Agenda - 05-08-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 this is not just. She said most people here tonight are not in favor of a tax. She wants to 2 support recycling but not with a new tax. 3 Ms. Samulski agreed that residents will be taxed unfairly for owning a lot of land. She 4 does not understand the fairness of this. 5 Doug Longman lives in the ETJ. He said many have spoken in opposition to this 6 proposal, and he agrees with that sentiment. He said property tax values have no relationship 7 to the usage characteristics. He does not like that it is based on home values and not on the 8 amount of recycling you generate. He said this also bears no relation to the objective of 9 increased recycling. He questioned why the County has not looked at fixing the legislation. 10 James Self said he is representing Joseph Fearrington, who owns several properties in 11 the County. He asked if information was available on the formula being proposed based on 12 property size and value. He asked if there was any information available to explain how the 13 Board reached that decision. 14 John Roberts referred to the reference about legislation. He said the County did submit 15 a bill to the local legislative delegation to attempt to obtain the appropriate authority for the fee, 16 but the bill died in committee. He said that is why the legislation has not been fixed. 17 Gayle Wilson said, unless the Board has specific questions, he would rather study and 18 wait to answer the residents' questions in a systematic way. 19 Commissioner McKee referred to the numbers Gayle Wilson gave out for the parcels 20 and the old 3-r fee. He said the information stated did not seem to match what was on the 21 map. 22 Gayle Wilson said the map has the number of parcels that fall within the district, and the 23 other numbers are service points. He said the larger number includes vacant property and 24 unimproved land. 25 Commissioner McKee asked if these parcels will be taxed. 26 Gayle Wilson said yes. 27 Commissioner McKee said one of the previous maps listed over 600 properties that 28 were exempt from the tax under this district concept but were previously paying the 3-r fee. He 29 asked if this is correct. 30 Gayle Wilson said some of the 600 fall within the additional area included in the district; 31 however half of that number are currently receiving the service and did pay the fee. 32 Commissioner McKee asked if, under the service district, these residents will continue to 33 get the service and will pay no tax. 34 Gayle Wilson said the County is obligated to provide the service; however these 35 residents are tax exempt and will not pay the tax. 36 Commissioner McKee said this hardly seems fair, given there are some very low income 37 residents who will be paying for the service. 38 Commissioner Rich said there are a lot of assumptions tonight and she is unsure 39 whether many of these are backed up by Orange County facts. She said she hopes that Gayle 40 Wilson will be able to review the notes on this and clear up these issues before the next public 41 hearing. 42 Gayle Wilson asked the Commissioners to identify specific issues for response. 43 Chair Jacobs said the public raised the question of average property value in the district. 44 He also asked for a response regarding the cost to the County of having the convenience 45 centers open 7 days per week. 46 Commissioner Gordon requested that all of the questions raised by the public be 47 answered with specifics and in a systematic format. 48 Chair Jacobs said the last citizen asked how staff came up with the actual tax rate. He 49 suggested the Gayle Wilson consult with the attorney or the tax administrator to find this 50 answer.