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Commissioner Price referred to the pie chart in attachment C, and asked what this <br /> represents. <br /> Clarence Grier said these are funds that have been expended, year to date. <br /> Commissioner Price asked about the reason why the economic development portion <br /> has not been fully used. <br /> Steve Brantley said once they begin to market the grant program, there will no longer <br /> be unallocated money in those categories. He hopes the towns will help market this. <br /> Chair Jacobs said Steve Brantley is in the process of hiring a business retention person <br /> who will be able to provide outreach to existing businesses and be available to meet with <br /> people to try and bring them into these programs. He said, once adopted, the policies can be <br /> distributed to the towns. <br /> Steve Brantley said the County Manager met with the economic advisory board and <br /> charged them to have their report ready by Dec. 1. He said the department has also recently <br /> hired an agricultural economic development specialist who will be a resource for the County <br /> and the towns. <br /> Alderman Slade asked if there is a plan to weigh the economic impact of these different <br /> investments and their return on investment. <br /> Steve Brantley said when the County was successful with Morinaga, their initial $48 <br /> million propelled that company to the number one corporate taxpayer. He said when utilities <br /> are put in the EDD it maximizes the ability to attract such companies, and this creates the <br /> biggest hit or success for the County. He said many of the impoverished residents of the <br /> County can benefit immediately by working for these new businesses. <br /> Alderman Slade said this gives a sense of the impact, but he would like to know if there <br /> are plans of ineasuring it compared to the other pieces of the pie. <br /> Steve Brantley said the incentives would not be paid by the community unless the <br /> company shows that it actually created jobs or made the capital investment. He said the <br /> County might also have a good idea of the expansion capabilities. He said a company in <br /> Mebane might be using Carrboro companies that do web design, or attorneys or banks. He <br /> said there need to be more quantitative opportunities to show this. <br /> Steve Brantley said the Wal-Mart in Hillsborough generates 12 percent of the retail <br /> sales tax, and you can see the measures for this retail tax. He said there are measures to <br /> show the net value of soccer tournaments to the community. He said there are various ways <br /> to see what is generated in terms of job base and sales tax, and staff will do their best to <br /> quantify that information. <br /> 2. Affordable Housinq <br /> a. Community Home Trust Charter Status Report <br /> Commissioner Rich reviewed some of the following information from the abstract: <br /> The Community Home Trust (CHT) is an affordable housing provider whose clientele includes <br /> first-time homebuyers earning less than 80 percent of the area median income. CHT was <br /> created by the local governments in 1990 to further the County-wide affordable housing <br /> priorities and has served as an essential vehicle for implementing inclusionary housing policies <br /> in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. As such, several families have realized the dream of purchasing a <br /> home through CHT's land trust model. <br /> CHT has determined that the current funding arrangement with the County and Town <br /> governments is not sustainable. CHT currently receives the following financial support from the <br /> local governments: <br /> Chapel Hill: $200,000 <br />