Minutes 06-23-2022 Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

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