Orange County NC Website
option for affordable housing units, and she would like to use some of that money to go towards <br />providing housing for people at the very bottom. She would like to ask the other boards to look <br />at payment-in-lieu for long-term maintenance. <br />Sally Greene said that she thinks that this is a community effort and all of the resources <br />should be made available to end chronic homelessness. <br />Mayor Chilton asked if there should be an element of trying to plan for the capital needs <br />associated with the ten-year plan and it was answered yes. <br />Review of Homestead Tax Exemptions Enacted by 2007 Legislature <br />Tax Assessor John Smith made this presentation. He said that the General Assembly has <br />made two new changes to the Homestead Tax Exemption, effective 2008. Instead of the <br />qualifications being based on adjusted gross income, it will now be based on gross income. <br />Instead of a maximum income of $20,000 to qualify, it will be raised to $25,000. There will <br />probably be more people that will qualify that did not before. In addition, effective in 2009, there <br />is a change where thane that qualify for Homestead Exemption will be given an option to <br />potentially have an additional benefit. <br />Bill Strom asked how many Homestead Exemptions were in place and John Smith said <br />approximately 1,000. <br />Randee Haven-O'Donnell verified that there would be an education component. <br />Potential Regional Transportation Initiatives between ChathamlOrangelAlamance <br />Counties, Chapel Hill Transit and Town of Pittsboro <br />Chair Carey said that this item grew out of discussions with Chatham County in the recent <br />multi-jurisdictional meetings. <br />Mayor Foy said that he was at this multi-jurisdictional meeting with Chatham County and <br />one of the Chatham County Commissioners said that when they are looking at developments, <br />they do not know what they should ask for. He said that this is a problem because Chatham <br />County does not have the resources of information that Orange County has. <br />Jacquelyn Gist asked if Triangle J or the Institute of Government could help. <br />Mayor Foy said that there was discussion of Chatham using TTA, but if Chapel Hill Transit <br />were used, Chatham County would have to pay for it. <br />Cam Hill said that Chatham County has received some help in the Commercial Corridors <br />Task Force and Triangle J is a presence there. <br />Commissioner Gordon noted that the multi-jurisdictional meeting did not include anyone <br />invited to represent the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) or the regional transportation planning <br />organization for the western part of the Triangle (DCHC-MPO), two key organizations for any <br />discussion of regional transportation initiatives in this area. She said that if she had been invited <br />to these multi-jurisdictional meetings with Chatham County, she could have provided some <br />relevant information from her perspective as the Chair of the TTA Board of Trustees and Chair <br />of the DCHC-MPO. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the mast important current action in terms of regional <br />transit provision is the work being done by the Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAG), <br />which was appointed by the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrbara Metropolitan Planning Organization <br />(DCHC MPO} and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO}. This group <br />is taking a fresh look at transit in the Triangle with the goal of providing recommendations for the <br />major transit investments to be included in the 2035 Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs} <br />of the two MPOs. This group has been meeting for several months and is planning to wrap up at <br />the end of this calendar year. This is where the regional transit planning is being done right <br />now. The LTRPs will guide regional transportation initiatives, including transit and other modes <br />of transportation. <br />