Minutes 10-16-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Mayor Lavelle said $1.25 million of the revenues received per year for the ten year period are designated for economic development. She asked if the $600,000 - $700,000 going to water and sewer would be for all ten years. Steve Brantley said the sales tax is permanent, but the economic development use is for ten years. Mayor Lavelle asked if the water and sewer infrastructure target is for all ten years. Steve Brantley said those categories represent the framework for what was voted on. He said staff worked with the planning and inspections department, which was a chief participant in prioritizing water and sewer. Mayor Lavelle said she is trying to understand if this means there is roughly $400,000 - $500,000 for the remaining 7 years. She is trying to see how this projects out over the ten years. Steve Brantley said there is a huge demand in several categories, but there were certain categories where reserves had built up. He said he is trying to find ways to get all of the categories engaged so that nothing is unused. He said there are individuals who can explain more details of the charts. Alderman Chaney asked about the size and deployment rate of the small business loan funds. Steve Brantley said $200,000 annually would be the equivalent of making 4 maximum size loans in a calendar year. He said the program allows for 5 year term loans of up to $50,000, and there are a few borrowers who do this. He said when the recession hit, there was some difficulty in finding applicants. He said staff has tried to find ways to expand knowledge of the program and increase demand. He said there have been some policies and procedures that have been amended to allow lending to non-profits, and remove some questions related to probation issues, and this was at the request of the Commissioners. Alderman Chaney asked how much has not been deployed for this program. Steve Brantley said $360,000 in funds is kept in the bank, and the origin of this is the movement of money from the Visitor's Bureau fund balance into the small business loan program in 2011. He said this was the seed money, and the article 46 funds are there for use after the seed money is depleted. Alderman Chaney said the town also has a lot of undeployed money, and they are struggling with demand too. She said if there are questions of how these funds are being allocated, maybe staff should take a look at the assets in the small business loan program within the County as a whole to see if these funds are being used efficiently. She said perhaps the funds could be combined to create a niche to meet different markets or the amount in the funds could be reduced and this money could be used them elsewhere. Alderman Gist asked if the small business loan program is working directly with LAUNCH. Steve Brantley said LAUNCH is a prospect and an incubator. He said the goal is to find promising entrepreneurial prospects that could be considered for a small grant as well as for a loan. He said many of the LAUNCH companies have been so successful at raising venture capital that they have not needed the funds. Alderman Gist said the aldermen hear different but true things in Carrboro. She said those who want to build residential say there is very little demand for commercial, but businesses say there is no affordable place to rent, so they take their business to other cities. She said maybe what is being learned through the small business program can be applied to the development and approval process with new mixed use development. She said perhaps there needs to be a requirement of a certain percentage of affordable office and commercial space in new mixed use developments. She would like for this to be considered.