A new task force will decide how a sewer system and a new community center will be built for residents living near the county landfill.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners, Chapel Hill Town Council, Carrboro Board of Alderman and Hillsborough Board of Commissioners consented to establish the task force during a joint meeting Thursday night.

The boards met to discuss the future of the area’s solid waste and how the county will mitigate the effects of the landfill on its neighbors.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on raising the local sales tax a quarter-cent on Tuesday, March 15,  at the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.  The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

The North Carolina General Assembly granted county boards the authority to levy the sales tax increase, subject to voter approval, in 2007. As we reported on OrangeChat last week and in The Chapel Hill News on Sunday, a majority of the commissioners want to raise the tax before, and in case, the state takes away the option.

County officials say the tax -- 25 cents on a $100 purchase -- would raise about $2.5 million annually.  If the voters approved the referendum on Nov. 8, implementation would begin April 1, 2012, generating approximately $625,000 for the remainder of FY 2011-12, according to the county.

Orange County voters defeated the sales tax increase 51 percent to 49 percent last year, with rural voters opposing the increase by a 2-to-1 margin. This time, the county may simplify its message, stressing the money would go to the schools and economic development.

Orange County will begin preparing a budget with no property tax increase. But that could change depending on what the state does to cope with its more than $2 billion shortfall.

The county expects only a 1 percent increase in property and sales tax revenue in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Property taxes makes up 75 percent of the county's general fund, which pays for the day to day expenses of county government and services.

The county commissioners had already indicated they want to avoid a property tax increase. Last night, Commissioners Steve Yuhasz and Earl McKee repeated their support for that stance.

But others, including Chairwoman Bernadette Pelissier, said it's still too early to commit to no tax hike. If the county takes on new debt for the construction of a new elementary school or water and sewer lines in the Efland/Buckhorn Road area, it may want to raise taxes next year to soften the blow the following year when the first payments come due. 

Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the county may also vote to raise taxes to protect school funding if the state either takes money from the counties or increases local expenses for services previously paid for by the state.

For example, convicted criminals are staying in county jails longer because state prisons are full; the county does not get paid for that. Plus, in Orange, that keeps the sheriff from using jail beds for federal prisoners for whom the county is reimbursed.

"I think you're doing a very good job," Jacobs told County Manager Frank Clifton. "But I don't think you're even close to presenting us a worst-case scenario. ... I'm just not sure it [a budget with no property tax increase] is realistic."

Look for more on the county budget picture coming in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

Our story in today's N&O got cut for space, so please read the longer version coming in Sunday's Chapel Hill News. Here is more of what people are saying in response to the resignation of Orange County economic development director Bradly (that is how he spells it) Broadwell:

County Manager Frank Clifton: "Brad raised some good issues when he was here. Every situation requires the right person at the right time. Right now we don't have a clear idea of where we're headed."

Orange County Commissioners Chair Bernadette Pelissier: "He may have been taken a little out of context. He was new and he might not have understood all the political ramifications and probably should have been more careful."

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce CEO Aaron Nelson: "He really pushed. He pushed hard both publicly and privately ... He brought an outside perspective and sometimes spoke truth to power. He was very direct."

Broadwell hasn't returned our calls, so it's hard to know the full story behind his sudden resignation.  Clearly he pushed Orange County closer to where it is now, more focused on economic development. Did his plain spokenness hurt him? Two years ago we called him "the John Edwards of economic development" for quotes like this: "I don't see populist economics being discussed. I see Ph.D. economics being discussed." The Edwards comparison stings two years later, but Broadwell said what he thought, even if he didn't always check with his superiors before opening his mouth. His views on job growth and retention questioned the status quo.

Orange County’s economic development director has quit just as the county and its towns are trying to ramp up business growth and retention.

Brad Broadwell, director since May 2008, is currently using up accrued leave time on his $96,044 a year job. Broadwell, known for his frank, enthusiastic boosterism of economic development, did not return phone calls this week seeking comment.

His resignation comes as Carrboro’s longtime economic development director, James Harris, retires early next year, and as elected leaders across the county are trying to see whether they can work together to ease the tax burden on homeowners.

In an interview soon after he arrived, Broadwell said economic development, and retail jobs in particular, had gotten a bad name in Orange County. “I don’t see populist economics being discussed,” he said. “I see Ph.D. economics being discussed.”

Bernadette Pelissier, the new chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, and others say Broadwell may have been misunderstood.
“He was new, and he might not have understood all the political ramifications,” Pelissier says.

Aaron Nelson, chamber CEO, says Broadwell had begun turning around Orange County's rep as a tough place to do business. "He really pushed," Nelson says, "both publicly and privately."   

Local governments will continue to see where they can collaborate, and may meet as soon as January or February to discuss forming an independent entity to manage economic development, among other ideas.

“I don’t think [Broadwell’s resignation] will stop the effort at all,” Pelissier says.

Look for more on this story in tomorrow's News & Observer and Sunday's Chapel Hill News.
 

Well, the For Sale sign two houses down is still up, months now since my neighbors moved out. 

I use the house as a barometer. Homes in my neighborhood used to sell in weeks, sometimes days. But the recession has caught up with Orange County, says tax Administrator Jo Roberson.

In Today's Chapel Hill News, Roberson says homes are staying on the market longer. From Jan. 1, 2009, to Oct. 31, 2010, sales toaled 2,178. From Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2006, a similar period after the last property revaluation, sales totaled 4,844.      

In any revaluation the county wants to get the appraised tax value as close to the potential sale price as possible, or 100 percent.  After the 2005 revaluation, the county’s ratio was 95.6 percent. By the end of 2006, it had dropped to 88.3 percent, meaning the median sales value had already outpaced the median assessed value.

This time, Roberson says, the county's tax values are even closer to sales figures. After the 2009 revaluation, a Jan. 1, 2010,  N.C. Department of Revenue Property Tax Division found Orange County’s ratio was 98.65 percent. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2010, the ratio rose slightly to about 99.1, indicating that property values are flat.

“Quite honestly we’re just about as close as you can get,” Roberson said.  “You just don’t get more than 99 percent, and we did.”

The county commissioners must decide by next month whether to delay the next revaluation two years. The delay could save $200,000. If they go ahead and revalue and properties are worth less, they risk having to raise the tax rate to keep the same momney coming in.  If they don't revalue and actual property values have changed, up or down, they risk current assessments being out of date and people not paying their fair share.

What do you think?
 

When is a $200,000 savings not a savings?

If you’re an Orange County commissioner, it’s when the savings could cost you more in public credibility than it’s worth.

Tax Administrator Jo Roberson told the commissioners last night they can save money by delaying the next scheduled tax revaluation. The county revalues every four years, but with sales flat and surveys showing Orange’s current tax values among the most accurate in the state, Roberson said the commissioners might want to delay two years.

The county has until next month to decide. But commissioners don’t seem interested.

Many residents are still angry over the last revaluation, which raised property values as home prices nationally were tanking, Commissioner Barry Jacobs said. Many still don't think their values are accurate.

“I’d be very concerned about delaying,” agreed Commissioner Steve Yuhasz. As much as he said he’d like to save the $200,000, “sending a message that a reval is only important when it suits the county is not the message to send.”
 

From correspondent Lynda-Marie Taurasi:

Chapel Hill Town Council member Penny Rich will ask her colleagues Wednesday night to formally oppose the county commissioners’ decision to close the county dental clinic in Car Mill Mall.  

Last month, the commissioners voted 5-2 to consolidate dental services in Hillsborough, saving the county’s budget $65,000.  Commissioners Alice Gordon and Mike Nelson voted against closing the Carrboro clinic.

Rich said the decision stunned her.

“Maybe I am naïve, but I didn’t think it would happen,” she said. “This is not the way we take care of people in our county.”

The county is proposing a voucher system, for those who qualify, to cover the $4 bus trip to Hillsborough. The trip requires taking a Chapel Hill Transit bus to catch the 420 bus to Hillsborough, and then walking several blocks west to the Hillsborough Clinic in the Whitted Building. The voucher system will cost the county $8,000 a year.

Orange County Commissioner Steve Yuhasz serves as a liaison to the Orange County Board of Health. He says the decision to consolidate services has been considered since 2008.  

Yuhasz says the board was reluctant to close the Car Mill location but concluded the county could best serve citizens through a full-time dental clinic in a single location.

Since the Hillsborough location already existed and would be much more easily and economically converted into a full-time clinic, that was the recommendation, he said.

Town Council member Lauren Easthom, who is a dentist, plans to support Rich’s resolution. ‘We’re talking about health care. Their decision was reducing easy access to health care for some of the poorest citizens in our county. We all have tight budgets.”

Look for more on this story in tomorrow's Chapel Hill News.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will consider passing a resolution tonight urging Congress to oppose further funding for the war in Afghanistan.
 
"Orange County has pressing local needs including education, infrastructure, social services, health, and small business support - just to name a few," says local activist Mark Marcoplos. "We continually are forced to wrangle over restricted budgets which pit important local needs against one another. Meanwhile about $2,600 per county citizen leaves Orange County annually for the national military budget. That's a total of about $351million."
 
Orange County's annual budget is about $178 million, says Marcoplos, a former chairman of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority and local home builder. "Imagine what we could accomplish for the citizens of Orange County if just 10 percent of our military contribution was retained at home for local needs? Another $35 million annually would make a world of difference for us."

"Make no mistake, U.S. military spending - the U.S. spends more money on its military than the rest of the world combined - is inarguably a local issue with huge local impacts."
 
The commissioners meeting will be held at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road in Chapel Hill at 7 p.m.
 

In August, Orange County commissioners approved $40,000 in public funds to educate citizens about a quarter cent sales tax, which will come under a vote November 2. The Carrboro/Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce is actively supporting the hike, along with other private groups who would benefit from tax revenue going towards economic development in the county.

Now the county is moving along with the campaign and has hired a consultant to come up with a logo for the campaign which includes television, radio and newspaper advertising. County Manager Frank Clifton has oultined his ten-point education plan for the tax, during the county's joint meeting with the school board last night:

1. Email and telephone call lists for election notification messages.
2. Working with School Systems for contact with parents.
3. Developing handouts and public ads (via Tourism Marketing contact) that will be used as the basic message about the referendum.
4. Establishing web site connections and appropriate links.
5. Using Cable TV for basic information on the referendum.
6. Connecting with Library and Senior Citizen support groups via newsletters, etc.
7. Interacting with the Volunteer Fire Departments.
8. Developing a scheduled ad for local newspapers that will run during October reminding voters of the referendum.
9. Hand outs will be available at all county office locations.
10. A letter from myself to County Employees advocating that they vote in the referendum.

County staff is working on a draft resolution supporting the tax for the board to approve, but the Clifton said the county itself cannot take a formal position on the issue.

"Our effort has to be structured purely on an educational effort, and that's what we plan to do," he said.

The campaign may be impartial, but the board supports the tax and Clifton has said it would benefit the county financially.

"What I've tried to stress is that tax is at the benefit of everybody," he said.