Minutes 02-11-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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