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Randy Copeland said that, from what he is hearing, the OCS would be a net loser either <br />way regarding the Cedar Ridge debt. Donna Dean said that before the 1996 policy was <br />adapted, the CHCCS was in a very similar position with McDougle Elementary. <br />Randy Copeland asked, if the County assumed to take over that debt from CHCCS, why <br />it would be imposed on the OCS. John Link said that there was an agreement in 1996 in which <br />the OCS requested that, in order to get Cedar Ridge High School built, they would pay about <br />half of the debt service using their pay-as -you-go funds. <br />Chair Carey said that this is a classic example of the difficulty with the old policy, which <br />lends itself to this kind of misunderstanding. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that it occurred to her that one difference has to do with <br />where the impact fees are counted. In the older version, the impact fees were counted at the <br />school district level, and in this new policy it is counted at the top of the debt service level. She <br />asked about this. Donna Dean said that it makes the formula simpler by dedicating those fees <br />to repay debt service. If the Public School Building Funds are dedicated to debt service, it <br />should alleviate them being pulled away by the State. <br />Rod Visser said that impact fees that are collected by the County or the towns are <br />accounted far in an impact fee trust fund for the school systems and Finance Director Ken <br />Chavious makes a transfer out of those trust funds to make sure that it covers the debt service. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she recalls for CHCCS High School #3 that a lot of the <br />impact fee revenue between now and when the school comes online is earmarked. She thinks <br />there was around $17.5 million of debt service and the rest was to be paid for by pay-as-you-go <br />funds including impact fees. She asked if this was correct. Donna Dean said that she does not <br />have that spreadsheet with her but that $6 million was dedicated from previously collected <br />impact fees to go towards the high school. She believes they were dedicating for at least two <br />years, $1.6 million each year. She could not remember if it is any longer than that. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked that Rod Visser explain appendix 11 for the school boards. <br />Rod Visser said that one of the things that was clear as he reviewed the documents from <br />1995-1997 was that the need for additional high school space in OCS was emerging at that <br />time. In April 1996, both school systems made presentations at the Board of County <br />Commissioners' work session about their needs. In early 1997, it was clear that there would be <br />a need for a new high school. The Capital Needs Task Force considered two options -full <br />funding of the new high school or for funding half of it {$12.5 million) through bonds and the <br />other half through pay-as-you-go funding through the OCS. <br />Lisa Stuckey said that she was on that task force and they took a tour of facilities across <br />the County. She was appalled at the ways that Orange High was trying to fit everything into a <br />cramped space. There was a lot of discussion about the funding scenarios. There was a <br />strong feeling that there should not be a tax increase to fund the high school. <br />Rod Visser said that the task force's specific recommendation to the County <br />Commissioners was $12.5 million from general obligation bonds and the remaining from pay-as- <br />you-go funding from OCS. This was the option that OCS had requested. <br />Libbie Haugh said that the paying back and the tying up have become more than <br />cumbersome for OCS. She said that, just like with CHCCS, when the County figured out how to <br />make it easier for the CHCCS with McDougle to run the school system and also deal with the <br />debt, they are asking far the same courtesy. She anticipates that this will happen. She thinks <br />the mast important thing is to see if there is a different alternative to what is in place currently. <br />Lisa Stuckey asked about the 10th year impacts and it was answered that this was on the <br />cumulative sheet. <br />Lisa Stuckey asked Donna Dean why options 5A, 5B, and 5C were $20 million less <br />annually. John Link said that one major concept is that the OCS is getting less revenue <br />because they are still paying off Cedar Ridge, and the County is receiving more revenue <br />because they do not have as much debt. <br />