Orange County NC Website
3 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 Bob Jessup said there are no ramifications from his perspective. He said they can <br /> 3 choose the dates that suit the Board. He said there is a law now that a random referendum <br /> 4 date can no longer be chosen. He said this now has to be done on an otherwise scheduled <br /> 5 date. <br /> 6 Clarence Grier said that the only fiscal impact he can see is what the interest rate <br /> 7 climate is at that time. He said if you go out six months you have the potential interest rate <br /> 8 going up six months later on. He said, outside of that, you are just pushing back the debt <br /> 9 service and pushing the receipts of the proceeds back six months. <br /> 10 Commissioner McKee asked, if this is pushed back to the primary of 2016 and a need <br /> 11 arises, whether some CIP money could be moved forward or backward. <br /> 12 Clarence Grier said this could be done. He said the Board could address this need by <br /> 13 issuing installment financing, like what was done for Elementary#12. He said there are <br /> 14 different options available. He suggested that the Board would want to get voter approval for <br /> 15 these major projects. <br /> 16 Commissioner McKee said he agrees regarding the need for voter approval. He said in <br /> 17 his perspective, 2014 is a bit rushed, and 2015 has a problem of what else may be on the ballot <br /> 18 in District 2 in the rural part of the county. He said 2015 only has municipal elections; and the <br /> 19 May 2016 time frame is the time frame he would be most favorable to go with in order to have <br /> 20 the most participation. <br /> 21 Commissioner Gordon said she thought they were talking about is 2014 versus 2015. <br /> 22 She thought the Board was going to try to get on the ballot as soon as they could come up with <br /> 23 a reasonable plan. She said she would not want to delay it past November 2015, since some of <br /> 24 these needs are important, such as schools, and affordable housing. <br /> 25 Chair Jacobs suggested that since they are not deciding on anything tonight and since <br /> 26 there is not a great sentiment to do it in November 2014, a task force could be convened with a <br /> 27 plan to move forward as if it this might be on a ballot in November 2015. <br /> 28 He suggested having this group meet and formulate recommendations, and then the <br /> 29 Board can decide whether they want to have it on the ballot on November 2015 or 2016. He <br /> 30 said this does not have to be decided right now. He said part of being transparent is letting that <br /> 31 group discuss it to decide how pressing needs are. He said the school systems, the affordable <br /> 32 housing community, and others can make their case to that group, and then the Board will make <br /> 33 a determination as to what is the highest priority. <br /> 34 Commissioner Price asked how soon a referendum could be put back on the ballot if it <br /> 35 failed in 2015. <br /> 36 Bob Jessup said there is not a strict rule outside of having a discussion with the LGC for <br /> 37 the Board to explain why they want to put it back on the ballot so quickly. He said if the Board <br /> 38 had a compelling reason, then it might be able to be put back in May 2015 or 2016. He said this <br /> 39 may involve doing some scaling back and revising the project. <br /> 40 Commissioner Price said she is skeptical about the November 2015 date because the <br /> 41 turnout is abysmal, but May 2016 sounds good to her. <br /> 42 Commissioner Gordon suggested that they appoint a Capital Needs Advisory Task <br /> 43 Force to get started with trying to craft the bond referendum. She said she would like to see <br /> 44 them agree to appoint a Capital Needs Advisory Task Force and then decide another meeting <br /> 45 time in which to discuss this further. <br /> 46 Clarence Grier said if the Board is not going with the November 2014 date, the meeting <br /> 47 can be at any of the upcoming future BOCC meetings; but if they are going for November 2014, <br /> 48 the meeting would have to be take place around the first part of April. <br /> 49 Commissioner Gordon suggested that the Board tentatively agree to appoint a Capital <br /> 50 Needs Task Force and that they bring this question about the bond referendum and how to <br /> 51 proceed to a meeting in April so that they can make some forward progress on this. <br />