Orange County NC Website
16 <br />1 NCACC 2011-12 Legislative Goals <br />2 Commissioner Foushee said that these are items that are very prevalent in Orange <br />3 County. <br />4 A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner <br />5 Hemminger to make item #2 the first choice (Reinstate ADM and lottery funds for school <br />6 construction) and item #1 the second choice (Oppose shift of state transportation <br />7 responsibilities to counties). <br />8 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />9 <br />10 A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger <br />11 support keeping #3 (Ensure adequate mental health funding) and #5(Authorize local revenue <br />12 options). <br />13 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />14 <br />15 7. Regular Agenda <br />16 a. Impact Fee Reimbursement Request <br />17 The Board considered an impact fee reimbursement request from Habitat for Humanity <br />18 of Orange County, NC. Inc. for $72,239 for ten (10) homes recently constructed in the County. <br />19 Frank Clifton said that the County has, in the past, set aside funding to pay the impact <br />20 fees on affordable housing units as they qualify. Once this request is approved, the funding will <br />21 have been depleted. There are some large projects coming forward and the Board will need to <br />22 decide how to proceed with the impact fees regarding affordable housing. <br />23 Commissioner Foushee said that given that the available funds from the bond are more <br />24 like $130,000, then the County Commissioners should take the opportunity to hold those funds <br />25 and make a decision on how they plan to meet the obligations for the remaining units that will <br />26 come online in the next couple of years before that money is dedicated for another purpose. <br />27 Commissioner Gordon would like to find out how many units will need to be funded for <br />28 this fiscal year. She agreed with Commissioner Foushee about holding the money for that <br />29 purpose. <br />30 <br />31 PUBLIC COMMENT: <br />32 Robert Reda said that he is a member of the Board of Directors of Habitat of Humanity. <br />33 He thanked the Board of County Commissioners for their continued support for their work. He <br />34 said that they recognize the difficult position that the Board of County Commissioners is in with <br />35 limited resources. He said that Habitat is looking at other options, but having to pay this impact <br />36 fee would be a deep hole in their budget because the impact fees have risen steadily in the past <br />37 few years. He said that the Habitat homes are considered costing approximately $78,000 and <br />38 the impact fees are almost 13% of that figure. He said that in the next 24 months, there will be <br />39 about 26 homes built by Habitat. <br />40 <br />41 Commissioner Yuhasz asked when Habitat would ask for the reimbursements and <br />42 Robert Reda said after the closings. <br />43 Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see an accounting of all of the bond <br />44 money that the County has spent. He was under the impression that the County had spent all <br />45 of the bond money. He asked if HOME funds could be used as impact fee reimbursements. <br />46 Tara Fikes said that they could be used for impact fees if it is done during the <br />47 construction phase. <br />48 Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to refer this to the Affordable Housing <br />49 Advisory Board to discuss the options. <br />