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7 <br />ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS: Delores Simpson opened the discussion. She asked <br />Bob Bateman to present the first item. <br />Perception of County Tax Increases Being Blamed Primarily on the Schools: Bob Bateman referred to the <br />fact that taxes have increased each of the last 12 years either through property taxes or through reevaluations. He <br />feels that the school systems are being unfairly blamed for the tax growth in Orange County. Not only have all of <br />the agencies that the County funds grown and received more funding, there are also more of those agencies. He <br />feels it is unfair to blame the school systems when there are so many other reasons for the tax increases. <br />Impact Fees or Impact Tax: Susan Dovenbarger mentioned that the Orange County School Board drafted a letter <br />to the Legislators supporting Orange County's efforts to secure an Impact Tax. They also discussed this with their <br />Legislators at a recent joint meeting. She requested an update with regard to the future of this request. <br />Geof Gledhill reported that his understanding at this point was that an Impact Tax request would be presented by <br />the Legislators. <br />Keith Cook agreed with a comment made by Commissioner Halkiotis that Local Legislation for an Impact Tax would <br />be introduced but would not pass. He stated that for this reason he feels that it is time to raise the current Impact <br />Fee of $750. Although some of the new homes are for retirees and local residents purchasing new homes, most of <br />them are for new residents who will be raising families here and impacting the schools. He feels that Impact Fees <br />need to be raised. <br />Susan Dovenbarger asked if it would be possible to waive the impact fee for those who already live here and are <br />either buying or building a new home? <br />Geof Gledhill stated that there was not a legal way in which to waive the fee. It can be reimbursed to those with <br />low income. That is accomplished by having the fee paid into the School Capital Trust Fund. This money is then <br />replaced by the County out of the General Fund. If we had approval to use an Impact Tax there would be other <br />options. <br />Keith Cook suggested applying the same reimbursement criteria to those individuals who are making 60% to 80% <br />of the medium income in the County. <br />Geof Gledhill stated that this fee could be made more progressive if the County had more accurate student <br />generation data. He stated that he hopes that the census and our Geographic Information System would provide <br />the kind of data necessary to pinpoint this information more accurately. It may be possible in the future to base the <br />cost of the impact on the number of bathrooms or bedrooms. <br />Chair Gordon stated that with the cooperation of the Legislature, it would be possible to implement other options, <br />such as a real estate transfer tax which would be directly related to the sale of property. <br />Commissioner Brown explained that the impact fee is only charged on new housing. In order to alleviate the <br />impact on low income housing, the County has paid over $300,000 out of the general fund to reimburse Impact <br />Fees for affordable housing. <br />In response to a question, Geof Gledhill replied that it would be possible to exempt long term residents if a tax was <br />being used but not with an impact fee. If a lifelong resident sells their home to move into a retirement home <br />someone else is moving into the old home and they may have an impact on the schools. He also mentioned that <br />the retirement home will also have another family in residence at some time in the future and they would probably <br />have an impact on the schools. <br />Need for a New Middle School: Susan Dovenbarger mentioned that the impact of the new subdivisions which <br />are not yet built will cause both the new elementary school and high school to be at capacity before they are built. <br />The capacity at the middle school level will need to be addressed in the near future. She referred to the Orange <br />County School Capacity Information report which was included in the packet. This report shows figures for both <br />enrollment and membership. Enrollment is the number of students who are on the books. The membership <br />number is the data that is sent into the Department of Instruction on a monthly basis. That figure is calculated on <br />the number of students in the building at the time of the count. She feels that capacity is a misleading number <br />because it does not take into account the classrooms that must be taken out of regular use to accommodate the <br />exceptional students. At Stanback Middle School that is a loss of two classrooms which are being used by one <br />CtA19990331 a.doc