Minutes 06-09-2022 Budget Work Session

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15 Commissioner McKee said he is against the amendment. He said that he has been on the Board since 2010. He said at that time, he had seen the county bypassed by economic development projects year after year. He said he learned that there was no effort to attract business with jobs and taxes and that the state economic development office had written the county off. He said that previous commissioners had made comments that Orange County was going to be a bedroom community to the Triangle. He said in doing so, it caused the tax rate to be where it is now. He said starting in 2011-12 an issue was put to the voters for a 1/2 cent tax with half going to the schools and half going to economic development. He said there was no indication that the funds would be moved around. He said that the half-cent sales tax was a promise made to voters that half would go to schools and half would go to economic development. He said with its passage, the county started to get attention. He said that businesses like Morinaga came calling. He said if it had not been for the money, there would be no lift station and if no lift station, no Morinaga. He said that there are reserve funds, but they have obligations reaching out into the future. He said that if they start moving money out of economic development then the county will revert back to where they were. He said that it will not be ok, and they we will not have the money if another major project comes calling. He said that he cannot support any reallocation of the Article 46 sales tax funds. Commissioner Hamilton said the Board will discuss Article 46 more in depth at the retreat. She said there was an agreement that for 10 years it would be split 50/50, and those 10 years are up. Commissioner McKee said that was not how it was sold. Commissioner Hamilton said that education equals economic development. She said that she is not against economic development but education feeds into the bigger economic development big picture. She said that her concern is looking forward, she sees that the community will be a place where older people and rich people live and people with young families will not be able to afford it. She said that if we want teachers to live in our community then they need the compensation to allow it. She said by not shoring up education they risk being less affordable and less diverse. Chair Price said she would like to maintain the 50/50 split until they have a chance to talk about it further. She said that without economic development, parents will not have jobs. She said that Article 46 was meant to provide jobs for people who live in Orange County. She said that they have to bring economic development to the county in order to relieve the property tax burden on homeowners. She said she would like to maintain the 50/50 split. She said it is barely enough, and the county's economic development department is quite small. Commissioner Hamilton said this proposal does not change the 50/50 split, but it takes funds from the reserve. Chair Price said it still takes funds from economic development. Commissioner McKee said the reserve can be spent on Durham Tech initiatives, arts, grants for businesses, and small businesses. He said he may have focused on too many big companies, but there are small fish out there that benefit. He said it may be a one-time draw but it is still a drawdown. He said they never know when that reserve will be needed. Commissioner Greene said she is concerned about sustainability. Commissioner Bedford, Commissioner Hamilton, and Commissioner Fowler were in favor of amendment 22-23OP-005 which would increase school funding by $450,000 and reduce the Article 46 reserve fund by $450,000. Chair Price, Commissioner Greene, Commissioner McKee, and Commissioner Richards were opposed. All of the Commissioners were in favor of budget amendment 22-23OP-001, which would allocate $789,100 in additional ARPA funding for radio replacements for the Orange Grove and New Hope Fire Districts and the South Orange Rescue Squad.