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9 <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: As part of the FY 2019-20 budget, the Board of Commissioners authorized an 1 <br />additional ¼ cent property tax to provide an estimated $469,272 dedicated to accelerating 2 <br />climate change mitigation through the new Climate Change Mitigation Project in the Capital 3 <br />Investment Plan. 4 <br /> 5 <br />When the tax was authorized, the BOCC stated that it would decide the final prioritization of 6 <br />projects to be funded, and the Board requested that the Commission for the Environment (CFE) 7 <br />provide feedback on prospective projects in advance of BOCC review. 8 <br /> 9 <br />The CFE completed its initial scoring, and the BOCC reviewed a report that outlined the 10 <br />recommended projects at its Business meeting on February 4th. At that meeting the Board 11 <br />approved funding for two of the four recommended projects, and at the request of school 12 <br />leadership, temporarily deferred taking any action on the two projects which make up the 13 <br />proposed Solar for Schools grant program. Attachment 1 is a copy of this report revised in 14 <br />accordance with the comments received from the BOCC. 15 <br /> 16 <br />During the discussion of the Solar for Schools grant program, Board members asked several 17 <br />questions in preparation for additional discussion in the future. In response, staff revised the 18 <br />report and had discussions with staff in both school districts. Attachment 2 is a list of the Board 19 <br />members’ questions and follow-up responses on the recommended Solar for Schools Grant 20 <br />Program. 21 <br /> 22 <br />The Board considered the item again at its April 7, 2020 Business meeting. However, some 23 <br />additional concerns were raised by both school systems. The Board once again deferred action 24 <br />on the two proposed Solar for Schools projects to allow additional communication between both 25 <br />school districts and County staff, and also to allow both Boards of Education to consider the 26 <br />proposed rooftop solar projects. 27 <br /> 28 <br />The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education met on April 16, 2020 and 29 <br />expressed support for its rooftop solar project. The Orange County Schools (OCS) Board of 30 <br />Education is scheduled to meet on April 20, 2020 to discuss its rooftop solar project, and County 31 <br />staff will provide an update to the BOCC on any actions taken at that OCS meeting. 32 <br /> 33 <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Climate Action Tax is projected to generate $469,272 in funds in FY 34 <br />2019-20. The top two recommended projects have already been approved to use $169,272 of 35 <br />these funds, and the remaining $300,000 is recommended to fund two Solar for Schools grants 36 <br />for $150,000 each. 37 <br /> 38 <br />Chair Rich said both school districts have indicated that they would like to move forward 39 <br />on these solar projects. 40 <br />Travis Myren reminded the Board that they discussed this item on April 7th and additional 41 <br />questions were raised, and staff was asked to see if the school districts would like to use these 42 <br />funds. 43 <br />Travis Myren said both Boards of Education (BOE’s) accepted these grant funds, and he 44 <br />circulated both action items from both districts to the Orange County Board of Commissioners 45 <br />earlier today. 46 <br />Commissioner McKee said he had concerns about the differences between leasing and 47 <br />purchasing. He said there may be a lower up front cost with leasing, but if they actually use the 48 <br />funds to leverage a larger system, it may be cheaper over the long term to own. He asked if 49 <br />staff has any figures on long-term costs. He said there were some answers in the abstract, but 50