Minutes 04-05-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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� Commissioner Jacobs said that he does not want to spend any more taxpayer money than they have to and he suggested arguing against this opinion. He will ask the Attorney at the appropriate time to pursue the matter further. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out that Orange County has not raised property taxes in two years. He said that some people thought that they property taxes increased because of the revaluation. He said that he was at the poll last year talking to voters and he still thinks the '/4-cent is a superior alternative to having to consider raising the property tax. Commissioner Hemminger agreed with Commissioner Jacobs and asked the Director of Board of Elections if the voter numbers would be higher in a municipal election or the primary and the Director of Elections said that normally the numbers are higher at the primary. She said that she would agree more with a sales tax increase than a property tax increase. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he can see arguments on both sides of the issue but the need is considerable and the more they delay, the more they lose the opportunity to pursue economic development. Commissioner McKee said that there is a perception of spending in the County. He said that if the $84,500 is correct or incorrect from a legal standpoint, there will be a perception that the County is incurring additional cost when it is technically not necessary. Commissioner Gordon asked if we could get an opinion from the Attorney General in a timely manner. She said that it would make sense to tell the public clearly what the uses are for this sales tax. John Roberts said that it usually takes between 3-6 months to get an opinion from the Attorney General. Chair Pelissier said that she concurred with the comments of many of her colleagues. She is very concerned about the timing. She serves on the Orange County Partnership for Young Children and there is even discussion of eliminating Smart Start and doing major cuts. If the County has to fund economic development and not raise property taxes, then the County is faced with a choice of not doing economic development when a commitment was made to the community to do this, or cutting essential services to citizens. She is not willing to cut essential services. She would rather keep the monies and keep essential services. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Governor is also contemplating appropriating the County's fund balance above the 8% minimum that is recommended. PUBLIC COMMENT: Will Raymond said that he is a citizen of Chapel Hill and he agreed that putting this on a municipal election is a bad idea. He said that he knows from personal experience that the turnout at these municipal elections is very low. He said that the May date is a more workable date. He thinks that there should be broad support for this. James Barrett said that he is from Chapel Hill and he is on the Strategy Team with Justice United. He said that they were strong supporters of the resolution last time because of the items that it is supposed to fund. He said that all of the comments he has heard have been negative about doing this in November. He asked to delay this to May. He said that his comments relate to item 7-b also. Kathy Andrews said that this attempt to raise the sales tax just months after being voted down raises serious questions: What are the motives of our elected leaders? Who do they really represent? Why would they spend the money to fund a countywide election with only a few communities having local elections? The people of the community spoke last November about the sales tax increase. She said that living in one of the highest taxed counties in the State during the recession is not easy to manage. Everyone is cutting spending, but the government does not seem to be doing so. She said that it would appear