ORD-2009-055 - Debt Issuance Costs and Transfers Capital Project Ordinance

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~9-a9 ~c Laura Blackmon made reference to the list of tiers for monthly bills. This is a four-year program. She said that the proposal for the Board is to monitor the first and second year to see the impact on the neighborhoods and then reevaluate where they are. Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is capacity in these funds for additional people. Kevin Lindley said that the Town of Hillsborough has also agreed to let Efland customers use part of the water assistance fund. Commissioner Yuhasz asked that notice of these programs go out with the shut-off notice. A motion was made by Commissioner Yuhasz, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to implement an information and referral process to alert all Efland Sewer customers on how to access Emergency Assistance programs administered by both Social Services and OCIM, including that funding by the Town, to help eligible households pay their utility bills and monitor and assess the demand for Emergency Assistance caused by increased sewer rates during the first year (FY 2009-10) and use those findings to formulate recommendations to the Board about future levels of assistance that may be necessary. VOTE: UNANIMOUS c. Capital Project Ordinances Amendments The Board considered approving amended capital project ordinances appropriating additional funds for School Capital Projects which are over budget and making various corrections to County Capital Project ordinances. Laura Blackmon said that last fall the staff brought forward some issues with the School Capital Projects and the County Capital Projects. Finance has been itemizing the differences that resulted in the staff asking for some fund balance in order to set this right. Financial Services Director Gary Humphreys said that these are not all of the amendments the Board of County Commissioners will see and the items have been organized in groups. The first group is for the schools. He said that with the exception of the one on Pathways Elementary, all of the funds were allocated to the projects but not reflected necessarily in the budget. He said that the budget amounts are not significantly out of line with what the schools show as their budgets. Commissioner Hemminger verified that this had no negative impact on the schools and is a matter of cleaning up the books. Discussion ensued about why this is being done. Gary Humphreys said that this involves eliminating the existing revenue source and replacing it with the appropriate revenue source. Commissioner Gordon said that you really cannot tell what has happened by reading this document. She said that she would like to see the overall picture and complete project ordinances. She is concerned about this because project ordinances are what implement projects. She also wants to make sure that all stakeholders, such as the schools, department directors, etc., are involved in reviewing these changes. Laura Blackmon said that the project ordinances should list all of the revenues, etc., and the Board should have all of the information it needs. Laura Blackmon said that bond money should be spent right away and not nine years later and Commissioner Gordon agreed. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would like to see the original project ordinances because it would make a lot more sense to him. He asked that the staff bring a random sample of these. Chair Foushee said that it would be important for the public to know what measures have been put in place to make sure this does not happen again. Gary Humphreys said that it would be a matter of reviewing these on a constant basis.