Minutes 04-27-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 Commissioner McKee referred to slide 2, and he asked if there is a reason why this does not show up on item number 9, on page 7. He asked if this means that the percentages of the debt will be paid at 81.5% and 18.5%. Travis Myren said yes. Commissioner McKee asked if there is a reason that this information was not memorialized in the slide. Travis Myren said it was not in the slide, but it is in the agreement. Commissioner McKee asked if this is the debt up to 2035 or 2062. Travis Myren said it is the debt until 2035. John Tallmadge, GoTriangle Regional Services Development Director, said it is the shared borrowings out to 2062. Commissioner Jacobs asked Travis Myren if he could provide an update on bus hours and services. Travis Myren said some analysis of what is affordable has been completed, and he said part of this looks at the desired amount of cash balance for potential revenue short falls or cost overruns. He said if$3 million was chosen as a minimum, 4,000 hours of additional bus service was the yield, spread across all transit providers. He said there will be discussions about how existing and future funds may be divided among the bus service providers in the County. Commissioner Jacobs asked if County staff is recommending a cash balance of$3 million. Travis Myren said that is a figure that he chose as a place to start, and the Board did not make a policy. Commissioner Jacobs said parties that have no financial stake in the funding may advocate for a lower balance. Chair Dorosin opened the floor for discussion. Commissioner Jacobs said the Board appreciated all the emails received from the public, which were often thoughtful and rarely derogatory. He said it was a good example that people in the Community are willing to educate themselves and be involved. He highlighted three misconceptions that he noted: • the 1/2 cent transit tax is a separate funding mechanism unto itself, and cannot be applied to anything other than transit. • year of expenditure: the cost of the project did not jump dramatically from 2012 to 2016, but rather the way the dollars were defined changed. • Borrowing money: the State was expected to make a 25% contribution, and it was dropped to 10%. The funds that were to be used for bus are now going to make up the money that the State cut. Commissioner Rich said the Board heard from a lot residents slamming the University of North Carolina (UNC) because it does not pay taxes. She said the County has a good relationship with the University, and the students spend a lot of money in the County. She said it is not true that UNC does not spend money, and it is important to continue building this relationship. She said all need to be at the table having discussions, the University and the Towns. Commissioner Rich said the County will be at the table with the Town of Chapel Hill when it builds the station at Gateway to make sure transit oriented development is pushed forward, including: affordable housing, economic development, mixed use, form based code, etc.