Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout6-4-2019 1 June 4, 2019 IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PRE-AGENDA MINUTES June 4, 2019 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in pre-agenda session on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 5:00 PM, in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room located in the Iredell County Government Center 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Staff present: County Manager Beth Jones, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Deputy County Manager Susan Robertson, Assistant County Manager Joe Pierce, Finance Director Deb Cheek, and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman James Mallory called the meeting to order. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA: Add: Call for a public hearing for Project Donut under New Business. Add: Budget Amendment #38a to Administrative Matter VIII.6 and Budget Amendment #38b to Administrative Matter VIII.7. Remove: Economic Development from Closed Session. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Request from the Finance Department for approval and adoption of the proposed Fiscal Year 2019-20 Budget Ordinance: This item will be heard during the 7PM meeting. Request from the Finance Department for approval of a surplus declaration of personal property and adoption of resolution to donate the property to Diakonos/Fifth Street Ministry for use by Drug-Alcohol Coalition of Iredell: Dean Lail said the Diakonos coordinator is currently works in the Health Department and the County provides a desk, chair, laptop, monitor, and various software for the position. Diakonos is moving to Fifth Street Ministries in July. The request is to donate these items to Diakonos rather than using additional funds to buy new equipment. Vice Chairman Bowles shared his support for the request. This item was placed on consent. Resolution Authorizing the Disposition and Conveyance of Certain Surplus Personal Property Pursuant to N.C.G.S. §160A-280 WHEREAS, the Iredell County owns and possesses certain personal property identified as a desk and Microsoft Surface computer, along with a monitor, accessories and software (collectively, the “Property”), which the County 2 June 4, 2019 wishes to convey to the Drug-Alcohol Coalition of Iredell, a North Carolina nonprofit corporation (“DACI”) organized to reduce and prevent substance misuse, overdoses and overdose de aths in Iredell County; and WHEREAS, North Carolina General Statute 160A-280 authorizes counties to donate personal property to a nonprofit corporation provided such property has been deemed surplus, obsolete or unused; and WHEREAS, Iredell County has deemed the Property has surplus; and WHEREAS, Iredell County currently provides support to DACI, including space, equipment and funding and the organization will move to locate with the offices of Diakonos, Inc., d/b/a Fifth Street Ministries, a local nonprofi t organization who currently acts as its Fiscal Agent; and WHEREAS, DACI has continued need of this Property and the conveyance of this Property will assist DACI in continuing its work for the benefit of the citizens of Iredell County to reduce substance misuse and overdose deaths. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners of Iredell County that: The Property is hereby declared surplus to the needs of Iredell County. The Board authorizes the County Manager to execute the necessary documents to convey the Property to DACI. The Property shall be conveyed in consideration of the continued public benefit to the citizens of Iredell County in furtherance of the mission, goals and objectives of DACI, and for agreement by DACI that the Property is, for its useful life, to be used in the public purpose so undertaken by the DACI. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 160A-280, public notice of this resolution and the intent of the Board to donate the Property was posted on the Iredell County website at least five days prior to the adoption of this resolution. Request from Planning & Development to consider calling for a public hearing on June 18, 2019 in regards to a request by David Hughes to release zoning and subdivision jurisdiction to the Town of Mooresville: Planning Director Matthew Todd said the request is to conduct a public hearing on June 18, 2019 to consider the release of zoning and subdivision jurisdiction. The property is around 9 acres and the owner has applied for annexation with the Town of Mooresville. Water and sewer has been approved for the site. Chairman Mallory said the owner also owns an adjoining six acres. Todd said the total acreage is about 12. The other property is in Mooresville’s jurisdiction. Vice Chairman Bowles asked about the proposed use of the property. Todd said the site plan shows roughly 120 townhomes, but that does not mean Mooresville will approve the site plan. There is another site plan showing around 90 townhomes. Therefore, the applicant will ask for somewhere in that range but Mooresville will make the final determination. Vice Chairman Bowles said there is a lot of property zoned residential on the Brawley Peninsula and the Board should take a strong look at releases that produce less school children. This item was placed on consent. Request from the Health Department for approval of Fee and Eligibility Policy Revisions to be effective immediately and approval of the proposed Clinical Services, Dental and Environmental Health Fee Schedules: Director of Clinical Services Susan Johnson said the format of the fee policy was completely revised to make it more user friendly for staff. All of the changes were approved by the Board of Health in April 2019. Johnson went over the highlighted changes:  No longer charging a returned check fee, late charges, or credit card fees. The department does not receive bad checks very often and Title 10 in Family Planning prohibits the departments from charging a returned check fee for certain services. 3 June 4, 2019 If a client writes a check for a dental visit and family planning visit and the check bounces, the department can only charge a returned check for the dental services.  Pregnancy Test is now a flat fee of $20.  Clarified the list of things included and not included in gross income when evaluating a family’s income to determine the discount they are eligible for.  Clarified the timing for eligibility determinations for expectant mothers.  Refunds are released to the responsible party as designated in CureMD. Johnson said in addition to the sliding scale, patients who meet certain criteria are offered payment plans but the departments have been burned on payment plans, so staff has made the criteria very restrictive. The new change has worked well thus far. Changes in Environmental Health Permit applications expire in one year, reinstated applications will be treated as new applications and will require payment of associated fees before services will be rendered. Commissioner Houpe asked about collecting late fees. Johnson said Title 10 prohibits the department from collecting return check fees, credit card fees, and late charges. Commissioner Houpe said the problem of returned checks may increase if there is no fee associated. Johnson said the returned check fee, late fee, and credit cards fees can be charged in some of the department’s clinics, but there really is no issue with returned checks. Staff felt that there should be some clarification in the policy. The department does not plan on advertising that there is no longer a fee. Staff felt that there should be some clarification in the policy. Commissioner Houpe asked for some elaboration on problem with the payment plan. Johnson said a lot of people sign the agreement to make payments but they do not follow through with the payments. The criteria is placing more restriction on who the payment plans are available too. Staff is doing their best to collect payment at the time of service. Vice Chairman Bowles said the penalty of not doing what they said is they will not be able to do it again. Johnson outlined the following changes in the fee schedule:  Cost of vaccines fluctuate and staff works in some leeway in case costs go up so it will not have to be brought back to the Board. If there is a significant change in the costs, staff will bring it before the Board for approval.  Walk-in lab services (patients who pay out of pocket). Johnson explained there were no changes to the Dental Clinic Fees or Environmental Health Fees. 4 June 4, 2019 Chairman Mallory asked if the lengthy process to qualify people based on the sliding scale is consistent with what DSS does for qualifying people for Medicaid. Johnson said the process is similar. Sometimes DSS considers something as income when the Health Department does not, but the process is pretty close. For pregnancy Medicaid, DSS counts the unborn baby as a part of the household. Chairman Mallory said the majority of rules and regulations in the programs flow from the federal government so one would think they would be consistent. The Department of Health and Human Services deals with both entities and should have a common system. If DSS has qualified someone for Medicaid that should populate over to the Health Department. Johnson said if a patient has Medicaid staff does not have to qualify them for income eligibility. The only time that would be done is if they were going to have a service done that might not be covered by Medicaid. There are certain services that Medicaid does not cover. Chairman Mallory asked how many people come to the Health Department after being turned down for Medicaid. Johnson said staff sees a lot of people who have not even applied for Medicaid and they are encouraged to go to DSS and apply. Some adults with Medicaid come to the Health Department for dental services. This item was placed on consent. Request from EMS for approval to apply for the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site- based Program Competitive Grant: Blair Richey requested approval to apply for a grant in the amount of $612,478 over a three-year period. If awarded, the grant funds will be used to continue the current efforts with the Peer Support Specialist by adding an additional specialist and a community paramedic. Staff feels they have made considerable strides and linkages within the community and this grant will assist in continuing those efforts. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if the community paramedic be a new hire. Richey said yes. County Manager Beth Jones said this grant was discussed at the budget workshops. EMS has requested a community paramedic for the past two years, and there are grants that are available for something new and innovative. This is a great program and staff feels that this would be a great fit. Vice Chairman Bowles said grant funding is sometime used to hire full-time employees, the costs associated to continue the position should be earmarked in case another grant is not received. Peer Support Specialist Sandy Grey has contacted 30 clients. All are non-fatal overdose cases that have come through EMS initiatives and have resulted in lock-zone distribution, treatment referrals, recovery support, resource referrals, transportation to treatment, clear and obtainable goals set by the client, and continue follow up. There were five opioid related overdose 5 June 4, 2019 incidents from May 16 – 19, which resulted in seven individual contacts, including family members. Grey explained that one of those was a minor that started treatment later in the week. Chairman Mallory said that is wonderful to hear. Commissioner McNeely asked if any other clients are seeking treatment. Grey said four were given referrals and two have followed through. Vice Chairman Bowles asked if the epidemic is slowing down. Richey said no. There is still a lot of work to do. This item was placed on consent. Request from Emergency Management for approval to accept the NC Tier II Hazardous Materials Grant in the amount of $10,000 to hire an outside contractor to update and re-write the Emergency Operations Plan for Iredell County and approval of budget amendment 38a: Kent Greene said the funds from the grant will be used to re-write the Emergency Operations Plan with an emphasis hazardous materials component. Commissioner McNeely asked if an outside must be hired to write the plan. Greene said it is not a requirement, however, it is difficult for staff to do the rewrite because of the workload and number of staff. This item was placed on consent. Request from Emergency Management for approval to accept a NC Tier II Hazardous Materials non-competitive grant in the amount of $1,000 to replace an existing printer and fax machine in the Emergency Operations Center and approval of budget amendment 38b: Kent Greene said the department has been awarded this grant for the last several years and funds from the grant will be used to upgrade technology in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). This item was placed on consent. Request from Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from the meetings on May 7, 9, 13, 14, and 21, 2019: There were no additions or corrections. This item was placed on consent. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF VACANCIES ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) NEW BUSINESS (None) 6 June 4, 2019 COUNTY MANANGERS REPORT County Manager Beth Jones gave updates on the following items: Chairman Mallory moved into Closed Session at 5:42PM. IREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR MINUTES June 4, 2019 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 7:00 PM, in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room of the Iredell County Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman James B. Mallory III Vice Chairman Tommy Bowles Gene Houpe Jeff McNeely Marvin Norman Staff present: County Manager Beth Jones, County Attorney Lisa Valdez, Deputy County Manager Susan Robertson, Assistant County Manager Joe Pierce, Finance Director Deb Cheek and Clerk to the Board Amy Anderson. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Mallory. INVOCATION: Chairman Mallory asked everyone to bow their heads for a moment of silence or reflection. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Chairman Mallory. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA Add: Call for a public hearing for Project Donut under New Business. Add: Budget Amendment #38a to Administrative Matter VIII.6 and Budget Amendment #38b to Administrative Matter VIII.7. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the agenda as adjusted. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 PRESENTATION OF SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS Presentation of plaque by the Town of Mooresville: Mooresville Commissioner Gary West, on behalf of the Town of Mooresville, the Mayor, and Mooresville Board of Commissioners presented a plaque to the Board and expressed sincere appreciation to the County during the Town’s recent loss of K-9 Officer Jordan Harris Sheldon, who was killed in the line of duty on May 4, 2019. West said Officer Sheldon served the Mooresville Police Department and the Town of Mooresville with pride, integrity, and commitment. West explained the support that the Mooresville community received in the days that followed his loss was overwhelming. 7 June 4, 2019 Chairman Mallory said Mooreville’s loss was felt throughout the County. The law enforcement community is a team of teams, which was displayed through the response after the loss of Officer Sheldon’s death. APPOINTMENTS BEFORE THE BOARD Presentation on receipt of airport grants by Statesville Airport Manager John Ferguson: Statesville Airport Manager John Ferguson said the airport received total of $15.412 million in grants for construction projects at the airport. According the NC Department of Transportation’s Economic Impact Study, Statesville Airport has an estimated payroll of $38.5 million, state and local taxes of $8.4 million, and a total economic impact of $134,580,000. This brings the airport into the top tier of airports in the State. In February, the City of Statesville took over the Fixed Based Operations and that is going very well thus far. Over the past four months, fuel sales by volume has run about 14% higher than 2018. The airport is seeing more corporate and private plans. In 2018, the airport had 108 based airplanes and taxes on aircraft was around $126,580,000. Ferguson explained the recent grants received. The taxiway project is close to completion. One of the recent grants will provide lighting and an electrical vault for the new taxiway. The electrical work was put in the original contract but there were no bids. The project is being re-bid and the State awarded the airport with $2 million for lighting and electrical vault. This grant does require a 10% match so Ferguson will be back to request the County’s share. One of the grants is for $9.3 million and these funds will be used to add an 1,000 x 500 feet safety area on the end of the west-end of the runway. This will require the closure of Bethlehem Road. This grant has no local match. The last grant was for $4.112 million and has no local match. Victory Air has 10 50- passenger jets that operate out of Statesville airport. The jets are used to take the pit crews to th e races. There is a desire to purchase two more jets if there was more room. The goal is to have additional paving done to park all of Victory’s airplanes and a few additional and have a parking lot for 650 cars. This is a two-phase project. The second phase will be the construction of a green hanger. The State has said they will fund phase one if they fund phase two. Ferguson said things are looking up at the airport and expressed appreciation to the Board for all of their support. Commissioner Houpe said it is a pleasure to serve on the Airport Commission and expressed appreciation to the commission for working hard for these projects. The airport has a great economic impact on the County. PUBLIC HEARINGS Public hearing for the consideration of an economic development incentive for Project Maple: Iredell Economic Development Representative Chris Younger said Project Maple plans to locate a new manufacturing facility in Mooresville. They design and manufacture for the automotive industry. The company name and further details will be disclosed at a later date. The project will create 102 full time positions and generate $24,950,000 in new tax investment over the next five years. The request is for a tax back grant incentive grant in the amount up to $461,000 over a five-year period. 8 June 4, 2019 Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to approve an economic incentive up to $461,000 over a five-year period based on the company’s investment of $24,950,000 and contingent upon a contract being executed within 180 days for Project Maple. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Public hearing for the consideration of an economic development incentive for Project Trigger: Iredell Economic Development Representative Chris Younger said Project Trigger plans to locate a new facility in Mooresville. This is an expansion of an existing industry in Mooresville. The company name and further details will be disclosed at a later date. The project will create 15 full time jobs and generate $19.1 million in new tax investment over the next five years. The request is for a tax back grant incentive in the amount up to $371,000. Planning Board recommended in favor of the request. Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to approve an economic incentive up to $371,000 over a five-year period based on the company’s investment of $19.1 million and contingent upon a contract being executed within 180 days for Project Trigger. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Public hearing to consider a request from Heather Gilreath to rezone approximately 4.25 along Salisbury Highway from Residential Agricultural (RA) to General Business (GB): Planning and Development Director Matthew Todd explained the vacant property is a little over four acres. The request is for straight General Business (GB) zoning desi gnation. Planning staff supports the request as it does match the 2030 Horizon Plan and the property is adjacent to other existing commercial uses. Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. No one wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. MOTION by Vice Chairman Bowles to approve the zoning map amendment and to make a finding that the approval is consistent with the adopted 2030 Horizon Plan and that said approval is reasonable and in the public interest and furthers the goals of the 2030 Horizon Plan because it 9 June 4, 2019 is within a commercial designation, it is adjacent to commercially used properties, and traffic should not exceed road capacity. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 Iredell County PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT PLANNING STAFF REPORT REZONING CASE # 1905-1 STAFF PROJECT CONTACT: Leslie M. Meadows EXPLANATION OF THE REQUEST This is a request to rezone approximately 4.25 acres along Salisbury Highway, from Residential Agricultural (RA) to General Business (GB). This is a straight rezoning and no conditions are proposed at this time. OWNER/APPLICANT OWNER: Tsumas Family Limited Partnership APPLICANT: Heather Gilreath PROPERTY INFORMATION ADDRESS/LOCATION: 2446 Salisbury Highway; more specifically PIN 4763349837.000. DIRECTIONS: Head east on US-70 E/Garner Bagnal Blvd. Turn left onto Salisbury Highway. In approximately half a mile, property is on the right, just before the VFW American Legion Post 65. SURROUNDING LAND USE: There are residential agricultural uses directly to the north, south, & west, with an assembly hall to the east. There are various manufacturing uses just farther to the east and west . SIZE: The acreage to be rezoned includes approximately 4.25 acres. EXISTING LAND USE: The entire parcel is currently vacant, densely wooded . ZONING HISTORY: This property has been zoned Residential Agricultural (RA) since county-wide zoning was established in 1990. The adjoining parcel to the east, once Zimmerman’s Fish Camp, was rebuilt and reopened as American Legion Post 65 in 2000. OTHER JURISDICTIONAL INFORMATION: This property is located within the City of Statesville’s Urban Service Area. OTHER SITE CHARACTERISTICS: This property is not located within a regulated Watershed Area. The property is not located in a flood hazard zone. UTILITIES: This site is currently served by well and septic. 10 June 4, 2019 IMPACTS ON LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND/OR FACILITES TRAFFIC: The closest and most recent traffic count is just to the west of the site, along Salisbury Highway, which had a traffic count of 7,200 vehicles per day in 2009. According to the Comprehensive Transportation Plan 2008 Study Report for Iredell County, t he capacity for this section of Salisbury Highway is approximately 10,800 vehicles per day through the year 2030. SCHOOLS: This is a commercial rezoning and should have no implications on local schools. EMERGENCY SERVICES: This proposal has been reviewed by the Iredell County Fire Marshal’s Office and Iredell County EMS. Neither office addressed any concerns regarding the request. REQUIRED REVIEWS BY OTHER AGENCIES LOCAL: The applicant must provide a commercial site plan to the Planning & Development Department for review in order to develop the property. Zoning requirements such as parking, landscaping, and buffering will be reviewed at such time. Erosion & sedimentation control standards will also be reviewed for compliance. STATE: Other than building code, there should be no formal state agency review at this time. FEDERAL: None at this time. STAFF AND BOARD COMMENTS STAFF COMMENTS: This section of Salisbury Highway is a remnant of what was once US Hwy 70, before the widening of Hwy 70 and relocation of a portion of the highway on a new alignment. According to the 2003 US 70 East Corridor future land use report, this property was spilt between Consumer Commercial and Industrial designations. The parcel in question is now divided into what the revised 2030 Horizon Plan calls Corridor Commercial and Employment Center – Industrial/Flex/Office. Areas Corridor Commercial in nature, include commercial, office, and/or retail uses along major thoroughfares and highways, allowing for both large and small mixed -use commercial centers. These areas are both within and outside the Iredell County Urban Services Area. They may be serviced by and incorporated into one of the municipalities as some point in the future. The intent of these lands is to provide a mix of commercial/ r etail and office uses at critical nodes or activity centers along major roadways. Traditional strip commercial development is discouraged within these areas. Instead, developments should be designed to provide greater connectivity within and to adjacent developments, pedestrian access should be a priority, and landscaping, signage, and building design/orientation should be consistent within individual developments. Similarly, Employment Center – Industrial/Flex Space/Office area are intended for development of industrial, flex space uses including light manufacturing and assembly, research and development, warehousing, and building trade showrooms and offices. Such development should provide adequate transition to adjacent lower intensity uses, such as re sidential and commercial uses, in the form of vegetated buffers, landscaping, setbacks, and building heights. The Planning staff can support the proposed rezoning request based on the following: The property is within the 2030 Horizon Plan’s Corridor Commercial and Employment Center – Industrial/Flex/Office designations, it is adjacent to commercially used properties, and traffic should not exceed road capacity. PLANNING BOARD ACTION: On May 1, 2019, the Planning Board held a public meeting to hear the rezoning request. There were a couple surrounding landowners present to ask questions and 11 June 4, 2019 express concerns about noise levels. The board voted 8-0 to recommend in favor of the rezoning with the following motion: Motion to recommend in favor of the zoning map amendment and to make a finding that the approval is consistent with the adopted 2030 Horizon Plan and that said approval is reasonable and in the public interest and furthers the goals of the 2030 Horizon Plan because it is within a commercial designation, it is adjacent to commercially used properties, and traffic should not exceed road capacity. SITE REVIEW COMMITTEE: Staff visited site on April 12, 2019. Public hearing for the proposed Fiscal Year 2019-2020 budget for Iredell County: County Manager Beth Jones said staff has been working on the budget process for quite some time. The Board reviewed the budget during three extensive workshops. Jones made the following highlights regarding the budget. General Fund Budget of $222,655,992 with the following details: Maintains the tax rate at 52.75 cent per $100 valuation Increases the County-wide fire tax from 7 cent to 9 cent Modifies the Voted in Fire Tax Rates as follows: East Alexander: Maintains 7 cent Mt. Mourne: Increases from 6 cent to 7 cent Shepherds: Maintains 7 cent Troutman: Increases from 7 cent to 7.5 cent Chairman Mallory opened the public hearing. Bryan Shoemaker, 742 Dobson Farm Road, Statesville, shared his disappointment in the lack of public interest in the budget. Shoemaker said residents should be aware the even though the tax rate is unchanged, the revenue neutral rate is 48.72 and that means county revenue is going up because of the County assessed value of properties went up. Residents are being taxed at the same rate, but most tax bills are going up. The fire tax rate for the majority of residents will be going from 7¢ to 9¢. Current residents who moved from the North East part of the country enjoy being here in a low tax area but they ask for more services, those high tax rates did not happen overnight. The increases happened gradually. Shoemaker said the County may find itself in that position in 20 years asking how it happened. A revenue neutral tax rate is not realistic but a reduction in the taxed rate should have been a consideration for the property owners and taxpayers in Iredell County. Mark Cash, 232 Loray Lane, Statesville, said the three budget sessions must not have had much consideration for the taxpayers because that is where the money is coming from. Cash shared his disappointment in the revenue neutral rate. The tax rate should have been lowered because taxes are going up for most people in the County. If someone pays more on a tax bill that means taxes went up. Cash said lots of money was spent buying the old Barium Springs YMCA. Some of the money was allocated, but a pool and fitness center was opened in the facility. Iredell County has people who pay taxes that own pools and fitness centers. It is disappointing that the taxpayers are competing against themselves. No one else wished to speak. Chairman Mallory closed the public hearing. 12 June 4, 2019 Commissioner Houpe said, “To respond to all tax payers, \ we struggled tremendously with this budget cycle because last year when we asked the taxpayers to consider a quarter cent for schools for safety and security, which would have allowed 25% of that to go to the County’s operations. With the reval being what it was, in my personal opinion, I would have loved to have looked at a potential reduction at some sort in the property tax rate, had that revenue stream passed. Unfortunately, that revenue stream did not. For example, the reval produced about $10.3 million and the increase to schools was about $11 million, spent on the schools. We created a separate line item because society today, the needs, requests, and responsibilities to our board and expectations of services our citizens have did not diminish even though the potential revenue stream did not pass. I would like to mention a couple things out of the budget book that I think are important, for the record: As Iredell County continues to grow at a relatively high rate, according to the Census Bureau, Iredell County had an increase of 11.9% increase in population between 2010 and 2018. We are the 14th fastest growing county in North Carolina exceeding the State’s growth rate of 8.9% in the same timeframe. The State’s projections for 2019 show Iredell County with an estimated population of 182,424 by 2022 and we are projected to reach 191,709 residents. This indicates a 5.09% increase in population over this next four year budget cycle. Our current 2018 estimated population of 178,435 makes us the 15th largest county in the State. More importantly, out of 100 counties in the State of North Carolina, there are only 14 that have a lower 2018 -2019 tax rate. A low tax rate is double edged in many respects. It assists in business recruitment, retention, and is appealing to new residents, but limits the County’s ability, in some cases, to offer the same level of services as other similar sized counties. It is a delicate balance of adequate service delivery and physical conservatinancy. We do take our citizen’s concerns seriously, as you do.. One key we sustain our low tax rate is through strong conservative, physical management and diversification of our tax bate through economic development. We continue to work hard in supporting our existing business, industries by fostering retention and expansion as well as encouraging new business industry recruitment. The Economic Development Corporations and the County, we strive to foster an environment that creates a premier community to live, work, and raise our families in. In order to prove successful we must remain focused on ensuring our commercial and industrial growth compliments our communities and offers a competitive wage for our residents. Our unemployment rate has continued to decrease since 2013 which was 3.8% as of February 2019, that we are proud of. As Commissioner McNeely mentioned, we’ve got jobs out there if people can pass drug tests and want to have a job, they can find a job. Iredell County performs a county-wide reappraisal every four years, which is reflected in the 2019-20 fiscal budget. The purpose of the county-wide reappraisal is to equalize the tax burden among property owners and among all classes of property. The periodic reappraisal of real property equalizes the tax burden insuring all real property is assessed at the current fair market value. The two largest sources of county revenue comes from ad valorem tax at 61.31% and local option sales tax at 18.62% as depicted on some figures in our book. Taking all these factors in consideration ad valorem ta x revenues are expected to increase approximately 8.46% as a result of the reappraisal which equates to about $10.336046 million and 2.35% attributed to new growth. This provides an overall increase in ad valorem revenue of 10.81%. I just want to mention a few of these facts and talk about our funding mechanism and funding streams. The cuts that we made considered the taxpayers. Staff made a tremendous amount of cuts before it was brought to our three day retreat, from requests and needs. Unfortunately, in our society and our county, we have an unlimited needs and requests and limited revenue respecting and trying to protect our tax payers, and have that balance we talked about. I just wanted to mention a few of these facts and the considerations that we considered.” 13 June 4, 2019 Commissioner McNeely said, “I got elected in 2016, I came in with the mindset that Iredell County is vibrant enough and we are doing well enough that I should never maybe have to raise taxes. That was my hope and prayer. We are doing well. The problem is the way we go about collecting our taxes and the way about the demand comes for services; there is probably a good 12 to 18 month lag. We are always behind the 8ball. We built two projects. I hope we never take on two projects at the same time again. Two very large and very needed projects. Because of that, it really put a strain on our fund balance. We have to have a certain level of fund balance to prove that we are good stewards so that we can get the best bond rating we can, so at some day and some time we do go to borrow money, we will be able to borrow it at the lowest price possible. We have flirted with that cliff I talk about all the time, of 18%. Seems like ever since I got on this board, we’ve flirted with that cliff. I promised the taxpayers that I would not let us go over that cliff. We have cut and done and yet still grown and spent at the same time. We are actually going to be able to put some money back into the fund balance to get away from the cliff. I don’t apologize for that, because I feel like if we don’t become prudent now with getting our fund balance getting built back up, when the opportunities come, we need to be able to purchase or spend, we will have the funds to do it. We will have the ability, if we need so, to borrow. I think that is unbelievable critical. When we get done with this budget, Mrs. Jones, if I’m not mistaken we will be close to 19.25 – 19.3% fund balance. I can sleep just a little bit better at night. The comical thing is, I thought, if I can just make it to the reval year, this is going to get so much easier. Be careful what you wish for. The reval has come and believe it or not, it really wasn’t as good as we thought it was going to be, but yet the requests came in. There was a lot of things we pushed or held back. I am afraid taxes are going up, in a couple different ways. I apologize for that but I don’t apologize for how we acted as a board in trying to make the best decisions. A great commissioner in some peoples eyes told me “Sometimes the most conservative thing you can do is raise taxes.” I don’t like that saying but I get it. I think that is where we are. The demand is so great that once we didn’t get the quarter cent sales tax passed, I kind of felt like we were on a doomed path. We are at that cross roads right now.” Vice Chairman Bowles said, “Sitting in this seat we came in and the CIP funds had been built up and there were two major projects that we needed desperately. One was a jail and one was a new 911 center. If you have been to our old 911 center, you can see we need a new 911 center. Those projects were put into the CIP years ago. They were funded to that because to do something on that scale and do those two at the same time, that is major investments. We did it unfortunately in an economy that every time we took something to bid it was always costing more and more. I think to the tune of around of 25% more is what local jurisdictions and municipalities have seen the subcontractor cost go up. That is a good lesson to add to the CIP and build when the economy is down. Nevertheless, the statement that one gentleman said a moment ago was even though the tax rate is still 52.75 if you paid more this year than you did last year that is a tax increase. That is a cold hard fact. I want you to understand that just three budget meetings did not build this budget. This budget took a year to build. All the department heads, the management hall, commissioners were on committees, have all been working on this all year long because we knew we had hard decisions to make. As Mr. Houpe said, we spent most of our new money that has been added to the tax base, we spent reval money on one line item, school, safety, and security. We live in a different world than we used to. My dad used to have a saying that “things aint like they used to be, they are like they are now.” Never have I seen more of that than when we went through the budget. I want to speak about the County-Wide fire tax increase from 7 to 9¢. If there is an item in this budget that gives me heartburn and keeps me up at night it is that line item but, the reality is, even though we have plenty of volunteers on rolls we can’t get the volunteerism to come, respond, and do the work that this county has enjoyed in the last 30 year funding model. Those 14 June 4, 2019 folks just don’t exist anymore or don’t have the leisure of getting off work and responding to a fire call or medical call. It is different than it used to be. We have been working for three years on a new plan. This is what we call the bridge plan, because we are going to have to do something in that area if we are going to provide the service to our citizens. I don’t want to sugarcoat anything because this 52.75, like I said, if you pay more than you did last year, it is a tax increase, but understand one thing, in a four year reval cycle we have to forecast where we are going to be four years from now. That third and fourth year can get tight. How does it get it tight? You go to starving your CIP funds and spending down the fund balance is what winds up happening. I am comfortable sitting in the seat right now that we have done the best that any board could have done to come up with a budget. I know sitting three budget sessions and spending $222 million sounds pretty half- hazard, but we spent a year trying to build this budget. We knew these things were coming. We felt like we had to take this step. We didn’t want to back it down to revenue neutral or somewhere in between there and then two years from now have to come back in for a tax percentage increase. We could have spent less money but we would have had to cut services and that is one of those things that it is hard to say where the cuts should take place. But, I hope you’ll trust us on this because we act as a form of representative government and we’ve had our shoulder to the wheel on this one.” Commissioner Norman said, “Folks, you’ve had enough people talk about what we’re doing or trying to do already. I will just challenge you who are in the audience and at home. This year in December you have a chance to apply or to sign up for one of three seats that are open. There will be three seats open. That is a challenge to you and give you an opportunity, if you want to change some things, you can do it. You will have that opportunity.” Chairman Mallory said, “Our guidance essentially to our staff, some guardrails, in terms of our approach to the budget was to, as Commissioner McNeely referenced, we wanted to maintain that 18% fund balance, not just in this year, but going forward over the next four years. We wanted to have a budget, that as Mr. Bowles referenced, that could take us through a four-year cycle because our income is set once and doesn’t change except for additional growth to the County tax scrolls. So, what we know is obviously expenses and costs do not stand still. They continue to grow. If you’re in business, you have all seen the costs of labor, materials, and all that is going up. You can see an inflation rate overall of 2% and yet you’re looking at 5 or 10%. Construction is easily in double digits. We need to be able to put back enough the first two years, just as that story in the Bible the seven lean years and the seven fat years, we’ve got to put back some in the first two years to help us meet anticipated and known increases in our budget for the following two years. We wanted that factor incorporated. I have to say that our staff working with a consultant that has provided us a really helpful analytic tool that allows us to plug into play a lot of different numbers to be able to see where we are going. This is not just an annual budget but a look forward over the next four years, to poster us. We also wanted to maintain the lowest ad valorem tax rate in any contiguous county. Which we presently have and will continue to have. That is nine counties. We touch more counties than any other county in the State. We are also lower than any of the Charlotte regional counties. We take very seriously the idea that we are here to protect the taxpayers pocketbook as much as possible. We still have to meet needs. While some folks may move to Iredell County and be pleasantly surprised at the tax rate, as been mentioned, then wonder why we don’t have the same level of services from whence they came. That is true because if you’re making expenditures on arts and entertainment, that is a personal decision whether you want to go to a Panther’s game or whether you want to go hunting or fishing. That is dollars that you should spend, we shouldn’t be in the business of directing folks to subsidize an ything in particular. That being said though, Parks and Recreation is a function that is for the benefit of all 15 June 4, 2019 the members, all the citizens of the County. There are expectations that if you’re a county of some means that you will provide a certain higher level of services. Now, are we a county of means? I think we have all grown up most of us are no more than two generations removed from a family farm and understand the mindset of farming and making do with what you got and not overextending yourself. Our grandparents and great-grandparents came from the depression and lived through an era that we are just fortunate to have never seen the likes of since, but we are no longer a rural poor county. We have never been poor in terms of spirit and values. We have a surplus of spirit and values, but there was never a lot of extra cash laying around. We made do with what we had. In Economic Development, that is one thing this board has focused collectively on for the last four years, is to attract industry, businesses to Iredell County to supporting the expansion of existing businesses to creating a workforce for those businesses that pay above average wages so that our people have more money in their pocket. This board’s attitude has been to grow the pie not just try to focus on how to divide the pie. What we’ve been doing and why you see an increase in services and a large increase in the budget is because the pie has been growing. We started out 30 years ago in the 1990 census with about 90,000 souls in Iredell County. Twenty- nine years later, we have doubled to 180,000. It is projected, in the Charlotte region, that we will double again in 25 years. My guess is that we will more than double. If you look at the Economic Development criteria that the State uses to determine which counties are under financial duress and need more help and assistance to try to attract industry. They use a tier system, Tier I, Tier II, Tier III. If you’re in Tier III you don’t get much love because you’re considered a wealthy county. If you’re in Tier II, you get some additional incentives and Tier I get a lot of incentives, because they are economic distress. I dare say most folks, just based on their general feeling about where we are as a county, where would you put us out of all 100 counties, i n terms of economic health. To determine that very question, are we a distressed county? Are we a wealthy county? Or somewhere in between? The State used four different factors. They looked at population growth, what counties are attracting folks to move into them. The looked at the unemployment rate. They looked at the per capita to property value ratio and they looked at the median household income. Those four factors were applied to all 100 counties in the State. At the end of the day, where do you think Iredell County would fall? We are a Tier III county, that means we are in the top 1/3 of the State. Where do you think we are in the top 1/3? The reality is we are number five in the State out of all 100. We beat Mecklenburg County, which is number 6. We are not a distressed county. What we are is we are rooted in the past but focused on the future. We are doing that by attracting industry but investing in the services that will attract industry to come to Iredell County, in education, Emergency Medical Services, and Fire. All of that goes into the package. We are not profligate when it comes to investments because we are getting a return on that investment and that is what keeps your tax rate low is the additional tax revenues generated by businesses and people moving to Iredell County and generating more revenues. The counties you see the tax rate going up are the bedroom communities. We are going to get population growth, whether we did nothing, whether we didn’t try to attract one single industry, we would have neighborhoods popping up all over the place just to go to work in Charlotte. The fact is that Iredell County stands on its own. It is an employment center, 20,000 souls come into Iredell County to go to work and we have a little less than that they go to a different county. Businesses make choices to locate here because we provide a community where they want to live, work, and raise their family. Those are the kind of values that we can never lose. We can’t compromise on our values and what makes us distinct. A lot of the concerns that have been raised relative to tax rates and taxes are well understood and we put that into the scales to try to achieve that and I think we have. We have not raised taxes as far as the tax rate. You can go anywhere and see the need for transportation resources, that is a state and municipal responsibility. What is in our kitbag is public safety and education. Education is basically half of our budget because it is an investment in our future 16 June 4, 2019 children and generations. The final thing we had to look at that we wanted our county manager and staff to make sure that we address was the issue of safety and security in our schools. That is something that is a shared responsibility between our school systems and our law enforcement agencies. They all play in that space. That is not something that either of those organizations had to give a lot thought to 30 years ago. It just wasn’t a line item in the budget. You might have had a gate guard. You might have had an officer presence in one school out of multiple high schools. It was just not a driving empatice for your budget. Today, we live in a different world and that is why in conjunction with the schools and the law enforcement agencies, our Sheriff’s Office, and municipal departments of Statesville, Troutman, and Mooresville, we looked together with Iredell- Statesville, Mooresville Graded, and Mitchell Community College, what were there baseline security needs. Late in the game got formulated and I don’t think people had much time to digest it and wasn’t sure where their money was going and chose not to support the referendum, the quarter cent sales tax. Which comes about half from folks that are outside this county that are coming in and spending money in restaurants or hotels. There are some folks that will never support any kind of tax increase, there is a consequence. That type of tax is paid by everyone, not just property owners. It is not just folks in Iredell County, but folks traveling through. That quarter cent sales tax would have raised almost $6 million. That didn’t pass. That didn’t mean that we didn’t have a responsibility to address the need in the schools. We had to pair back what we could do because we didn’t have $6 million. If you’re wondering why wasn’t there any kind of attempt to adjust the tax rate down, as its been said, no one expected us to be revenue neutral. You can look around and see the demands for services that are out there. A lot of those were pen up because we had to cut back so severely during an eight-year recession. That is why we are where we are. I would challenge the folks that want us to hold the line on ad valorem taxes to support that quarter- cent sales tax the time it comes around because it will come around. We need an additional stream of revenue to address these needs within our schools as far as safety and security, and the other ancillary that go with trying to detect any kind of issues that children may be having. We can feel pretty good about where we are. We are blessed to live in this little corner of the world. I am very appreciative of our staff having taken our guidelines and sharp pencil and cut back a lot of request that were absolutely appropriate to request to do, but which we just did not have the funds to do.” Commissioner Houpe expressed appreciation to staff for the cuts that were made during the year long budget process. Commissioner Houpe also thanked the Fire Departments. The departments with the Board to try and work out a new funding mechanism and apparatus replacement plan. Everybody compromised because the Emergency Services Personnel in the county love and care about their communities. There is a permanent plan in the works. Commissioner Houpe specifically thanked the Sheriff Darren Campbell and Register of Deeds Ron Wyatt. Those departments took cuts along with the other departments in order to achieve a balanced budget. The two elected officials and other county employees are working below their counterparts in other counties because they care about the citizens in Iredell County. The citizens of the County need to be aware that the elected officials and other departments worked with the Board and staff to provide the best services at the most efficient possible way. Chairman Mallory said there is a request from Administration for approval and adoption of the proposed Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Budget Ordinance. MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to approve the budget ordinance for FY19-20. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 17 June 4, 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS County Manager Beth Jones summarized the items that were placed on the consent agenda as follows:  Request from the Finance Department for approval of a surplus declaration of personal property and adoption of resolution to donate the property to Diakonos/Fifth Street Ministry for use by Drug-Alcohol Coalition of Iredell.  Request from Planning & Development to consider calling for a public hearing on June 18, 2019 in regard to a request by David Hughes to release zoning and subdivision jurisdiction to the Town of Mooresville.  Request from the Health Department for approval of Fee and Eligibility Policy Revisions to be effective immediately and approval of the proposed Clinical Services, Dental and Environmental Health Fee Schedules.  Request from EMS for approval to apply for the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site- based Program Competitive Grant.  Request from Emergency Management for approval to accept the NC Tier II Hazardous Materials Grant in the amount of $10,000 to hire an outside contractor to update and re-write the Emergency Operations Plan for Iredell County and approval of budget amendment 38a.  Request from Emergency Management for approval to accept a NC Tier II hazardous materials non-competitive grant in the amount of $1,000 to replace an existing printer and fax machine in the Emergency Operations Center and approval of budget amendment 38b.  Request from Clerk to the Board for approval of minutes from the meetings on May 7, 9, 13, 14, and 21, 2019. MOTION by Commissioner Norman to approve the consent agenda. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES OCCURING ON BOARDS & COMMISSIONS (None) APPOINTMENTS TO BOARD AND COMMISSIONS Chairman Mallory said Appointments to Boards and Commissions will be made at the June 18, 2019 meeting. UNFINISHED BUSINESS MOTION by Commissioner McNeely to call for a public hearing on June 18, 2019 at 7PM regarding a maximum economic development incentive of $131,600 over a five-year period for Project Donut based on $6.8 million investment in Iredell County. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD (None) 18 June 4, 2019 NEW BUSINESS (None) COUNTY MANAGER’S REPORT County Manager Beth Jones gave updates on the following items:  Thanked the Board for their guidance in the budget process. It was not an easy year but the Board made things easier with very clear advice, goals, and objectives, which helped the budget team construct a budget to present to the Board.  Expressed appreciation to the budget team: Deb Cheek, Susan Cornell, Caroline Taylor, Susan Robertson, and Joe Pierce. The department directors did a great job of preparing conservative budgets. CLOSED SESSIONS Chairman Mallory said a Closed Session relating to Personnel G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (6) and Attorney Client G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (3) was held immediately following the pre-agenda meeting. Commissioner Houpe said the Board performs an annual review of the County Manager and are required by statute to conduct a salary review for the Register of Deeds and Sheriff. After looking at the ranges of pay and other counties, the Board feels that the merit and performance reviews for the Sheriff and Register of Deeds are done every election cycle by the voters of Iredell County. Last year, neither elected official had opposition and that is job approval of phenomenal proportions. MOTION by Commissioner Houpe to approve a 2% pay scale and a 3% merit increase for County Manager Beth Jones, and a 5% salary adjustment based on a salary re view for the Register of Deeds Ron Wyatt and Sheriff Darren Campbell. This is consistent with the pay increases available to all county employees in the upcoming FY19-20. These positions will be reviewed every four years as a part of the County-wide pay and classification study and adjusted accordingly otherwise. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Commissioner Norman to adjourn at 8:35PM The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 5:00 PM, in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room, Government Center, 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. VOTING: Ayes – 5; Nays – 0 __________________________________ ___________________________________ Date Approved Amy B. Anderson, Clerk