Minutes 01-26-2018 Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 Commissioner Price said she is concerned about residents’ ability to live affordably. Tax and fee increases are going to make it more expensive to build and to live here. We could be moving in the direction of making Orange County too exclusive. It’s heart-wrenching to hear that long term residents have to move to Durham or Alamance because taxes and fees here are too expensive for them. Commissioner Burroughs agreed that social justice is a factor. And, she said, there is an $11M structural imbalance that we are required to address. I believe we will have to raise taxes, either using the one-time or the incremental scenario. And I would make the case now that we should go with the one-time increase option. She offered the following reasons: first, no one likes tax increases, so doing it three years in a row is more painful than doing it once. Second, this Board cannot bind future boards. We cannot count on future boards to join us in fixing the structural imbalance. It is our responsibility as the Board today to provide the solution. Third, we told folks who voted for the bond that there would be a tax increase in FY18-19. The farther in time we get from the bond referendum that generated this need, the more distant the tax payers will be from those made the decision to raise their own taxes. A one-time increase would maintain a closer connection between those who incurred the obligation and those who are going to pay for it. Commissioner Marcoplos said he feels strongly that a recession will occur in the not-too- distant future. At the same time, our relationship with the State and federal governments has never been worse. In my household when a big storm is predicted we get conservative about how we handle our resources and how we make our plans. I want to take a more conservative approach to the County budget until after the next recession and after the next elections give me a firmer feel about the future, he said. My instinct right now would be to agree with Mia, and have a full increase now before there is a crisis, and hope it will help us to build up a cushion to weather the storm. Her other reasons were valid as well: a one-time increase would be more palatable and predictable for people. Most people do not have a lot of time in their lives to follow everything we do, so doing it once will be less of a burden on them. In reply to a question from Commissioner Dorosin, Ms. Hammersley said that in the absence of any changes there will be a budget shortfall in FY18-19 of $7M. Commissioner Dorosin said that a tax increase is too narrow a frame for the Board’s discussions today. The broader discussion is whether our policies and practices have created an unaffordable situation for residents. I don’t think it’s fair to say we don’t like tax increases – I believe in providing the funds the government needs to provide services. But the taxes here are very high. It’s easy when a lot of wealthy people tell us to raise their taxes, but there are people moving away because they cannot afford to live here. We need to have three elements in all our discussions: efficiencies, potential revenue increases -- like a tax increase -- and potential cuts, he said. Commissioner Jacobs said that he agreed with Commissioner Marcoplos’s perspective regarding “the coming storm” and with Commissioner Dorosin’s suggestion that the group consider a range of solutions. We also have to look at the undesignated fund balance, he said. I’ve been on the Board during periods when the property tax rate increased for eleven years, and for the past eight years when it only went up once. We have come to the point in terms of affordability where I think a tax increase is a last resort. The fund balance should be the fourth part of the equation. My goal would be to pay for the school bonds without raising taxes; I don’t think we can answer today whether we can do that or not. It’s a little early to