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2 <br />current information available and that new issues may arise in the ensuing months <br />necessitating additional BOCC review. <br />Since that time, members of the BOCC and staff have identified other additional issues on <br />which the Board may wish to express its positions. Those items are detailed in the attached <br />draft resolutions. <br />The first attached draft resolution addresses two transportation-related items and details a <br />proposed position for each that the BOCC may want to consider. The two items are: <br />1) Senate Bill 384 -Durham Northern Loop Corridor -This bill, a copy of which is <br />attached, seeks to establish the exact location of the Durham Northern Loop <br />Corridor. of which <br />2) Senate Bill 34 -Highway Trust Fund Study Committee -This bill, a copy <br />is attached, seeks to establish a 20-member Highway Trust Fund Study <br />Committee that will review the structure of the Fund, the gap in current funding <br />and actual transportation needs in the State, and other areas. The Study <br />Committee is directed in the bill to complete its work and file its report by <br />November 1, 2004. <br />The second attached draft resolution addresses two issues related to tax matters. Those <br />issues are: <br />1) Senate Bill 512 -Auto Property Tax Changes -This bill, a copy of which is <br />attached, seeks to change the method of valuation for motor vehicles for local <br />property tax purposes. The proposed valuation standard would be a vehicle's <br />wholesale or "trade-in" value as opposed to the current standard of "market" <br />value. A table, which is included as an attachment to this agenda abstract, <br />shows the potential revenue losses for North Carolina's 100 counties that a <br />change in the motor vehicle valuation standard could impose. For Orange <br />County, a change in the valuation standard and a reduction of 20% of the total <br />value of all motor vehicles in the County could equate to a revenue loss of <br />approximately $1.5 million. If the resulting value reduction went as high as 40%, <br />then Orange County could see a revenue loss of potentially $2.3 million. <br />2) Senate Bill 277 -Exempt University Trust Property -This bill, a copy of which is <br />attached, seeks to exempt from local ad valorem taxation property that is held by <br />anon-profit entity in trust for a public or private university. <br />The third attached draft resolution addresses two issues related to schools. Those issues are: <br />1) House Bill 863 -Schools Start After Labor Day -This bill, a copy of which is <br />attached, seeks to require all school systems in the State to delay the beginning <br />of the school year until after Labor Day. The rationale for the bill is that a delay <br />will benefit the State's tourism industry. It should be noted that the bill is <br />proposed to become effective with the 2004-2005 school year and exempts <br />individual year-round schools and school systems that need to adjust school <br />calendars for "good cause" as defined in the bill. <br />2) School Merger Mandate -Although no specific bill has to this point been <br />introduced in the General Assembly mandating the merger of any separate <br />school systems within one county, this proposal was included in a report from <br />Governor Mike Easley's Commission to Promote Government Efficiency and <br />