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who have or will benefit from the program in the future. He thanked the Board for receiving the petition. Chair Carey said that he is familiar with the program and feels that they can use some of the Criminal Justice Partnership funds for this program. He referred this to the staff to take under advisement. Commissioner Halkiotis also spoke in support of this program being continued. PUBLIC CHARGE Chair Carey dispensed with the reading of the charge. III. BOARD COMMENTS Commissioner Gordon said that at a recent meeting with the two school boards, they talked about siting new schools and one thing that would be helpful would be to revise the Land Use Plan. She asked about this process and John Link indicated that the earliest this could go to public hearing would be May. Commissioner Gordon made reference to the snow removal process and said that at a recent Transportation Advisory Committee meeting all the elected officials seemed satisfied except Orange County. Commissioner Halkiotis feels there are a lot of safety issues that need to be addressed during inclement weather. He also asked John Link to give an update on the situation in front of A. L. Stanback where there was another accident last week. Commissioner Halkiotis represented the County Commissioners at a press conference on the new Information and Referral system which is a computerized data base of people/agencies who can assist people. He is very proud of the final product. Commissioner Gordon announced that the "Shaping Orange County's Future" committee will have their kick-off this Friday at a news conference at noon at the Old Courthouse. IV. COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT - NONE V. RESOLUTIONS/PROCLAMATIONS - NONE VI. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS - NONE VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. INCREASE IN OCCUPANCY TAX In July of 1991, the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted a bill allowing the Orange County Board of Commissioners to levy a room occupancy tax of up to 3% on the gross receipts derived from the rental of any room, lodging or similar accommodation. The Board of Commissioners subsequently approved a 1 % occupancy tax which took effect September 1, 1991. In the 1995-96 fiscal year, the 1 % tax is estimated to generate $154,810. Additional funding is sought by the Visitors Bureau to provide for additional programs to better serve a client base that has increased more than 400°x6 in three years. Area hoteliers collecting occupancy taxes from their guests also expressed their desire to see additional sales and marketing programs implemented by the Bureau and therefore support an increase in the county occupancy tax from 1 % to 2%. Jim Harter, Chair of the Marketing Committee for the Visitors Bureau, gave some background history on how they came up with this proposal and why they feel that with additional funds they can be more effective than before. They spoke with owners and managers representing about 80% of the rooms in Orange County before they considered this proposal and have strong support from them. The extra 1 % will be used to promote the County. Tourism is a big business and they want to increase this business for the County.