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4 <br /> 1 Commissioner McKee referred to slide 2, and he asked if there is a reason why this <br /> 2 does not show up on item number 9, on page 7. He asked if this means that the percentages <br /> 3 of the debt will be paid at 81.5% and 18.5%. <br /> 4 Travis Myren said yes. <br /> 5 Commissioner McKee asked if there is a reason that this information was not <br /> 6 memorialized in the slide. <br /> 7 Travis Myren said it was not in the slide, but it is in the agreement. <br /> 8 Commissioner McKee asked if this is the debt up to 2035 or 2062. <br /> 9 Travis Myren said it is the debt until 2035. <br /> 10 John Tallmadge, GoTriangle Regional Services Development Director, said it is the <br /> 11 shared borrowings out to 2062. <br /> 12 Commissioner Jacobs asked Travis Myren if he could provide an update on bus hours <br /> 13 and services. <br /> 14 Travis Myren said some analysis of what is affordable has been completed, and he said <br /> 15 part of this looks at the desired amount of cash balance for potential revenue short falls or cost <br /> 16 overruns. He said if$3 million was chosen as a minimum, 4,000 hours of additional bus service <br /> 17 was the yield, spread across all transit providers. He said there will be discussions about how <br /> 18 existing and future funds may be divided among the bus service providers in the County. <br /> 19 Commissioner Jacobs asked if County staff is recommending a cash balance of$3 <br /> 20 million. <br /> 21 Travis Myren said that is a figure that he chose as a place to start, and the Board did not <br /> 22 make a policy. <br /> 23 Commissioner Jacobs said parties that have no financial stake in the funding may <br /> 24 advocate for a lower balance. <br /> 25 Chair Dorosin opened the floor for discussion. <br /> 26 Commissioner Jacobs said the Board appreciated all the emails received from the <br /> 27 public, which were often thoughtful and rarely derogatory. He said it was a good example that <br /> 28 people in the Community are willing to educate themselves and be involved. He highlighted <br /> 29 three misconceptions that he noted: <br /> 30 • the 1/2 cent transit tax is a separate funding mechanism unto itself, and cannot be <br /> 31 applied to anything other than transit. <br /> 32 • year of expenditure: the cost of the project did not jump dramatically from 2012 to 2016, <br /> 33 but rather the way the dollars were defined changed. <br /> 34 • Borrowing money: the State was expected to make a 25% contribution, and it was <br /> 35 dropped to 10%. The funds that were to be used for bus are now going to make up the <br /> 36 money that the State cut. <br /> 37 <br /> 38 Commissioner Rich said the Board heard from a lot residents slamming the University of <br /> 39 North Carolina (UNC) because it does not pay taxes. She said the County has a good <br /> 40 relationship with the University, and the students spend a lot of money in the County. She said <br /> 41 it is not true that UNC does not spend money, and it is important to continue building this <br /> 42 relationship. She said all need to be at the table having discussions, the University and the <br /> 43 Towns. <br /> 44 Commissioner Rich said the County will be at the table with the Town of Chapel Hill <br /> 45 when it builds the station at Gateway to make sure transit oriented development is pushed <br /> 46 forward, including: affordable housing, economic development, mixed use, form based code, <br /> 47 etc. <br /> 48 Commissioner Burroughs said the starting point to her decision process was the funding <br /> 49 changes made by the State, and the resulting shortfalls. She said she was not on the Board <br /> 50 until 2014, and she has learned a lot about the details in the last few months. She said the <br />