Agenda - 09-20-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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8 1 thinks there are some items being funded with Article 46 proceeds that the Board could provide 2 direction on, but views it more as the job of the County Manager. She said if the Board does 3 strategic planning, then the use of the proceeds and the budget can be tied to it. 4 Lydian Altman said from the comments, she's heard two things; first, does the Board 5 want to revisit this, and if so, what might a process be for doing that. She invited others to 6 comment. 7 Commissioner McKee said he believes the Board knows his opinion on Article 46. He 8 said he heard a question about what the county did for economic development before Article 46, 9 and the answer is the county did nothing and got nothing, to the point that the state did not refer 10 companies to Orange County because it was considered a waste of time. He said he believes 11 the vote on Article 46 went before the voters with the understanding that 50% would be spent on 12 economic development, though this Board or a future Board can change that. He said since this 13 money has become available, the economic development picture in Orange County has 14 radically changed, and he credited a lot of the change to Morinaga taking a leap of faith and 15 developing here. He said a goal should be to continue attracting businesses that fit, which 16 includes having money to do it, and the only way to do that is to use Article 46 proceeds, or 17 raise taxes. 18 Commissioner Richards said her buzzword as a new commissioner is responsible 19 development to encourage and support a strong safety net. She said there cannot be a strong 20 safety net without economic development. She said it's because of all the county needs that she 21 would like even more funding to go to economic development. She said there is a lot of bang for 22 the buck with money going toward economic development. For example, she said $2 million for 23 economic development can go a lot further than $2 million going to schools compared to the 24 much larger amount of money the schools actually need. 25 Chair Price said she thinks they funding for both economic development and education 26 is important. She said she has seen a lot of growth since the county dedicated money to 27 economic development. She said this special sales and use tax has helped take some of the 28 burden off of the property tax base. Chair Price said having more economic development can 29 provide a foundation for other things to happen like community development and more funding 30 to schools. With that said, she also acknowledged that the schools need more funding. She 31 asked if the Board would like to update the Resolution passed in 2011 to determine what to do 32 for the next 5-10 years. 33 Commissioner Hamilton said it is okay to hear disagreement because this is a good 34 example of money the Board uses automatically but doesn't stop to look at even though the 35 resolution said it would be reviewed in 10 years. She said it demonstrates how there aren't 36 processes in place to review and follow up on past decisions. She said she hears the point 37 about the benefits of investing in economic development, but schools are also an economic 38 development issue because they are one of the things that draws businesses and people into 39 the community. She said schools are at a tipping point where Orange County may not be as 40 attractive as surrounding communities due to the schools, which will have an impact on 41 economic development. She thanked staff for the detailed breakdown of revenues from 42 different economic development projects. She said she was surprised to see how little return 43 some projects are providing now, but understands there will be greater return in the long run. 44 She said it's important to think about this when determining what to invest in now vs. later, and 45 with schools and children there is an impact that cannot be quantified in the data provided. She 46 said there is no information on the return on investment in schools, no information on the 47 benefits to the community from the county's investment in schools. Further, she said the 48 information does not include the cost of economic development to the community like increased 49 traffic or costs to schools. She said the Board isn't seeing the full cost benefits and to keep that 50 in mind. She clarified that she is not saying the investments in economic development are not 51 needed.