Minutes 06-11-19 Budget Work Session

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16 Commissioner Price said Commissioner Marcoplos came up with the proposal after the two budget public hearings, and some of these ideas should become part of the DNA of Orange County, as opposed to a separate tax being levied. Commissioner Price said she thinks the Board should do a '/o cents tax for schools, and use OPED monies for this proposed amendment. Commissioner Greene stressed reasons why this proposed amendment is a good idea: • CO2 is being released into the atmosphere faster than at any time in at least the last 60 million years • The energy trapped by man-made global warming pollution is now "equivalent to exploding 500,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day 365 days per year." • Eighteen of the 19 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001. • The US Southeast is projected to warm by up to 8 degrees F this century, if we do nothing different. • Of the 100 US counties projected to suffer the worst impacts of the climate crisis, 97 are in the South. Commissioner Greene said weatherization and solar arrays speak to all of these needs. She said she has read many emails, and while Orange County is only one small place, every bit of effort to combat climate change is worth it. She said the County's actions could attract the attention of others. Commissioner Greene said she is not clear about the new building commissioning, and the existing building commissioning. She said this should be done on a regular basis. Commissioner Greene said she has a strong interest in the amendment that totals $75,000 to do three $25,000 studies to assess the potential of geothermal wells for three Orange County sites, and this is a concrete goal that could be placed into this proposed amendment. She said Orange County should take the lead, and approve this tax increase. Commissioner Bedford said she agreed with the funding goals of the amendment, but would like to achieve these goals without the tax increase. She said it is important that the public be aware that the County has been doing these sustainability projects for years, and she highlighted several examples, particularly in the school districts. Commissioner Bedford said she is glad that Commissioner Marcoplos is highlighting the climate needs, and she is particularly concerned about weatherization, and believes money for these types of projects could come from the social justice funds. Commissioner Bedford said some residents have asked her if this item could go to a referendum, and she followed up with the County Attorney (CA), who said no, in North Carolina only certain things can go to a referendum, and ad valorem taxes do not work this way. She said she also learned that increases in ad valorem taxes cannot be dedicated with any binding impact to future boards. Commissioner Bedford said she looked at pros and cons of dedicated taxes, and said this is not a dedicated tax, but an ad valorem tax. She said a benefit is the provision of a funding stream that sets aside funds for high priority initiatives, but one of the risks is the creation of potential inefficiencies. She said because dedicated taxes support particular programs or services, the amount of money raised reflects that revenue capacity of the tax rather than the actual program needs. She said she thinks the needs will be greater than the amount raised by a % cent tax. She said she would rather raise the ad valorem, if necessary, and fund it through the CIP and use regular mechanisms for funding. Commissioner Dorosin echoed much of Commissioner Marcoplos' and Greene's comments, but he also thought that whatever the Board does, it has to be viewed through the racial equity and social justice lens, and he said he would like to see this prioritization built into the proposal. He said other entities have dedicated taxes, and future boards can make