Agenda - 05-19-20; 8-a - Minutes

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27 1 Commissioner Dorosin said it would be part of their property tax. He said the difference 2 would be that the amount of monies to OCS in the annual budget would go up, and the amount 3 going to CHCCS would remain the same. 4 Commissioner Greene said Commissioner Dorosin is technically correct, and 5 Commissioner Price is correct in what the perception would be among the OCS voters. She said 6 OCS residents do not see this as evening things up, but rather as an increase in taxes, and there is 7 no other reason than to re-appropriate the taxes. 8 Commissioner Greene said it would be nice to know what the voters in the OCS district 9 thought, and maybe there needs to be another referendum. 10 Commissioner Dorosin said this idea is only one proposal, and he is open to all ideas. He 11 said if his proposal were to pass, they would see a regular increase in money going to the OCS. 12 Commissioner Marcoplos said this tax solution is the only solution has been identified. 13 He said he has lived here a long time, and generally, in rural Orange County people are happy 14 with their schools, with good reason. He said people would rather not have their taxes raised, 15 and still have good schools. 16 Commissioner Marcoplos said in CHCCS, there are people who want their taxes raised 17 for their schools, as they can afford it. He recommended hiring a polling company to see what 18 people think in both school districts. 19 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there is any way to compel school districts to consolidate 20 some of the things that they both do, such as transportation, to ameliorate disparities. He said it 21 is good to hear what people think, but right is right. 22 Commissioner Marcoplos said, over the years, rural Orange County has felt that the 23 schools were one thing over which they had control. He said if a poll were conducted, the 24 residents could be asked about collaborative efforts. 25 Commissioner Dorosin said if they are going toward universal pre-K, and building new 26 facilities, there should be more effective collaboration. 27 Chair Rich asked if the Board is interested in polling about a district tax, and if a 28 referendum is desired, which would provide some supporting data. 29 Commissioner Marcoplos said polling residents would provide information and seed 30 conversations around the County. 31 Chair Rich said if the public is involved from the beginning it backs up what 32 Commissioner Dorosin is trying to do. She said the public has misunderstood Commissioner 33 Dorosin's intent in the past. 34 Commissioner Dorosin said if it is the will to have two school districts, then the question 35 remains as to whether the current funding model is equitable. 36 Commissioner Dorosin said the sheet that was attached, with district tax data, has some 37 missing information. 38 Commissioner McKee said his position has not changed. He said there is no way to get 39 around the fact that the residents in CHCCS will come up neutral on taxes paid, but the OCS 40 residents will get a tax increase. He said there are 20,408 students in Orange County, and if you 41 get rid of the district tax then both districts are equal at $4352 per pupil. He said to bring the 42 districts back to the current CHCCS allocation, the County would have to generate $1977 per 43 pupil for the OCS students, which is a $40 million increase in tax revenue, and translates to 20.8 44 cent tax increase district wide.