HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93009_1953 (2)Commissioner Boone asked the average fund balance for counties the size of Iredell.
Blumenstein said it was 16%.
Commissioner Boone asked for an interest rate comparison between COPS and General
Obligation Bonds. Blumenstein said COPS bonds were usually several basis points higher, but
they would probably be insured which would give an AAA rating. This would back the cost back
down.
Commissioner Johnson said he understood that approximately $2 million would remain in
the capital reserve fund, but that $1.2 million would be reserved for Mooresville. Mashburn said
this was correct.
MOTION by Chairman Haire to adopt the School Capital Construction Funding Plan
recommended by the county manager in his memo dated August 31, 1998 appropriating $6,108,000
to the Iredell-Statesville School System for Phase I of the K-8 School Complex and to appropriate
$1,206,970 to the Mooresville Graded School District to be held in reserve and to adopt Budget
Amendment # 9.
SUBSTITUTE MOTION by Commissioner Boone to declare the intent to hold a General
Obligation Bond referendum for the $38 million of school projects requested by the school system.
Commissioner Fortner said the K-8 complex was needed now. She said the General
Obligation Bond cycle would take too long. She mentioned the bonding method was costly, and
it was unknown as to whether or not passage would occur.
Chairman Haire said it was already known that one new commissioner would be on the board
in the fall, and there was the possibility of three new members. She said she felt the bond decision
should be left to the board that would be determining the FY 1999-00 budget.
Commissioner Boone made the following comments:
t►k# k
"After we passed our budget this June, I didn't expect to vote on any more controversial
issues during the remainder of my tenure on the board. I did not bring this issue to the table; that
was not my decision. When the school board presented its budget request in April, they did not ask
for any funds for new schools. Had they made a request at that time, and the Board of
Commissioners so chosen, there would have been time to have placed a general obligation bond on
the ballot in the election this November. I don't know why, but the school board didn't make a
request until August.
Until last Saturday, three days ago, 1 was assuming that we would appoint a committee to
meet with the school board, and that we would not make any final decision on this funding tonight.
I, along with the other commissioners, did not receive the plan that was just read until yesterday
afternoon. So we haven't had a lot of time to deliberate on this matter. If time were of the essence,
as we are told it is, it appears the school board would have made its request sooner.
The easy thing for me to do would be to just sit back, go with the flow, go along with this.
It's going to be somebody else's problem next year. But every time Iran for commissioner - -and
I've run in two primaries and two general elections - - I made it very, very clear that I was opposed
to increases in the general ad valorem property tax rate, that 1 was a fiscal conservative. 1 probably
made that clearer than anyone who has run in recent years, and the people voted for me. I think 1
have an obligation to the people who voted for me to be fiscally conservative.
This proposal will not raise the tax rate this year. But we will be drawing our fund balance
down to a lower level than we would prefer it to be; we will draw our capital reserve fund down to
less than $800,000, which is very small for a county this size. That's very little to provide for other
capital needs, to meet contingencies that may come up. What it boils down to, if we're going to be
honest about it, is that if this plan is passed, taxes will go up next year - - if not next year, the year
after next. That's almost inevitable. I don't know if anybody wants to say that, but it's the truth.
I don't want to be a party to doing that.