Minutes 01-31-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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live in Orange and work in Alamance — others may not. He thinks the Board needs to decide whether they want a formal policy or some fairly broad guidelines. Commissioner Jacobs said that they should acknowledge some bottom line parameters that Orange County already has - pay a living wage, low water usage, and provide employee health insurance. If commissioners have other concerns about a project that they would like to raise, we need to create an opportunity for them to do so. Commissioner Pelissier raised a question about whether dealing with projects on a case by case issue constitutes a policy, as she understands from the School of Government is required. Steve Brantley said there are communities that create incentives based on certain business clusters, such as aerospace or health care. He said that among the conditions for State incentive grants are that companies provide employee health insurance and not only that they pay a living wage, but an average salary equal to 100% of the average wage in that county. Since Orange County has the highest per capita wage in North Carolina, it is harder for companies considering Orange County to meet the prevailing wage requirement of the State incentive programs. The Board discussed incentives considerations for 15-20 minutes and compiled the following list of comments, questions, and feedback for the Manager and staff: • Do we have a policy by default, and if so, is that insufficient? • Avoid a policy that is so formal, so "down in the weeds", so restrictive as to eliminate Orange County from even initial consideration — maintain flexibility • Staff comes back to the Board before extending offers — internal non- published guidelines are working • Talk about Orange County's competitive advantages - two excellent school systems and quality of life Michael Talbert summarized what he thought he heard the Board say/discuss. That every company that comes will be asking for incentives; but we don't have established policies or guidelines, but informal guidelines, and it sounds like that's where we are headed. He said that Steve Brantley is very conscious of Orange County values when he is approached by businesses. The value Orange County brings to a project is huge in terms of"sense of place", but it is a competitive process. He would like feedback for him, Steve Brantley, and the next manager that they have informal direction in place about how they are going to approach projects. If that is fair and equitable and Commissioners like what they have seen so far, they will continue down that path. If the Board wants to change that, to let staff know now. Rod Visser asked if there is anything commissioners want the Manager and staff to consider doing differently, or should they continue on. He noted that there were no suggestions from Commissioners about doing anything differently. Chair Jacobs asked Steve Brantley to come back with a memo explaining Article 46 sales tax Special Revenue Fund pools of money for economic development initiatives. Steve Brantley said they have not used a business investment grant yet. Chair Jacobs noted the County's willingness to assist existing businesses to expand in Orange County. He asked how the county makes this known to them and how we provide outreach to existing businesses.