Minutes - 02-26-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

increase of non-English speaking residents Gaming to the Hillsborough area. She said that new curricula and new programs would have to be developed to address the language barrier. She suggested that the maximum impact fee be put into place as a reasonable impact fee for Orange County. There is only one opportunity to collect this fee because Orange County is on the cusp of major development. She feels that now is the time to raise the fee to the maximum supportable amount. Weldon Rigsbee said that he is against the impact fee. He said that there have been school bonds in the past and that the taxes on property have gone up. He questioned where all of the money had gone. He said that some of the people that want to build could not come up with the impact fee to start a house. Mark Marcoplos said that he was somewhat ambivalent about the impact fee. He said that the perspective of the home-schooled child has not been discussed in this. He said that the impact fee would negatively impact home-schooled children because they do not get any money from the state ar County. He feels that there is a better way to do this. He is moving one mile down the road and he will have to pay an impact fee. He said that a lot could be done to make home-schooled children a more appreciated part of the community. He feels that the County feels the pressure because of bad programs at the federal level. He feels that if energy efficiency were initiated in the schools, that each school would save $20,000 a year. Matthew Freytag spoke in support of the impact fee. He is a father of afirst-grader and a rising kindergartner at Grady Brown Elementary School. He feels that the need is obvious. He said that, unlike the bond, the impact fee is the fairest thing on the table. He hopes that the County will move forward to implement an increase in the impact fee. Gary Geddy spoke in support of affordable housing. He feels that the impact fee is a regressive fee. He said that impact fees were not necessary in order to build schools. He said that it is true that a waiver may help, but like medical services, it will leave the working poor out in the cold. He feels that this fee is worse than the sales tax on food and pharmaceuticals that the State is in the process of trying to abolish. He said that the taxpayers can pay this and that it was a far better means of paying far the schools. Horace Johnson, Mayor of Hillsborough, spoke far the working poor. He said that he does see a need for a modest increase, but if it is increased to the maximum he sees the County moving toward an elitist citizenry. He does support a very modest increase but not to the maximum. He asked the County Commissioners to allow those who want to live in Orange County be allowed to do sa. Susan Halkiotis, member of the Orange County School Board, said that the School Board started talking about supporting an increase in the impact fee last year. Initially, the school board members were split with some not wanting to see any increase at all and some wanting an increase based an the study that the County commissioned. She said that Orange County Schools hope to have a middle school on the upcoming band referendum in November 2001. She pointed out that although the vote to increase the impact fee was not unanimous, the only point of dissentian was whether or not to go with $3,000 or $3,500. She said that she appreciates and respects every speaker that has expressed an opinion. She said that it was a very difficult position, but the reality is that the schools can no longer depend upon bond funds to build the needed facilities. Dana Thompson, member of the Orange County School Board, said that she came to Orange County to put her children in the Orange County schools. She talked about the importance of having high quality schools. There is na argument about the quality of the schools that they desire but there is an argument about who is going to pay to put another seat in a school. If we are asking a new homeowner to pay an impact fee, we are asking the rest of the residents to pay the remainder that is needed. By increasing the impact fee, this lowers the burden for those who have been in the community for a long time. The $3,000 impact fee is a number that the School Board feels good about. She said that, in the end, we agree that we want to maintain the quality of our schools. David Hunt said that he is proud of the quality of both school districts in Orange County. A lot of people move here because of the two school districts. We continually have new people moving into the area. He made reference to the study and asked if there was any indication of the percentage of the new housing for people who have been in the County less than 10 years. He feels it is