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

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8 1 Commissioner Rich said the last gentleman was specifically asking how the city came 2 up with the tax amount versus the rural tax amount. 3 Gayle Wilson said he had nothing to do with any of the taxes within Chapel Hill, and the 4 tax district only represents the unincorporated areas. 5 Chair Jacobs said this information could still be gathered by speaking to Chapel Hill. 6 Commissioner Price said part of the argument in favor of the tax district is that it will 7 encourage people to recycle more, and she has some issues with this. She asked if Gayle 8 Wilson could cite some of the research behind this statement. She feels that much of the 9 success of the recycling program has been due to education and the conscientiousness of the 10 residents. 11 Gayle Wilson said staff has indicated that, between the two options of opt out versus the 12 district tax, subscription option performs more poorly. He said there is considerable data within 13 the state that supports this. 14 Commissioner Price asked if the subscription programs also have an educational 15 component. 16 Gayle Wilson said the programs vary widely from zero education outreach to moderate 17 amount of education. He said all of them are likely doing less than what Orange County does. 18 Commissioner Price said she had a procedural question about the closure of the public 19 hearing. 20 John Roberts said this public hearing is independent from the one that is being held in 21 Hillsborough on April 1St. He said this public hearing will be adjourned and an announcement 22 will be made informing the public of the next public hearing on the same subject. 23 Commissioner Price asked if residents can continue to submit written testimony. 24 John Roberts said yes, and these will be considered at the second public hearing. 25 Commissioner Dorosin said he has not made up his mind yet, but he has a procedural 26 question. He asked if every parcel on the map was given notice about this public hearing. 27 Michael Talbert said yes. 28 Commissioner Dorosin said he has heard the critiques of a one-size-fits-all model, and 29 he asked if the Board could do anything they wanted with solid waste service district tax map, 30 including making it smaller and doing subscription service in the other parts. He asked if this 31 could be done with no new notice, as long as the area was made smaller and not bigger. 32 John Roberts said the Board can reduce the size; however it has to be a contiguous 33 district. He said there cannot be separate pieces and modules. 34 Commissioner Dorosin asked if it would be acceptable if the Board determined that it 35 made more sense to do it in certain areas of the County and less sense in other areas as long 36 as there was still a contiguous district. 37 John Roberts said the statute does not address this, but in his opinion the Board can 38 reduce the outlined district to any size or shape that is contiguous, as long as the residents 39 have received their notices. 40 Commissioner Pelissier asked if there could be additions to the list of frequently asked 41 questions (FAQ) for the next public hearing. She said she would like to add the verbiage from 42 John Roberts about the legislation. 43 John Roberts clarified that he is not saying the County does not have the authority to do 44 a fee. He said there is a question as to whether the County has the authority to levy a fee, 45 given recent court cases. 46 Commissioner Pelissier said she would at least like to say that there was an attempt 47 made to get the legislation to explicitly authorize the County to charge a fee. She said she has 48 heard a lot of concerns about property tax on land that is not developed; and she feels it is 49 important to note that the convenience centers are also paid out of property tax on both 50 developed and undeveloped lands.