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A-I~achmen-{~ <br />Board of Education <br />Agenda Abstract <br />Meeting Date: <br />Agenda Type: <br />Agenda Item #: <br />3 8 <br />06/02/11 <br />Discussion and <br />Action <br />Subject: Resolution to Support an Additional 1/4 Cent County Sales Tax <br />Division: Support Services Department: <br />Person Todd LoFrese ~ Feedback <br />Responsible: Requested <br /> From• <br />Public Hearing Required: No <br />Previous Work Session: No Date <br />Previous Discussion and Action: No Date <br />Attachment(s): Quarter Cent Sales Tax Resolution <br />PURPOSE: To provide the Board of Education with an opportunity to consider whether or <br />not to support passage of a referendum on cone-quarter cent county sales and use tax that <br />will be placed on the November 8, 2011 ballot. <br />BACKGROUND: The attached Board of Orange County Commissioners' resolution dated <br />April 19, 2011 provides background information related to the proposed 1/4 cent county sales and <br />use tax. It's well known that Orange County's tax base is not sufficiently diverse. The property <br />tax rate is one of the highest in the state, and more than 85% of the taxable property is <br />residential. Sales tax receipts have stagnated as new retailers have tended to open in Durham and <br />Alamance rather than Orange County. With this resolution, the Orange County Commissioners <br />approved a plan to divide the funds that would be collected from this 1/4 cent sales tax, estimated <br />to be $2.5 million annually, as follows: 50% for schools and 50% for economic development. In <br />the resolution, the Commissioners committed to using the funds for these purposes for ten years. <br />The Commissioners further stipulated that the school funds should be spent on renovating older <br />