Minutes 05-15-2025-Budget Work Session

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39 good. She said she wants to be sensitive and look at the alternatives to take the pressure off the budget for this year. She said that it is important to remember that they are investing in their community and children and that does require higher taxes. She said she hopes they can better explain the different options so that residents understand. She said they make decisions annually and they may look different and requirement different decisions in the future. She said this is a plan and the commissioners can decide how they can do it to make it work for everyone. Commissioner McKee said frameworks 2 and 3 would decrease the tax rate impact. Chair Bedford noted that would be more taxes spread out but less to spend on schools in those frameworks. Commissioner Greene said the bond was explained to voters with the county contributing pay-go. She said she does not want to transfer any pay-go into borrowed funds. She said she is interested in #2 because it cuts pay-go this year and it gets added later on. She asked if this would allow planning to go as planned and would not increase the amount borrowed. Kirk Vaughn said they would be borrowing $3.2 million for the first project but they would add the pay-go later and reconfigure the budget. He said that they are still spending the same amount of money in the 10-year plan in comparison to what is in the recommended CIP. Vice-Chair Hamilton said the $300 million bond includes projects and they can borrow for design costs. She said this would be borrowing more from the bond, but the pay-go would pick up later on. Kirk Vaughn said that is how he looks at it, but the school districts have not looked how any of their plans would fit within the models. He said that he is estimating that they can still do the projects and is not speaking for the school districts. Commissioner Greene said she supported the original plan and would not be able to decide without hearing from the school boards. Commissioner Fowler said she preferred to stay the course vs. considering any of the other frameworks. She said if she had to choose one, she would pick the first framework. Chair Bedford asked about the impact of taking out pay-go in year one and just adding it to the debt. Kirk Vaugh said the problem with that is if you take out $6 million in year 1, and do not go to the full $10 million, they will have to find $10 million to incrementally add back in to the plan and he does not know how to do that without a tax increase. Chair Bedford said she preferred continuing with what the County Manager recommended. Kirk Vaughn said it had an effect on the back of the plan rather than anytime in the next four years. Commissioner Carter said these discussions are not easy ones. She said she appreciates that they are looking at flexible alternatives. She said there are people that are financially stressed and if not, they will feel impacts based on what is happening globally and at the federal level. She said she would like to continue this discussion so they can try to do as much as they can while also keeping the tax rate as low as possible. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said when the bond was approved, the community was not dealing with what they are dealing with at the federal level now. She said she would like to eliminate the pay-go tax increase, but she wants to be a good fiscal steward of the county's funds. Chair Bedford noted that commissioners can make changes through the amendment process. She said that Kirk Vaughn and Travis Myren can explore ideas or questions commissioners might have. She said the Board will wrestle with this every year for the next 10 years.