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719 Commissioner Willhoit said he did not believe it worthwhile to try to nickel and dime the contract down. It looks like it is 1/2 million aver our estimates. If there is a chance to get more competitive bids, maybe we should ga out for bids again. Ben Lloyd asked if he understood Commissioner Willhoit to say it would cast 1/2 million over what was budgeted given time lapse. He was told the original estimate was $1,24p,000 and the bid now is $2,049,000. Mr. Lloyd asked, "Why the drastic increase?" "Has the time lapse caused this increase?" Commissioner. Walker answered, "Inaccurate initial cost estimate, plus time lapse and a whole lot of other things." f1r. Nassif said it would take three weeks to get new bids. Commissioner Willhoit laid he was not interested in considering $2,000,000 and would like to pursue the idea of getting bids from contractors who did not bid. He mentioned things that might 6e changed, such as elevators, and the coordination of a central intake for Social Services and Health instead of each having their own reception rooms. Commissioner Pinney observed this project would take all the money the county had, leaving nothing for the jail. The County Manager asked if the county could rebid for one building and Mr. Nassif replied it could. Commissioner Walker said renovation of Grady Brown would save money but new construction might be cheaper in the long run. He said the Board should start looking into the option of new construction which might save more money, energy and be more convenient for the community in the long run. Commissioner Gustaveson asked that this issue be put on the third Tuesday agenda in October to discuss options available in terms of rebidding. Commissioner Walker was excused from the rest of the meeting. Agenda Item 5: Industrial Development Revenue Bond_Authority The County Attorney introduced Ms. Jane Curtis with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Ms. Curtis told the Board that industrial revenue bonds are fairly ne~•~ in North Carolina. The state requires certain legislative findings that assures industry using this procedure provides enough jobs to have an impact on the community, pays high than average wages and shows certification of financial responsibility. Industry cannot abandon another location in North Carolina and use these bonds to construct new plants. Interest on these bonds is exempt from state and federal income taxes, thus, lower rates are available to the user. Ms. Curtis stated there were five steps involved in bonding: 1) initial meeting with financing authority, 2) approval in principal by Department of Commerce, 3) public notice, 4) review period and 5) final approval by Department of Commerce after judicial review. The county is in no way responsible for repayment if the user defaults. Commissioner Gustaveson asked if it were necessary to have a company waiting before forming a financing authority.. Ms. Curtis responded that some authorities were formed beforehand while others were created when needed. The County Finance Director said there had been same question initially that companies needing this type of financing were of lower financial quality. Ms. Curtis responded that the credit worthiness for this type bonding had to be better than the typical bank or other lending institution normally required. The County Attorney said the necessary step the Board Should take if interested would be to direct him to get in touch with bonding counsel with the idea of pre- paring a resolution of intent.