government. 15 Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to hold the line on taxes. She thinks that 16 the County residents want to have excellent services. She said that the current debt schedule is 17 at the maximum. She agrees that the County cannot sustain the six-cent increase, which has 18 happened the last two years. It is a difficult issue. 19 Commissioner Jacobs said that one mistake that the County has made is that it enters 20 into things like parks without thinking about the extra staff; that it builds buildings without 21 thinking that they need to be cleaned; etc. He said that this information is not received until 22 after the decision is made. 23 Commissioner Foushee agreed with all and reiterated that, when considerations are not 24 made on the front end, then more is spent just in staffing. She said that budgets for temporary 25 and overtime staff are inefficient. For example, some people are hired for 11.5 months on a 26 temporary basis and not paid benefits, and in other occasions, people are working overtime and 27 being paid time and a half, when one more staff person could have been hired to do the work. 28 She said that this costs greatly. 29 Commissioner Nelson said that he did not vote for County Government Efficiency, but he 30 has an assumption that it is a part of dealing with the tax issue. He said that dealing with this 31 issue of taxes is long term and is the most important component is that it will be a team effort. 32 Chair Carey said that he did not vote for County Government Efficiency because it had 33 several things listed under it that he thought were the responsibility of the County Manager. He 34 said that he has been on the Board for 18 years and he understands why the taxes were raised. 35 He said that it is not cheap to respond to the needs of the County, but this pattern is not 36 sustainable. For this next budget, he would like staff to bring back a tax rate no higher than 37 what is needed to service the debt. He thinks that this is a good place to start. 38 Commissioner Jacobs said that, based on the budget drivers, two things that come to his 39 mind immediately are one cent for new school students and two cents for mandatory salary 40 increases for school employees. He asked if then three cents would be cut out of County 41 operations to accommodate for this. Chair Carey said that he is not saying to take it out of the 42 County operations budget, but the County Commissioners have the responsibility for everyone 43 in this County. 44 Commissioner Gordon suggested setting targets on how much the Board is willing to 45 raise taxes because there will be growth issues. She would rather have a target and let the staff 46 figure out the best ways to cut. 47 Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board does not have a philosophy about taxes and 48 what it is trying to accomplish or not accomplish. He said that Chair Carey is trying to present a 49 framework. He is not sure it is the right framework, but he thinks that a framework is needed. 50 Andy Sachs said that the consensus is that everyone agrees on some type of tax 51 increase.