Minutes 03-03-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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engage the public in the CIP. She said the Board does not start out informing the public of the debt capacity before taxes would need to be raised. Commissioner porosin said it may be good at some point to vote on the bond priorities, and then he would like some more information on the other idea of funding. He does not like the idea of just saying that items will go on the CIP, and he would like to see items spelled out in an independent resolution. He is interested in a different type of strategic funding, but it needs to be clear. He suggested that this be put on the agenda for a vote and information be provided on the Chapel Hill funding model. He said, following this, there could be a public hearing to gather the desired input. Commissioner Burroughs said if they pursue this concept, she is interested in hearing from Bonnie Hammersley regarding the strategic thinking about the CIP. Bonnie Hammersley said she has some school information and the recommended CIP, which includes items that would not be considered part of the referendum. She said staff could take a look at this more closely as to how items fit into the CIP. She said the renovations being done by Carrboro are creating more seats and putting off building a school. She said this creates some more room. She said it is possible to look at different options to determine the maximum ability on the CIP and the bond referendum or a hybrid model. Chair McKee said he would like to get the priorities from OCS as quickly as possible so that the finance department can compare these numbers with the total borrowing capacity. He said this could help with an informal discussion at a work session. Public Comment: Submitted by Bonnie Hauser via email Dear Commissioners: As you know, many of us will be in Efland or Carrboro tonight discussing affordability and cannot appear at the county commissioner meeting to offer our view on the possible bond referendum. Please accept this as public comment and enter it into the public record. There is growing sentiment throughout the community that it is too premature to county to ask its citizens to approve a bond for schools or other initiatives. Affordability is a major issue in Orange County, and a 5% tax increase will make things worse. We'd prefer to see the county pursue better planning and priority setting. Based on your budgets, it appears that county plans to continue to spend lavishly on parks, offices and waste facilities while schools sit in embarrassing disrepair waiting for voters to approve a bond and a tax increase. The bond followed by a property tax revaluation could have disastrous effects on already struggling real estate markets and economic development initiatives. You have already heard our concerns about the county's outdated park plans - yet these parks continue to show in the county's capital plan. Plus, there's nearly $20 million planned for expanded offices on Revere Road, Southern Human Services, and at the new Blackwood Farm Park. While none of these projects are bad in themselves, given the needs at many of our aging schools, the timing couldn't be worse. We also remain concerned that the county and school boards have not fully vetted the school capital requests or attempted to place them on a timeline. For example, OCS doesn't need $30 million for HVAC systems this year. Over time, these expenses will be quite manageable. Similarly, spending millions on new offices for both school districts shouldn't be a priority -