OCPB agenda 020415 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

D R A F T 3 or the County or the State into those areas to enable that kind of small development. Is there a way to enable this type of small business through economic development? Steve Brantley: I’m not the person to comment on that technology but I will say that I know of a retail prospect that is probably going to Efland, it’s about a dozen jobs, it’s sales tax and employment opportunity and the ability to shop without driving to Alamance County and I’m in support of that so I think if someone who lives in an area is able to promote a local business situation, I think that’s great. There are a lot of people in the County that need choices that fit their scale, we have 6,000 people in Orange County on welfare. 1 in 3 children in Orange County are on Medicaid for their healthcare and 1 in 4 are on free or reduced lunches. We have a poverty index which is under the radar and I want to see opportunities for those people to work and shop. Tony Blake: Look at the situation for Fiesta Grill, he has been reduced by the health department to 4 or 5 tables because of the septic situation and he could employ more people and serve a lot more food if that situation were resolved but there is no resolution for that. Pete Hallenbeck: Whenever anyone talks about water, sewer, and power, I always chime in with ‘data’. What is being done, particularly in the Efland area, to get data? Steve Brantley: Craig and I met recently with the county’s IT director and he is currently now working with the data providers to help us understand what is in the County, particularly along the highway, what would it cost, and the delivery times to upgrade to the level that projects require. Pete Hallenbeck: One thing that is interesting is that we have dug up a lot of ground in that area and this came up and I was asking why we were not putting the plastic pipe in for data while we were installing sewer lines. The answer was that the County will not spend anything for infrastructure that would be for the phone company. They are on their own. Steve Brantley: I think the utility, Time Warner, Duke Energy, PSNC etc. would install the lines to the property for any big projects at no cost to the industry. It is business for them that they can and want to serve. I would think that fiber can work like that. Bonnie Hauser: Could you give us a number on Morinaga after the incentive is paid, what is the property tax revenue going to be on that property? Steve Brantley: For the first 5 years, assuming the company actually hires the people they say and makes the investment, then we will pay a five year benefit or bonus to the company. They will pay 100% of their property taxes and we will give them a check equal to 75% of it. So for 5 years we get 25% of the property tax and we have done surveys with all counties like ours across North Carolina and that is exactly what other counties do. We are doing nothing out of the ordinary. Bonnie Hauser: I want to know what the number is, is it 5 million dollars, or is it, what is the actual tax revenue once we are through the deal, roughly. Steve Brantley: Well, you’re the accountant, you can multiply 87 cents per 100 times 48 million dollars. Bonnie Hauser: So it’s 48 million. Steve Brantley: I think that is only half if not a third of what we are going to get. We have incentivized phase one of a project that may turn into phase two and maybe even phase three over the next six to 10 years and if that happens then we are going to have 300 jobs not 100; we’re going to have 150 million dollar investment not 48 or 58. A 100 million dollar investment, like Carrboro is sitting on with the Lloyd Farm Project, if they were to recruit that tonight and it got built it would generate to Orange County, just to the County, almost 900,000 dollars annually in new property taxes plus whatever Carrboro gets. Then you have the retail sales tax. That retail sales tax goes to transit, economic development and the general fund and schools get 50% of the general fund. 11