Minutes 04-17-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ada Reaves said her questions were answered so she has no further comment. Thomas Stone agreed and said his questions were also answered. Katrinka Borders said she has no comment at this time. Chris Hitt said his property is split between the new district and South Orange. He asked if any of this could be changed. Michael Talbert said it would be very difficult to change the district. He said the recommendation includes an overlay district. Joanne Forbes made reference to changing the district and asked if Orange County was buying fire services from the Town of Chapel Hill. Michael Talbert said her insurance should go down as a result of this. Doug Longman said he has been pursuing this issue for probably two years. He commended the County Commissioners for their efforts. He reemphasized that the issue is not fire protection, but about insurance. The effect of what is happening is that the property taxes will go up and the homeowner's insurance will go down. It might be just about a wash financially for many people. This will guarantee insurability. He thanked everyone for working on this. Barbara Steckler thanked the Board of County Commissioners, the Chapel Hill Town Council, and others for this effort. She will be changing fire districts and she can see the advantages. She thanked the staff for the meeting and the colored charts. Larry Hodges reiterated the thanks to the County Commissioners. He asked when the 15-cent tax would be in effect and it was answered July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014. Betty Sonner thanked the Board for their work on this. Barbara Rhoades asked about the single road access that has two districts. She said there are six houses behind her that fall into another district. She asked if the County Commissioners were considering redrawing this at another time or if it mattered. Commissioner McKee said the fire district lines are extremely difficult to move. It is this way because the fire protection districts developed over a very long timeframe and developed piece meal. In order to change that, it would require a complete overhaul of Orange County's fire protection business model. He is aware that there are some inequities. He said this is specifically for insurance purposes only. It does not affect fire protection or other aspects of County government. Sam Jackson said he just moved here six months ago and he thanked staff for putting this together so efficiently. Ed Campion said he is in the northern part of the new Southern Triangle District. He said it sounds like if you are more than six miles from a fire station within your district, then your rate goes up. He said he is less than '/2 a mile from station 5, and this would seem counterintuitive. Michael Talbert said Ed Campion is still part of the Southern Triangle District and is less than six miles from the station. Ed Campion said he still has coverage, but this means that he has a horrible rating even though he is less than '/2 a mile from another station. He said this is nonsensical from a financial standpoint. He disagrees with having a higher tax rate and a bad insurance rating. Joe Buonfiglio asked if the County had reviewed the Town of Chapel Hill's model for establishing this fee structure. He asked if these rates were fair and appropriate. He is also interested in how the County communicates with the insurance companies when this is implemented. Commissioner McKee said Chapel Hill offered this rate to the County. He does not know the mechanics of it. Michael Talbert said the ratings come from the insurance companies. Lynne Riesler asked clarifying questions about the houses in her neighborhood, which were answered by Michael Talbert.