Minutes 03-26-2015 - Town of Chapel Hill

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• Priority in various Master Plans, including the Parks & Greenways, Stormwater, Streetscape, Bike and Sidewalks Master Plans. • Whether the project was contemplated in the Town's 2020 planning process. • The project's importance score in the Community Survey. Streets & Sidewalks $ 16,200,000 Trails and Greenways $ 5,000,000 Recreation Facilities $ 8,000,000 Solid Waste Transfer Station $ 5,200,000 Stormwater Improvements $ 5,900,000 Schedule The Town Council is scheduled to take its first official action for the planned referendum on April 27th when they take up the preliminary findings resolution. Other important milestones in the referendum process include introduction of bond orders and setting of the public hearing scheduled for May 27th and holding the public hearing, adoption of bond orders and setting of ballot questions on June 22nd. Debt Affordability The Town has manageable debt levels as evidenced by its low debt per capita and debt to assessed value benchmarks compared to its triple A rated municipal peer group. The Town's debt pay-out ratio (amount of debt service payable in the next ten years) is 77.9%, which is considered very strong. In addition, the Town's annual debt service as a percent of governmental revenues is currently about 9.2%, which is well below historic levels. b) Potential November 2016 Oranqe County Bond Referendum Chair McKee said Orange County has discussed a possible referendum on two separate occasions. Paul Laughton said both school systems are looking at about $330 million worth of repairs and renovations to their older schools. He said the County is still gathering information on this, and it would be a large portion of a potential bond referendum. He said information was shared at the Board of County Commissioners' retreat regarding the 2001 bond and its process, two key debt ratios and where Orange County stands regarding this. He said that the County debt capacity is 15 percent and currently the county is at 13.24 percent. He said that Orange County is AAA bond rated and is therefore in the strong category. He said that debt to assess value is also important. The County sets the maximum debt to assess value at 3 percent, and it is currently at 1.17 percent. He said this again puts the County in a strong rating category. Paul Laughton said the Board of County Commissioners discussed at their March 3�a meeting the intent to schedule a bond referendum in November 2016 to address County and school needs. The Board also discussed the creation of a Capital Needs Advisory Task Force. The Board of County Commissioners asked for additional information from the schools. He said Orange County schools will present their priorities in May. Paul Laughton said staff has looked at possible timeframes with appointing a task force in late spring. He said the task force could meet over summer break and could come back with recommendations by October 6, 2015 if not before. Paul Laughton said they are looking at a potential $125 million bond. The total of$330 million in repairs cannot be accomplished in one bond referendum; therefore priorities will be important. Bonnie Hammersley said that more information will be given to the Board of County Commissioners. She said the process for doing so has not yet been determined.