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Lynne Jaffe said she has been recycling for years and all of the residents are here <br /> tonight in service to Orange County. She said it is sad that there is a divide in the room <br /> tonight. She is a widow living on a fixed income, and she is grateful for the curbside service, <br /> but she only uses it every 6 weeks. She said this new proposal would charge her multiple <br /> times more than what she is being charged now, because she owns a lot of undeveloped land. <br /> She said this is not just. She said most people here tonight are not in favor of a tax. She <br /> wants to support recycling but not with a new tax. <br /> Ms. Samulski agreed that residents will be taxed unfairly for owning a lot of land. She <br /> does not understand the fairness of this. <br /> Doug Longman lives in the ETJ. He said many have spoken in opposition to this <br /> proposal, and he agrees with that sentiment. He said property tax values have no relationship <br /> to the usage characteristics. He does not like that it is based on home values and not on the <br /> amount of recycling you generate. He said this also bears no relation to the objective of <br /> increased recycling. He questioned why the County has not looked at fixing the legislation. <br /> James Self said he is representing Joseph Fearrington, who owns several properties in <br /> the County. He asked if information was available on the formula being proposed based on <br /> property size and value. He asked if there was any information available to explain how the <br /> Board reached that decision. <br /> John Roberts referred to the reference about legislation. He said the County did submit <br /> a bill to the local legislative delegation to attempt to obtain the appropriate authority for the fee, <br /> but the bill died in committee. He said that is why the legislation has not been fixed. <br /> Gayle Wilson said, unless the Board has specific questions, he would rather study and <br /> wait to answer the residents' questions in a systematic way. <br /> Commissioner McKee referred to the numbers Gayle Wilson gave out for the parcels <br /> and the old 3-r fee. He said the information stated did not seem to match what was on the <br /> map. <br /> Gayle Wilson said the map has the number of parcels that fall within the district, and <br /> the other numbers are service points. He said the larger number includes vacant property and <br /> unimproved land. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked if these parcels will be taxed. <br /> Gayle Wilson said yes. <br /> Commissioner McKee said one of the previous maps listed over 600 properties that <br /> were exempt from the tax under this district concept but were previously paying the 3-r fee. He <br /> asked if this is correct. <br /> Gayle Wilson said some of the 600 fall within the additional area included in the district; <br /> however half of that number are currently receiving the service and did pay the fee. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked if, under the service district, these residents will continue <br /> to get the service and will pay no tax. <br /> Gayle Wilson said the County is obligated to provide the service; however these <br /> residents are tax exempt and will not pay the tax. <br /> Commissioner McKee said this hardly seems fair, given there are some very low <br /> income residents who will be paying for the service. <br /> Commissioner Rich said there are a lot of assumptions tonight and she is unsure <br /> whether many of these are backed up by Orange County facts. She said she hopes that <br /> Gayle Wilson will be able to review the notes on this and clear up these issues before the next <br /> public hearing. <br /> Gayle Wilson asked the Commissioners to identify specific issues for response. <br /> Chair Jacobs said the public raised the question of average property value in the <br /> district. He also asked for a response regarding the cost to the County of having the <br /> convenience centers open 7 days per week. <br />