Agenda - 10-19-2004-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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be widened or repaved, More people moving to an area mean that schools need to grow, more teachers need to be hired, and school allotments must rise. Without the property tax revenues associated with this designated area to pay for these services, it stands to reason that other taxes or fees will need to raised to pay for the greater demands placed on the district. Other Options for Improvement Financial Impact to State is Uncertain -PDF will affect two state agencies, the Board of Elections and the Local Government Commission (LGC) in the state treasurer's office, but to what extent the LGC will be affected is not Imown. The General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division and the LGC were unable to provide estimates of the costs to the LGC to legislators. Forecasting and Financing Tricky-The ability to repay bonds depends on accurate forecasting of revenue growth.. Unforeseen eventr or poor forecasting may lead to underestimating the growth in the property tax values.. The debt- issuing locality may be required to sell public property within the district to make a payment on the bond or may need to pledge other revenues. ' n addition to the areas of potential improvement noted above, there are two other shortcomings that the proposed amendment fails to address: Additional funds for housing assistance -Low-income families may be displaced by the rising costs of living in areas that benefit from the development. To lessen displacement, several states require that a portion of property tax revenues dedicated to TIF bonds be allocated to local or state housing trust funds such as the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund. The proposed PDF amendment includes no such language.. 2. Public Education May Be Impacted -Research has shown that TIF projects can harm public education, Therefore, numerous states authorizing TIF do not permit the percentage of property tax revenues devoted to education to be diverted. However, the proposed amendment does not stipulate any portion of incfeased property tax revenues be used for schools, leaving public education vulnerable. In a survey conducted by the National Education Association, 4Q of the 48 states using TIF responded that school property taxes were affected as a result of 71F projects.. Conclusion Istorically, voters in the state have been reluctant to approve of initiatives that H increase public debt or that eliminate voter approval requirements, If approved, PDF will produce a fundamental and constitutional change in the way local governments can issue debt without voter approval, Voters must now decide if the shortcomings and omissions addressed above outweigh this latest attempt to further economic development in the state, 1 Sanders, John and john Inmax, jc., "Amendments to the ComUWUon of North Urolina: 17761996", University of North Carolina at Chapel Hili, Institute of Govemmenq 1992 (Note To[ai number of voter against the amendment in 1993 was I'uted as being higher than Wtai publuhed by the NC 0oard of EleNons. The figure publuhed by the BoartJ of Elec2iom is cited..] 2 "Abstma of Votes Cart for Conriitu6onai Amendment and Bond Referendum Special Elenion, November Z. 1993" North Carolina Board of Elections.. 3 Radfed NoNs Carolina Senate 0ii1 775, 2001 Session, North Carolina General Assembly, The bill u located at hng// I Vht 12003/6'11 /AIIV /S t /5725 ht I. 4 Sanders, john and john Lomax. Jc. "Amendments to the CorutiWUen of Narth Carolina: 17761996". University of North flC BUDGET ~ ~rAZ CENTER STC REPORTS