Orange County NC Website
7 <br /> <br />Commissioner Jacobs said the report on the consolidated housing program has a 1 <br />number for people who are age 62 and older, which is almost identical to the number of 2 <br />students being funded in the two school systems. 3 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said a SWOT analysis was completed, which recommended that 4 <br />the County aim for 70% property tax dependence and this budget meets this recommendation. 5 <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she appreciated the work and the presentation; and she 6 <br />particularly appreciated the concept of the deferred maintenance for the schools over time. 7 <br />Commissioner Burroughs referred to the charter schools, and said, at some juncture, 8 <br />too many students will leave for charter schools, and it would be wise for the school districts, 9 <br />especially OCS, to show where/when children are leaving for charter schools. She said if the 10 <br />losses are scattered throughout the district, then the current plan is still valid, but if this trend 11 <br />continues, more information may be helpful. 12 <br />Chair Dorosin said he is not advocating for changing the policy, but rather he wants 13 <br />more information in order to tell the story to the residents of Orange County of the full range of 14 <br />support the County provides to the school districts. He said he thinks the number of children 15 <br />leaving the public schools for the charter schools is already at a critical point. 16 <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she would like to see the data on the charter students. 17 <br />Chair Dorosin said the County has close to 10% of students attending charter schools, 18 <br />and the school districts are held harmless. He said if this policy were to change, it would have 19 <br />a negative impact on the school districts. 20 <br />Chair Dorosin referred to Commissioner Jacobs’ point about the property tax, and said it 21 <br />would it would be useful to break down the 70% property tax to see how much is residential and 22 <br />how much is commercial. 23 <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said the charter schools have their own growth plan, and the 24 <br />County needs to be more proactive in projecting where this trend is going. He said the County 25 <br />may not have any control over the charter schools, but it does have control over whether or not 26 <br />to keep holding harmless the charter school students. 27 <br /> Chair Dorosin said the state law was changed last year, and now charters can grow up 28 <br />to 20% without additional oversight. 29 <br /> Commissioner Marcoplos said Commissioner Burroughs’ request for more information 30 <br />gets to the point that all of the lights do not have to be kept on if 30% of the students have left a 31 <br />district. 32 <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said this may work in tandem with the mandated class size 33 <br />reduction. 34 <br /> Commissioner Price said there are incentives provided to businesses to build in 35 <br />Orange County, and as these incentives time out, the County starts to see tax revenue. She 36 <br />asked if the revenues will be projected in the budget at any point. 37 <br /> Bonnie Hammersley said it will show in the 5-year projection, and this is the last year of 38 <br />the incentive for Morinaga. She said there will be a little bit more money in article 46, as it is 39 <br />currently being used to pay the incentive. 40 <br /> Commissioner Price asked if this is shown now. 41 <br /> Paul Laughton said it shows now in the article 46 sales tax fund. 42 <br /> Commissioner Price said there is a trend with students leaving, but the County needs 43 <br />to find out why the students are leaving, or else we will end up with one school district being 44 <br />wealthier than the other. She said it is important to think about how to get the schools back to a 45 <br />level where parents want their children to return. 46 <br /> 47 <br />5. Public Hearings 48 <br /> 49 <br />a. Public Hearing on the Financing of Various Capital Investment Plan Projects 50