Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

W 1 Chair Jacobs said this was first brought up at their joint meeting with Carrboro. 2 Steve Brantley said he will focus on the economic development portion of article 46. He 3 reviewed the following background information, as outlined in the abstract: 4 5 Background: Orange County voters successfully passed a referendum in November 6 2011 to levy a one - quarter quarter (1/4) cent sales tax that generates additional annual funding 7 for education and economic development purposes. Now called "Article 46 ", the funding 8 program was forecast to generate $2.5 million annually in new local sales tax proceeds which 9 would be split equally between education and economic development, each receiving $1.25 10 million. The 50/50 share of Article 46 funds for economic development was initially set for 10 11 years. The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a Resolution in December 2011 12 authorizing the new one - quarter cent sales tax, and actual proceeds began to accrue at the 13 State level and distributed to Orange County in early 2012. 14 There is no set protocol for Article 46 funding requests for economic development projects, 15 such as proposed by the municipalities, to be considered by the County. Previous requests 16 have been tied to specific project needs, and presented directly to the Board of Commissioners, 17 the County Manager, and on occasion, by the towns' economic development staff to the 18 Orange County Economic Development office. Proposed changes regarding how Article 46 is 19 administered, such as defining the primary expenditure categories or overall objective may 20 require the Board Commissioners to modify the existing Resolution. 21 Attachments A and C provide a summary table, pie chart and current balances of the key 22 sectors where Article 46 funds are used for economic development in Orange County. 23 Assuming an annual $1.25 million receipt in sales tax proceeds, the Article 46 program and the 24 Orange County Board of Commissioners' adopted Resolution identify seven (7) main economic 25 development expenditures, as follows: 26 27 Key Sector % of Total $ Annually 28 • Debt service on water, sewer & associated 60% $750,000 29 Infrastructure made in Orange County's three 30 (3) Economic Development Districts 31 (Eno, Hillsborough and Buckhorn) 32 • Orange County's Small Business Loan Fund 16% $200,000 33 • Entrepreneurial & Incubator Support 8% $100,000 34 • Business Investment Grants 8% $100,000 35 • Agriculture Investment Grants 5% $60,000 36 • Marketing & Collaborative Outreach 1.5% $20,000 37 • Advertising, Publishing & Collateral Materials 1.5% $20,000 38 100% $1,250,000 39 40 Debt 41 Debt Service on Utilities - 60% of annual expenditures ($750,000) 42 Funding to cover debt service on utilities, as currently being installed in the Buckhorn Economic 43 Development District, was immediately put to use, and has already yielded a significant 44 economic development "win" for Orange County. This $4 million project, initiated in late 2012, 45 created a `backbone' sewer and water system to service or augment over 1,000 acres of 46 economic development lands, stretching from the Cheeks and Efland areas westward toward 47 the City of Mebane. This project included 2 miles of gravity sewer (18" gravity in western zone 48 and 12" gravity in eastern zone) and 3 miles of 16" water system. Besides adding to the 49 inventory of additional utility serviceable acres, the 16 "water system created a large loop to 50 increase pressures, water capacity and fire flow to many existing industrial businesses in