Agenda - 09-04-2018 8-a - Minutes

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 15 Commissioner McKee said he is full of contradictions tonight, and he has been vocally adamant about funding OPEB in the past, and will likely continue to feel that way in the future; however, he knows there will tax increases due to the bond, and while the amount of this potential reduction is insignificant, it is a gesture of goodwill towards the residents. Commissioner Marcoplos clarified it is a reduction of 0.15 of a cent. Travis Myren said the tax rate would go down to 85.04. Chair Dorosin said the rate increase would go down to 1.27 Commissioner Marcoplos said the tax for a $200,000 home would be reduced by $3.00. Commissioner Jacobs said OPEB is one of the more ridiculous acronyms that has ever been created. He said no one knows what it is. Commissioner Marcoplos said the Board has moved $100,000 into the social justice fund for a potential loan, and has $250,000 unallocated in social justice fund. Travis Myren said minus two food amendments. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if it would be wise to put some of the OPEB earmarked funds into the social justice funds to be available to tackle the issues of hunger in the County. Commissioner Jacobs said there is an undesignated fund balance, and the Board can come back in the fall and discuss this. He said the Family Success Alliance is in place and is succeeding, and the Board may wish to support this further, but he thinks there should be a well thought out plan. Commissioner Burroughs concurred. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the staggered tax rate costs more over 5 years than doing 5 now. Travis Myren said no, it is a lower total. He said the Board could do roughly 5 cents now, or implemented over time it gets to almost 8 cents. Commissioner Marcoplos said over the long haul, if there was a 5% increase now, people would be paying less taxes. Travis Myren said the overall rate would be lower. Commissioner Marcoplos said the overall rate would be 3 cents lower, while the County would still derive the same amount of money from the tax. Travis Myren said yes, and that assumes that the County has to do all the incremental increases over time. He said one of the justifications for the phase -in approach is that the County will learn more about the economy in the coming years, and can adjust the increases accordingly. He said the increases are not set in stone. Commissioner Marcoplos said it seems that if the increase was a bit higher this year, and there was less phasing on overall, it would save the residents more than $3. He said that money could be put into the debt fund, and that would keep taxes down in the future, while still giving the County space to react to economic conditions. Commissioner Burroughs said that is a great idea and they both lost that battle a while back. Chair Dorosin said he appreciated Commissioner Marcoplos' comments, but the reality is that a 4.5 or 5 -cent tax increase hits people on the margins much harder. He said there is a trade off between the short -term and long -term costs. Commissioner Marcoplos said that is why he called it a hybrid approach. He said a S- cent increase would be shocking to the system; but maybe raise the taxes a little bit more than planned in order to save people money in the future. Chair Dorosin said there is a motion on the floor to put $280,000 from OPEB back in to the general fund, and the Board should vote on this first. VOTE: UNANIMOUS