Minutes 01-19-2024 - Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

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37 Vice-Chair Greene said she supports Option C-2. She said she doesn't want to reduce the county contribution by as much as Option H. Chair Bedford asked Kirk Vaughn, Budget Director, to calculate what Option H would look like with a $108 million in new county funding instead of$75 million. Kirk Vaughn said you could get a close estimate by adding .36 cents to the H+B tax increase. Chair Bedford said that would be 8.42 cents as a one-time tax increase but would address some of Vice-Chair Greene's concerns with option H (amended Option G) Commissioner Fowler said she could support that proposal, but it would impact the years 10-20 in the County CIP in terms of what is available for future debt service. She said she wants to choose a plan that is equitable in terms of the county as well as the school capital needs. Chair Bedford said even though it costs more to have the $100 million pay-go, it provides flexibility to future boards and thinks it is worth it for that reason. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said with the H+B option, she likes that the debt service ratio will be within the recommended range from the rating agency. She asked if once the money gets split the impact will actually be felt by the school districts. Chair Bedford said it won't solve all of the issues but will address a lot of them. Commissioner Fowler said the Board does not have to decide which county projects would be delayed today. She said she supports amended Option G, as Chair Bedford suggested. Chair Bedford said that's right because the Board revisits the CIP every year. Commissioner Richards said she can support amended Option G but doesn't like the idea of deciding which projects will be pushed off now. She said it feels like pitting county and school needs against one another. She suggested Option G but with a$300 million bond and $100 million as pay-go. Commissioner Hamilton reiterated that she supports Option H+B because this can has been kicked down the road and needs to be addressed now so other projects will have to wait. Chair Bedford said she supports amended Option G. Commissioner McKee said he supports H+B. He shared some of the conversations has had with residents about moving out of Orange County due to taxes making it unaffordable. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she has also gotten phone calls from people who are concerned they will no longer be able to afford to live here but want something done for the schools. She said she is leaning towards Option H+B. Chair Bedford and Commissioner Fowler both said they will move to supporting option H+B. Vice-Chair Greene and Commissioner Richards said they are sticking with supporting amended Option G. Chair Bedford asked how Commissioner Richards would feel if H+B was framed as not choosing specific county projects to cut out and instead decreased the new county funding by $17.9 million. Commissioner McKee said he likes that part of H+B because it signals a willingness for the county to cut back on its own projects and he thinks that will go a long way for some residents. Vice-Chair Greene said she does not like the identified $17.9 million in county projects because it gives the community no option to provide input. She said the portion of county funding would go down. She said she would like more discussion on whether to identify specific projects or just reduce the amount of new county funding by $17.9 million because it makes a difference to her. Commissioner Fowler said she could support Option H which gets rid of the identification of county projects. Commissioner Hamilton said the Board just needs to decide the bond amount now and thinks they can hash out some of the other details later.