Minutes - 20080115 - Early - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Jacobs thanked the presenters for coming and said that once the County Commissioners decide on one of the options, then there will be an education campaign. The County Commissioners left at 7:30 p.m. to attend their regular meeting. Laura Blackmon suggested that the LROEAC could continue its discussion if desired. Roland Stephen said that voters understand better if a county chooses a new option and it goes to an enterprise fund or a dedicated pool because there is a visible effect. This is something to consider. Budget Director Donna Coffey pointed out that this particular sales tax would exempt food and medicines. Ben Lloyd said that the trend in Orange County is that land transfers are going down and sales tax is going up. He thinks that the projections for Orange County are artificial. He said that the sales tax is the way to go because everybody would pay it. Roland Stephen and Karl Smith left at 7:53 p.m. Rod Visser said that at the last meeting, there was discussion about the potential of having meetings early Tuesday evenings. He suggested planning to get back together next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to create a list of FAQs for the revenue options. Rod Visser distributed a meeting summary from the last meeting and welcomed comments. Also, before the next meeting, he suggested that the members email him the pros and cons of each option. He reiterated that the County Commissioners are not looking for a consensus recommendation, but they welcome comments from individual committee members or citizens. A committee member asked about the Board's position and Rod Visser said that the Board decided that it did not have enough time to put this issue on a ballot in November, however, it is the intention to place the question on the ballot on May 6, 2008. This is the stated position of the Board at this time. A member of the advisory committee stated that he would like to know what can and cannot be said in an education piece. He suggested having someone come to make a presentation about this, since it is the charge of the advisory committee to educate people. Rod Visser said that the short answer is that there is no case law about this issue, and there is a controlling thought process, which is an article that was written at the Institute of Government in 1987. The basic point is that you do not spend public tax dollars to advocate for or against. There is no statute or case law in North Carolina about this. He said that the individual members of the committee could advocate for or against, but the education advisory committee should not support one or the other. 6. Adjourn With no further items to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Barry Jacobs Chair David Hunt Deputy Clerk to the Board