Minutes 01-31-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Clarence Grier explained that changes in the collection of vehicle property taxes (now being done by the State in association with motor vehicle registrations) are causing collection rates to go up from 89-90% to 95-96%, maybe even 98% this year. He said as of now, RMV collections exceed last year by $1.3 million. Michael Talbert said these are early numbers based on December figures and will change some as they go forward. There will be another 3 months of revenue data to work with later in the budget process. Chair Jacobs recalled long-standing discussions over the years in the School Collaboration Group about pursuing equity in school funding by lowering the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district tax rate and using general funds instead. He said it is worth having that balancing act discussion every year. Commissioner Rich asked what happened to those who do not pay taxes and whether the County forecloses on their homes. Clarence Grier said they try to avoid foreclosures. He confirmed that the County has a system to assist people. Michael Talbert said the figure for school funding of 48.1% is a target that has been around for 10-20 years. The County sometimes goes over that, but if it looks like the number would come up short, the County increases funding to meet the target. They are forecasting they will be above that target just with normal growth, without considering an ADM (average daily membership) increase or a school debt service increase. Commissioner Price asked about how the national economic situation affects the County's numbers. Clarence Grier does not see much fluctuation in our budget. Property tax collections have stayed the same or gone up over the past 4 years as the economy has recovered. He does not foresee any problems with the revenue streams that the County controls. In response to Commissioner Dorosin's question, Clarence Grier said the 48.1% target does not include the local district tax. The Board agreed that they had accomplished the following objective established for this segment of the retreat agenda: Objective: That the Board obtains a comprehensive understanding of the County's projected revenue estimates and anticipated budgetary impacts on Fiscal 2014/2015. B. Budget Goals Fiscal 2014/2015 (Rod Visser) Rod Visser explained that the objective for the next segment of the retreat agenda is for the Board to identify those Budget Goals for Fiscal 2014-15 about which the Board has consensus. The Board agreed to spend 15-20 minutes generating ideas, without immediately evaluating them, then discussing the list to see if there might be 3 or 5 or 15 around which they might have consensus. The following list of ideas for possible budget goals was developed: