Agenda 09-03-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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15 1 He said he is fundamentally and philosophically opposed to dedicated taxes, but his main 2 objection is that this type of proposal should be put through a public process. 3 Commissioner Price agreed, but this is not a new topic, and many people have been 4 well aware of climate change for many years. She said the County is working on weatherization 5 through the Department of Housing, and formerly JOCCA was doing the same. She said there 6 are several solar arrays in Orange County already. 7 Commissioner Price said Commissioner Marcoplos came up with the proposal after the 8 two budget public hearings, and some of these ideas should become part of the DNA of Orange 9 County, as opposed to a separate tax being levied. 10 Commissioner Price said she thinks the Board should do a '/4 cents tax for schools, and 11 use OPED monies for this proposed amendment. 12 Commissioner Greene stressed reasons why this proposed amendment is a good idea: 13 • CO2 is being released into the atmosphere faster than at any time in at least the last 60 14 million years 15 • The energy trapped by man-made global warming pollution is now "equivalent to 16 exploding 500,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day 365 days per year." 17 • Eighteen of the 19 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001. 18 • The US Southeast is projected to warm by up to 8 degrees F this century, if we do 19 nothing different. 20 • Of the 100 US counties projected to suffer the worst impacts of the climate crisis, 97 are 21 in the South. 22 23 Commissioner Greene said weatherization and solar arrays speak to all of these needs. 24 She said she has read many emails, and while Orange County is only one small place, every bit 25 of effort to combat climate change is worth it. She said the County's actions could attract the 26 attention of others. 27 Commissioner Greene said she is not clear about the new building commissioning, and 28 the existing building commissioning. She said this should be done on a regular basis. 29 Commissioner Greene said she has a strong interest in the amendment that totals 30 $75,000 to do three $25,000 studies to assess the potential of geothermal wells for three 31 Orange County sites, and this is a concrete goal that could be placed into this proposed 32 amendment. She said Orange County should take the lead, and approve this tax increase. 33 Commissioner Bedford said she agreed with the funding goals of the amendment, but 34 would like to achieve these goals without the tax increase. She said it is important that the 35 public be aware that the County has been doing these sustainability projects for years, and she 36 highlighted several examples, particularly in the school districts. 37 Commissioner Bedford said she is glad that Commissioner Marcoplos is highlighting the 38 climate needs, and she is particularly concerned about weatherization, and believes money for 39 these types of projects could come from the social justice funds. 40 Commissioner Bedford said some residents have asked her if this item could go to a 41 referendum, and she followed up with the County Attorney (CA), who said no, in North Carolina 42 only certain things can go to a referendum, and ad valorem taxes do not work this way. She 43 said she also learned that increases in ad valorem taxes cannot be dedicated with any binding 44 impact to future boards. 45 Commissioner Bedford said she looked at pros and cons of dedicated taxes, and said 46 this is not a dedicated tax, but an ad valorem tax. She said a benefit is the provision of a 47 funding stream that sets aside funds for high priority initiatives, but one of the risks is the 48 creation of potential inefficiencies. She said because dedicated taxes support particular 49 programs or services, the amount of money raised reflects that revenue capacity of the tax 50 rather than the actual program needs. She said she thinks the needs will be greater than the