On Tuesday, April 9, the Orange County Board of Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center for a work session on County Manager Bonnie Hammersley’s recommended 10-year capital investment plan.
But that conversation already got under way at the board’s meeting last week.
“(The plan) has existing programming and recommendations, from HVAC to parking lots to parks to security – just a wide variety of projects that you have to do to maintain (county) buildings,” says board chair Jamezetta Bedford.
Click here to read the full agenda for the board’s April 9 meeting.
At last week’s meeting, deputy county manager Travis Myren broke down the details of the capital investment plan, or CIP.
There are six big components in all: affordable housing; public safety; public schools; a water line in Mebane; various projects related to climate mitigation; and new initiatives to help people experiencing behavioral health crises without having to go through the criminal justice system.
“And then it has an additional $86 million over 10 years of new facilities for the county, which would include a new EMS/911 center,” says Bedford. “So there was a lot in there – plus spending about $6 million for climate action projects: charging centers, more solar, (and) electric vehicles.”
Perhaps the most notable component of the plan is funding for public school upgrades – to be paid for largely with a $300 million bond that voters will be asked to approve in the November election.
Last week, county commissioners took an early step to move forward on that bond referendum. They will have to vote again on June 18 to officially put the bond on the ballot, but Bedford says it’s pretty much a done deal.
“The commissioners are putting this on the ballot, yes,” she says. “We have kicked the can down the road, we’ve tried to fund the classrooms, the instructional pieces – (but) the actual needs are over a billion dollars.”
That billion-dollar figure includes much-needed upgrades and repairs in both the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school districts. A report last week in the News & Observer found classrooms with cockroaches, leaking ceilings, and broken heating and air conditioning systems – for starters.
The proposed bond referendum would only cover about 30 percent of the total need, but Bedford says it’s a big step.
“That will get us started on some of the really basic functional needs,” she says. “Every school will get the basics to be safe…but (we’ll also) upgrade some of the facilities, perhaps build a new school in each district. The schools are still working on finalizing their plans, and they’re going to present to us (May 21).”
Listen to Jamezetta Bedford’s full conversation with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey.
Counting the bond spending, the total capital improvement plan is projected to cost about $900 million over the next 10 years. Bedford says the spending is necessary, but she warns that it will come with a tax increase.
“The base CIP, with no changes – no school bond, no new county facilities – would be a tax increase of 2.79 cents over 10 years,” Bedford says. “The bond (adds) 3.41 cents – and we’re also including $100 million in ‘pay-go’ (spending), which is money you use from your regular tax revenue…
“So it adds up, to 8.8 cents at this point.”
That 8.8-cent proposed tax increase translates to about 177 dollars a year, if you own a $200,000 home.
There is one other thing to watch: typically, Orange County tries to limit its debt-payment spending to 15 percent of its general fund, and the school bond will temporarily push the county over that threshold. But county chief financial officer Gary Donaldson told commissioners last week the increase is only temporary – and the county’s AAA bond rating will keep interest rates relatively low.
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