Agenda - 05-30-1989 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Another issue facing the county is solid waste. The budget addresses solid waste concerns in several ways. First, a new Solid Waste Administrator is being recommended in the budget. That person will provide direct supervision in overseeing long term solutions to the green box situation. This position will also focus on public education and the expansion of recycling in Orange County. An increase in the tipping fee is also a part of the proposed budget. The State and federal regulations requiring that the landfill be lined is the reason for this increase. Eighty Three Thousand is in the budget to purchase consolidated green box sites for the coming year. The third major goal was diversifying and expanding the County's revenue base. Link indicated that throughout the budget process he has been impressed with the need for Orange County to expand its revenue base. Moving ahead with the Economic Development Strategic plan is a necessary step to achieve that goal. Funding for implementation of the major components of that plan will be provided. Implementation of the User Fee Study is also recommended. He indicated that he believes there is a need to address the issue of which services will be provided through ad valorem tax revenue as opposed to other sources of revenue, such as fees. Link stated the County continues to improve its overall financial condition. The fund balance is at a level sufficient to allow for normal cash flow needs, and the bond rating is AA. That has allowed for a favorable rate of interest of 7. 11% on the recent 11.8 million dollar bond issue. In the recommended budget there is a continuation to attain the goal of 8% fund balance which will be approximately 3.5 million dollars. That represents $500,000 in additional fund balance. There is a visible slow down in the rate of growth in the tax base, from an average of 6.5% to 3.6% for 1989-90. That difference equates to 2 cents on the tax rate. Much of the reason for this decline is due to the loss of the Inventory Tax. Personal property has also been eroded. There has been a decrease in construction. There is a need to expand the tax base through economic development. The Strategic Plan will need to be pursued in order to reach the goal of expanding the County's tax base. Other revenue sources need to be pursued, such as user fees. The alternative to the expansion of the tax base is to continue to raise taxes by 2 -3 cents per year just to maintain current levels of service. Of the tax increase 3.1 cents will go to debt service on the bond issue and 2.4 cents for other operating costs. Figures from the User Fee Study were presented at this time. A potential of $906,000 in increased revenue was identified and the Manager's Proposed budget recommends an increase of $484,500. A breakdown of the potential increase in user fees indicated the largest increase will come from EMS with the remaining increases coming from Environmental Health, Recreation and Parks, Planning, and Land Records. He stated that the question concerning.the EMS services was whether or not Orange County would continue to pay for these services totally with property tax, or pursue a mixture of property tax and user fees in the future. A breakdown of the County subsidy is as follows: County Subsidy of Volunteer Services $105,000 County Subsidy of Daytime Services 613,000 Total $718,000 Tax Rate Equivalent 2.1 cents Link indicated that the revenue from fees would generate $244,000 for the first year. The approach recommended would reduce the amount of tax burden to $519,000. Most of the revenue would be produced through private insurance and Medicaid/Medicare. Only a small portion of private citizens would be directly billed and in those cases payment would be based on ability to pay. Some of the EMS volunteers take issue with the study because it does not reflect their contributions and resources to the EMS system. They believe that a complete analysis should