Minutes 09-23-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

letters to the editor, etc. to help educate the public about this referendum. She pointed out a copy of what appeared in the Daily Tarheel. Frank Clifton said that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce has endorsed this referendum. He said that staff is looking at printing out 100,000 handouts that will be placed in all County buildings. According to law the County can only educate the public about the issues, but elected officials can take a public stand, without using public funds. CHCCS Board Chair Mike Kelly said that the school board has already adopted a resolution in support of this referendum. He asked how the allocation would relate to the 48.1% that the school systems get now. Frank Clifton said that these funds are going to be tracked in a different fund and would not be part of the General Fund. Mike Kelly asked for more clarity on this issue. Frank Clifton said that the 48.1% would remain in the County's General Fund, but the 42.5% is specific sales tax revenue. Mike Kelly said that it is important for the public to understand that the total allocation available to the County that will be allocated to the schools will decrease slightly. Chair Foushee said that this is not necessarily a true statement if this is related to aggregate numbers. Frank Clifton said that he would hope that all elected officials in this County would speak to the public in a clear voice that this is an important opportunity for the future of Orange County. If the County is successful in economic development and the tax base expands, then schools and everyone else will benefit. In the end, the public needs to know that the elected officials of the County will do what is best for the County, schools, economic development, etc. These are tough economic times and they are going to be asking the public to tax themselves; but they need to stress moving forward in difficult times instead of how to slice a pie they have not even baked yet. Jamezetta Bedford asked how the funds would be divided between the two school systems from this tax and Chair Foushee said that the Board of County Commissioners have not had that discussion yet, but it would like to hear from the school systems on this issue. Jamezetta Bedford said that a per-pupil basis would be appropriate. Debbie Piscetelli said that she would appreciate a conversation with the Board of County Commissioners about this. She does not want the needs of the Orange County School system to go unnoticed. There was a referendum awhile back for OCS and it was voted down. She is not trying to discount the needs of the CHCCS, but there are many needs for the OCS. She would appreciate having a discussion about this. Commissioner Yuhasz said that the County Commissioners have talked about this sales tax being identified to use for older schools. He suggested looking at how many students in both districts are in older schools and distribute the sales tax revenue from that. Mike Kelly asked how an older school would be defined. Commissioner Yuhasz said that this should be part of the discussion after the tax is approved. Michelle Brownstein said that it would be helpful if there is going to be a united voice, to flesh out what is going to happen in the beginning. One of the open ended things is what happens after five years in terms of the allocation. Chair Foushee said that the Board of County Commissioners did not determine how these funds would be spent after the initial five years. She said that part of their discussions about older schools included how the school districts identify the older schools and their needs as submitted through the CIP process. Frank Clifton read the resolution to the school boards. He said that the issue was to have the school boards and the County Commissioners concur on the needs and the school boards would bring projects forward. Mia Day Burroughs said that they need to look at the reality—early voting begins in three weeks, and this is a time to get past the history of both boards. She said that all of them