001Morning everyone. Uh, welcome to the April 14th, 2025. I now call this meeting to order for the Union County Board of Commissioners. We will begin the meeting with an invocation. And tonight, I get to do the honors if you'd like to join me. Dear heavenly father, thank you so much for this beautiful spring weather. Thank you for all the rain that you've sent and today's sunshine. Thank you for your many, many blessings over Union County, our state, and our country. We praise you and thank you for every gift you send to us. I ask that you be with us over tonight's meeting and help us to have discernment and wisdom and um proceed with everything that that you would have us to do for for this county. And it's in your name we pray. Amen.
002Amen. If everyone would please stand. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The next item on the agenda is informal comments from the community. We do have some um people that have signed up to speak online and tonight. I will recognize the speakers who have signed up. Each speaker must address the board from the lectern and begin their remarks by giving their name stating whether they are a resident of Union County indicating the municipality within which they reside if any. Each speaker will have three minutes to make remarks. A tone may sound at the conclusion of your remarks. A speaker may not yield his or her time to another speaker. Speakers
003may not discuss matters which are the subject of public hearings and they must be courteous in their language and presentation. Restatements or repetitive comments by the same speaker whether at the same or separate meetings may be ruled out of order and terminated by the chair. Personal attacks will not be tolerated and speakers may live leave written comments and or supporting documents if any with the clerk to the board. The first person we have tonight is David Counter. Good evening. Uh David Counter, Indian Trail, Union County. Um if it's pleasant to talk about, so I I've got a pre-prepared speech here. Um, in December 2021, Lee, my wife of 11 years, was killed by a motorist driving 30 mph over the posted speed limit. In an instant, her life was snuffed out like so many others
004on North Carolina's roads, excuse me, and mind was forever changed. The seven car wreck in which she died occurred on the I485 overpass, straddling Meckllinburgg and Union counties. The following months was are among the hardest of my life. This period was made all the more difficult due to the lack of support and advice that survivors and the families of victims of road traffic violence are given. I was diagnosed with chronic depression and eventually referred to the Charlotte Meckllinburgg Police Department's victim services group which provides a monthly forum at which to associate with fellow victims. Other than this, I was left to fend for myself as is the case with many others in the same position. In order that something positive might come out of such a tragedy, I formulated the attach, excuse me, the proposal
005for a network of support groups throughout North Carolina, beginning with the creation of one in our very own county of union. A copy of the draft proposal has been given to each member of the board, and I hope very much that you will take the opportunity to read through it. I trust that you will agree that to be seen as caring for one's residents, it is essential to support them at their time of greatest need and that you will assist me in the creation of a support group. I thank you for the opportunity to voice my concern and to move forward with my proposal. Thank you, Mr. Caner. We usually do not exchange comments with speakers, but on behalf of this entire board, I want to tell you how sorry we are for your loss.
006Thank you. And um I I can promise you that we will um I believe you gave each one of us a copy. Uh we are committed to reading through this and I want to thank you um for being here tonight. Thank you so much. Thank you. We have two more speakers. Um the first one is Carolyn Burroughs. Good evening. Uh my name is Carolyn Burroughs. I live in the Alton community and um I've been coming and talking for about two years now trying to get somebody to open the or reopen the Shoreline Water Project application process. So that's what I'm just asking again. If you reopen the application process, please. Thank you. Our next speaker is Loretta. I apologize. I can't read the last name. I know it starts with a M. Just call me
007the litter queen. You remember me. Litter queen. Yes. So good to see you tonight. Um Loretta Milansson, 2923 Meadow Creek Lane here in Monroe. My home is up for sale. We have been in the process of moving to a senior community in Meckllinburgg, 3800 Shamrock Drive. Uh Alders Gate is the name of it. Um this is a big important evening for me. It's the culmination of what I started back in 2017 uh when I founded Litterbusters. Um, I've worked tirelessly all of these years in one way or another, and I have to thank certain people tonight. Many of them aren't here any longer, but the most important one is Bejorn Hansen. He's been with us from the beginning with the environmental committee 2050 visioning. And then Caleb Sinclair who came on board rather late, but
008that man has already made such a big difference just with solid waste in general and he's been right there encouraging everything that we have done as a litter committee. Um so thank you to both of them in particular. Thank you. Thank you so much. [Applause] Thank you for everything you've done for our county. We hate to lose you. That concludes our public comments for tonight. Um, has everyone who wanted to speak spoken? Okay, very good. Next on the agenda is item 25-206, the lifesaver award. I will recognize our deputy county manager. [Music] If you want to promote me, that's totally fine. Okay. Okay. We're going to go with Clayton Voyer this night. And you can have that promoted. Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, tonight it is my pleasure to recognize Wendell Roberts on receiving
009his second lifesaver award with Union County. Uh, Wendle works in our facilities and fleet management department and about a month ago he was having lunch uh with his co-workers and another individual in the restaurant began choking and was unable to breathe uh and was signaling for help. Uh, Wendell used his training. He's a certified EMT and a volunteer firefighter and he used his training to jump into action. uh performed the Hbook maneuver and enabled that individual to breathe again. So Wendle always seems to be at the right place at the right time. Um and we appreciate his selfless act uh to save someone's life. So he is truly deserving of the second of his second lifesaver award. So, Wendle, come forward. [Applause] Lind's my friend. M mayor, I will accept this if you will allow
010me to thank all of the first responders, law enforcement, fire, EMS, telecommunicators, which this is because that's what we do. And so we're happy And I thank you all again for recognizing a little. This is one of my absolute favorite people. [Applause] The next item is consideration of the agenda and the consent agenda. Are there any motions regarding requests, revisions, or amendments to either the consent agenda or the business agenda? Madam Chair, yes. There's no um amendments, then I'll make a motion to adopt the consent agenda as published. Very good. All those in favor say I. I. We are now at the business portion of our agenda. The first item on the business agenda is 25-223, the Union County 2050 litter committee recommendations. I want to recognize Bejorn Hansen, senior planner. Concerning this item. Evening,
011Madame Chair, members of the board, manager Matthews. This is a update from work that was assigned to us last summer or last spring actually. The issue of litter was identified in the 2050 comprehensive plan. And as Loretta noted, the implementation committee was appointed by this board in late 2021. They met for six months, came up with eight strategies that were then recommended by the planning board. Um these recommendations were then presented to you last spring with the other implementation strategies and you asked for some additional evaluation of these strategies including um cost and and resource implications. And so this committee met um they were given 12 months. They completed their work in eight and so they met and completed their report earlier this month and so you have a screen capture of the the cover
012page of the report here and so they are ready to uh present the results. The committee chair Scott Abramson is here to actually present those results. So I'm going to uh recognize him and we have half of our committee here including Loretta and so Scott is going to go through the committee recommendations. Thank you Bujorn. Appreciate that. and of course the litter queen. I'm glad to see her here. Madame chair and board, thank you for allowing me to talk to you this evening. Uh my name is Scott Abramson. I live in Union County, 503 Palmerston Lane in Waxaw. So, um, it was my honor to be the chair of the litter task force and, uh, we looked at the recommendations, the 2050 comprehensive plan, and this the there were eight recommendations in 2022, and like
013Bejorn said, it was our task to look at those eight and determine were they appropriate ones to go forward with. So, um, the we know that the board asked for another review, the 12-month review, and there was four of us on the board, and we looked at each one of them in detail. And I can't say enough about Bejorn and Caleb who actually brought people in to educate us. I I never realized how talented people in Union County are. So, my hats off to both of them. Very, very, very helpful individuals. Next slide, please. Or do I click it myself? Yeah, you just present. Okay, perfect. So, in this table right here was the 2022 recommendations that we reviewed and we actually prioritized them as a committee and you can see them. I'll just kind
014of briefly go over them. It was apply for keep America Beautiful. We kind of abbreviated KAB. Then establish a formal litter task force committee and we'll talk a little bit more about that. fund a new position within the county to coordinate litter reduction initiatives. Enhance multiddisciplinary action dumping enforcement efforts. Shift hours of convenience center sites. Expand hazardous materials disposal programs to make it available year round at a fixed cost fee for use of county facilities. Advocate for statewide bottle deposit bill as part of the county's legislative agenda. I know you all can read, but I figured I'd just go over that real quick, so I apologize. Not trying to insult anybody. So, as a committee, we have actually nine. You just saw eight. This table has nine. And I always like to do with the
015end in mind. If you could you can see on the right side there, the ones that are in green are the ones we want to implement. And the three on the bottom are the ones that we don't want to implement. So, I'll just kind of go over. I just read those to you. And the the three on the bottom shift hours of convenience center. We're saying let's not do that. Expand hazardous material disposal programs to make it available year round. We don't think we need to do anything with that and add a fixed cost fee for use of the county solid waste facilities. We're saying do not implement that. So, uh those are what the what we as a committee came up with after being educated on all the programs and all the resources that
016were available in Union County. Okay. So what we did is to make the best use of our time we combined things together in this slide deck. So you can see keep America beautiful establish a formal litter committee and fund new positions. So the observation we keep America beautiful again KB is what we abbreviate it to is an effective affiliation in other communities. We had Aken in South Carolina come in and explain it and they showed some real value when they did the presentation. I personally was very impressed on how KB was implemented and how it was recognized. They gave specific examples of how people recognize and they associate with keep America beautiful. So we feel very strongly that should be something that Union County adopts the and the uh the KB affili excuse me affiliation
017requires a board overseeing its work. Okay, that's where we would still have a formal litter committee and it would help guide that. Does that make sense? I hope any program requires a staff that you need someone to coordinate with. So when we talked or they came in and talked to us from South Carolina, they had a coordinator and she was really sharp and she did all the planning and then she gave the education to folks and it really was a successful program. So, I think that can be duplicated in Union County and so does the rest of the committee. So, then the recommendation for two um additional staff, we know whenever you add staff, there's funds that are required, but if we want to get our hands around litter around Union County and the different
018programs that we're suggesting, we are suggesting that two more resources be added. And so, um, I hope you will consider that in the appropriate context. So, the staff would report to the solid waste director, which is Caleb. Um, he knows how to manage people well and get things done in the proper way. And then for the keep America beautiful, uh, we would have one that said keep Union County beautiful, right? So, we'd stay in the same kind of context of that and everyone would still recognize it very clearly. So, it's always about dollars, right? So, the annual cost of doing what I just mentioned would be 200,000 250,000 per year, including salaries, benefits, and equipment, but there's a one-time cost for a truck. So, that would just be the one-time cost. I'll take questions in
019between if we need to. So, Madam Chair, yes. Um, actually, I do have a question. If um uh regarding the keep America beautiful designation. Yes. Then so the membership for this so there's a startup fee of $1650 and then a $1,000 annual membership. Forgive me if I missed this, but what what is included in that annual membership? Yeah. So what you're really doing is you're getting the backing of all the Keep America Beautiful experts. And so they're resources, right? So anytime you have a resource or someone who's going to really mentor you, that's what that fee covers is what we understood when South Carolina folks talked to us. and they um there's other things and maybe Caleb and uh Bejorn you could mention that at another time to the board, but I know the resources
020that are available within KAB, that's what that $1,000 is. And you get the the backing of Keep America Beautiful Experts. Does that make sense? $1,000 is pretty min minimal when you think about how big that program is countrywide. But thank you for that question. It's a very good question. So, a little more detail on the cost. The coordinator position would be 60 to 70,000 per year plus benefits. The field worker as part of the crew for litter pickup would be 50,000 per year plus benefits. And then we would need material 30 to 50,000 per year for marketing, cleanup equipment, and office equipment. When you look at the cost of things today, those are actually pretty reasonable costs. And those salaries are on the low end of the scale. If you look at salaries at today's
021wages, then keep America beautiful. You just ask about what those costs are, so I won't duplicate that. And again, just reiterating that that pickup truck is only $55 a time fee. I have a question. How long are is staff projecting the pickup trucks going to last? Because it's not a onetime fee. That's going to be a reoccurring ever so many years. True. That is very true. So, typically a pickup truck you could get anywhere from four to six years out of it. And then you would have insurance, oil changes, tires, you know, so there would be ongoing cost, fuel. That is true. That is true. and that could be part of the 30 to 50,000 for materials, equipment. So, it's embedded in that cost when we were thinking about it. Thank you for that question.
022Other questions, thoughts? I have a question. Yes, sir. I don't see as much as I used to, but there used to be a program I I think it was do uh NC do where an a organization would be responsible for keeping a a street clean or an area clean and that would enable them or they would have the right I guess to pay for a green sign that would acknowledge the group. Is that still active? I don't see many of those signs around anymore. Yeah. So I it is because we talk about it during the task force meeting. Uh Caleb gives us information and says, "Hey, there was just a group out there, you know, like adopt a highway and then you see bags out there." Yeah, cuz I I live in Wesley Oaks and
023there was trash all on the side of the road and we had a crew come in there. You can get the equipment to pick it up, you know, the the little claws and the pokers and all that. So that still exists today. I didn't see that as one of your action plans, but um I would suggest that the group reach out to various organizations to encourage other groups to enroll in that program and be active. Yeah, thank you for that. And just to elaborate a little bit on that, I'm the commander of the D district 17 of the American Legion. And so there's 16 posts within the American Legion. That's exactly what I did. In the in the Marine Corps, we called a police call. And so I said, "Around your post, let's do police
024calls and let's pick this up because there's so much litter out there, it's unsightly." And so I did try to do my part with that and we're trying to expand that. And that's what the coordinator's position would also do to help coordinate those types of things. So basically coordinator and recruiter. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Okay, we'll go to the next one. And again, we we combined on this slide, too. So, the multiddisciplinary anti-dumping efforts, grant for dumping cleanup, and the statewide bottle bill. I'll just highlight that the grant was the additional item. So, there were eight in the original 2022. And then in our committee, we added the suggestion of the grant. So, I'll just review that here. So, need to motivate people not to litter, right? We all need to motivate people not to
025do that, which it really that involves enforcement. There has to be something to incentivize people so they don't throw something out. We kind of joked about how there was an Indian way back. Some people that are young here might not know that. He stood there with a tear in his eye about people littering. And when this first came about and I volunteered to do that, that's what it reminded me of. And so I said, "I'm in." and that's why I'm up here speaking to you. So then the new litter coordinator position would monitor status of enforcement and grant execution. This again is keying on what the coordinator would do and how valuable that position could be in Union County and then coordinate and follow up with the sheriff's department environmental health code enforcement and planning
026and report issues and reported issues. So again, Bujorn and Caleb brought in the sheriff's department and we asked them about that as a committee. Do you write tickets for that? You know, is anyone ever fined for that? Are there laws on the books that you can do that? And so they said yes and no that the laws are there, but they I couldn't remember the last time someone was fined for that. So, we think that that really needs to be stepped up and the coordinator could focus on that. And I think, you know, all of us that live in Union County and we drive around and see the litter and there's a dumping a place where people dump and we saw couches and these black garbage bags and and refrigerators and just all kinds of
027stuff and that's just nonsense, right? We shouldn't have that in Union County. So, and then the cost of the grant, we suggest let because where the dumping takes place are on private property. And so, if you talk to the owners of the land, they're going to be upset. So, we said, look, let's try to institute a grant program where we could assist them to get that cleaned up and that would resolve most of the issue with the land owner. And so that's why we really were pushing to get that that grant in the program and add that as the ninth item. Hopefully that makes sense to you. And um that was short and sweet and to the point and I hope you'll consider that and if you have any other questions I'm happy to answer
028that if I can. Madam Chair, Commissioner Helms. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um if you can go back to that last slide there real real quick. um that third bullet point where you're mentioning uh the information there about the sheriff's sheriff's office. Yes. So, um you know, recently my family actually had something like this pop up where, um I have some family members that that had some property where dumping had occurred and they actually reached out to our sheriff's office and and I want to give those uh those deputies um a pat on the back here because as I understand it, they've they've got at least one deputy that does um the majority of investigations with these dumping practices. And I know that they are busy whenever these things are reported. They're putting up cameras. They're,
029you know, going through to see if there's any kind of evidence there about where they can trace this stuff back to. Um, but it is an issue and and I'm glad that she brought that up. But, uh, but I will say that it's at least been my experience. Their sheriff's office does a great job. Um, Sergeant Preston, I'd like to recognize him because again, um, you know, those folks are are following through when these things are reported. Mhm. Um I think it's something to consider about the $5,000 pilot program simply because, you know, a lot of times, uh this stuff is being uh dumped in on private property and there is a cost that's incurred, you know, to those residents where they've done nothing wrong. Correct. And so, as I understand it, this would provide
030at least, you know, some um relief there if that's what you're proposing. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Thank you for that question and that is right on point what we were proposing. Any other questions or comments? Commissioner. Yes sir. And and I may have just missed this all together but maybe two slides back under cost details. Yes. Right there is cost detail. Yep. $1,650 application and $1,000 annual membership. Yep. Can you touch on that again? Evidently, I'm maybe I took a nap. I don't know. Yeah. So, so I'll do my best. So, from what I understood when the KB folks came in to talk to us from Aken County and um the other town there, there's an initial like initiation fee to get all set up and get in the system and get acclimated
031to how they do business. That's the $1650. And then the $1,000 is the annual fee. So you'll have the resources available because money is time. So if you're using their resources on a state level, even a national level, there's a cost to that. But again, a a minimal cost, $1,000. So if ma'am, if you don't mind, uh, so what resources will we be using? What do we get for that $1,000? Can you go into some detail about that, please? Yeah. And that's why I brought some extra paperwork. So in case you're going to quiz me on that. So, um just give me one second to um review here and then I'll give you the best answer I can possibly give. Yeah. So what what they were saying is that there's the different programs that they
032have for um recycling and then you know the litter pickup and how how you organize those programs. So if you have to establish a program, it's going to take some time. And so they have the experts in each of those different categories, whether it's recycling, whether it's a pickup, whether it's a community event, and they'll actually send someone out to help you organize that event and they have like a can program kind of like a franchise. So when they were speaking of it, that's what it made me think about, a franchise. And so a franchise fee nowadays is like $700,000. They're only charging you $1,000 annually to use that franchise knowledge. And that's really the analogy that I thought resonated with me. Does that make sense, Madam Chair? Y I want to thank Commissioner Balkam
033and Commissioner Helms for bringing that up. Pardon me. Um because I think that my concern, the reason why I asked you about that earlier is, you know, if we're if we're paying, you know, $1650 and then an annual membership of $1,000 just to have a sign located somewhere, then um I mean, I don't know that there's value there. You know, we want to make sure even if it's $1, you know, that we're providing value, you know, to the county um with the money that we spend. So, I appreciate that explanation. Yep. I agree. I agree. And just to re uh re reiterate about when a franchise kind of methodology is used, those experts are sitting there supporting other communities and to get their time is why you pay a fee for it. Other comments, questions?
034Thank you. All right. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Again, our next agenda item is 25-20220 fiscal year 2025 third quarter revenue and expense projections. I want to recognize Jason May, budget and grants management director concerning this item. Nope. Let's see where mine's at. There you go. I got Sorry. All right. Just wanted to start off my Good evening. My name is Jason May. Thank you, Chair Merrell. Vice Chair Helms, members of the uh board of commissioners, wanted to start off this evening by saying thank you because listening to you all uh question the gentleman about the keep America Beautiful uh process warmed the budget director's heart and asking how long the uh the pickup truck and the other equipment was going to last because that's what we're in the process of doing right now. A
035lot of what I'm going to walk you through this evening is a rehash from Thursday. Um we are in the process right now the third quarter for FY25 ended and closed in our financial uh software on April the 10th. So last Thursday my team is right now working very feverishly to be able to get third quarter report pulled together for both revenues and uh expenses for the year. So I do not have that this evening. But what I will walk you through is a little bit more detail from what we discussed on Thursday. We are working very hard to try to the 1 of May bring the third quarter report for you. Apologize not for not having that this evening. Wanted to start off by again kind of going back through our current bifurcated tax
036rate. I think everybody here is aware of that and be able to to understand that. I I I wanted to kind of a little bit more detail from what we talked about on Thursday. So again, it's a revaluation year. I know that that's the the hot topic at the moment. But before we get to Reval, my team does some work to be able to make sure that we continue to receive organic growth for Adalorum. As we discussed on Thursday, this is new development, rehabilitations on properties on both commercial and residential. So that work still happens and we as an organization need to be able to to obtain that. So what we do is we look back at the previous four years of uh advalorum tax growth um and that's been about 4.119%. We run that
037on the current tax base out and that that does is that provides us about 13,887,56 and that is for all funds. So again remembering that we have two four six different funds that we're going through five funds that we're going through. This gets broken out in this way. And again, you can see what we discussed with our friends at the board of education last week. But you can also see the general fund is going to get about 3.8 million. The debt fund is going to get a little over 400,000. And the economic development fund is going to get about 92,111. Again, this is a revaluation year. We're working with our friends in the tax administration. Right now, we're using a growth rate of 47.27. That will change. U Mr. Harold is going through his appeals
038process as we speak and so we're working through that. Right now the the revenue tax uh rate is 41.59 on the uh on the uh thousand dollar mill and then our revaluation number is $6,81,022. Want to talk a little bit more about sales tax dollars again since Thursday. market rebounded on Friday, kind of continued to go down on Monday and and so we're we're in the process of watching this. Um when we have that much economic uncertainty that is pumped into the economy, it just gives us all pause um trying to figure out again what we're going to receive quite literally 16 months from now. um at that 4% that we discussed on Thursday, that provides the general fund a little bit over $2 million increase and again the education debt fund a below over
03994,000. Again, key dates we're looking to be able to receive the Union County Public Schools uh budget request in detail on the 15th of of May. Looking at the end of this month to be able to get our the manager's recommended budget to the clerk. Um June 1st, we look to be able to do that presentation and public hearing in the 16th of June. We look to be able to pass that budget. With that, I'm more than happy to answer any questions that I may be able to try to do this evening. Jason, would you do me a favor and go back to the slide with the penny value and that I just want to that for a second? Yes, sir. So again, we are still obviously um still running through the budget process and
040that this number it may change some, but uh I'd like to point out to the board and to the public that we are number one required to report um a revenue neutral tax rate. And that revenue neutral tax rate includes that organic growth. The general assembly's calculation for how you come up with that includes grow organic growth. That's that's how the calculation works. That number there in the middle of the screen is 41.59 cents on the 100. Our current rate is 58.85 cents on the 100. That's a significant decline from current rate to revenue neutral rate. Um, now what the board will have to talk about are some of the other challenges we face with debt and some of the other things that have been voter approved that you're going to have to build into
041your budget. And that's what we're working on at the staff level, Jason and his team and Beverly. And so we will obviously bring to you a budget that has to address some of those future needs that we have. But rest assured that we will be coming to you with something very close to what this revenue neutral rate is here. So you can see it, you can understand it. And so the taxpayers who are concerned that we're going to keep the same tax rate, that's not what we're going to do. We are not going to recommend the same tax rate. It will be lower. Um, also if you'll see down below where it talks about the penny value, penny value has gone up from a little over four million, I believe, to a little over six
042million. And that may change a little bit between now and then, not a lot. Uh, again, as we get more data and better data, it does does change just a bit, but as you can see, a penny generates sign a a significant amount of additional revenue. So that's the reason why the the revenue neutral rate is significantly lower. Uh and I'm I'm confident that when we present the um the manager's recommended budget to the board, you will see that we've done our best to stay as close to that as possible. So I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, but I did want to point those things out so if the public could hear that, the board could also understand that. Yes. I'll just say that I I appreciate that explanation because I know
043that um that the community has voiced a lot of concerns, you know, especially in the face of uh reassessment and so I know that, you know, probably every member of this board has been contacted about that. Um and I'm I'm glad to to hear that, you know, staff is uh is keeping as close to revenue neutral or revenue neutral as what we can get uh in mind with manager's budget. Um, real quickly though, the the the value of a penny, Brian or Jason, can you guys maybe go into maybe a little bit more detail about how that's calculated for the benefit of not only our board but also the public? That be possible? I'll I'll take the lead on that. So, what we do is we run through like we discussed earlier what the we
044have a tax base at the end of 2025. We add the accelerator on there, the average of what it's growth over the past four years. That gives us a new number. We run that through. That gives us the number that we have here, right here, the 13.8 almost 13.9 million. So, we then go and reverse out of that. This is why I had to do really well in algebra when I was younger because you have to take now what that number is. is you take the 13.9 million, you add that to the entirety of what Advilum taxes were last year, then we reverse back what would be the tax rate with the new tax b what would be the tax rate with the new tax base that has been revalued at an increase of nearly
04550%. Then we get what that revenue neutral tax rate and then we have to times it by what our collection rate is and we're very good. We have a collection rate of 99.5%. So that's how we get it's it's a lot of algebra and it's a lot of uh us making sure that we're doing this correctly. But that's where you can see that you've got a a growth of nearly 50%. You've got the penny has gone from about 4 million to about 6 million and you've got a tax rate that went from nearly 60 cents to nearly 40 cents. Speaking in larger rounder terms. Thank you. I appreciate that. Not a problem. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. The next item on business is item 25-208, capital improvement plan, budget and debt planning.
046I want to recognize Beverly Laws, our finance director, concerning this item. Thank you. Good evening, chair, vice chair, commissioners, and management team. Um today we have presentations for you on the county's general capital improvement program budget and debt planning. This does not include anything for solid waste or water and sewer as you've already been presented solid waste last week and you have been presented water and sewer capital projects during the process of changing those rates in the prior year. Um so tonight you've been provided with a notebook that has a lot of detailed information in it regarding the capital funding requests from our departments as well as our um outside agencies. There's debt models in there as well for all the debt funds for fiscal year 26 and the impact of the tax rate needed
047for each of those. Um there's a lot of information we're going to share with you as we go through the presentations tonight. We really are looking for your feedback. There's not any action requested. Um, we're going to hit the major highlights. We're asking that you let us know what your priorities and goals are for the future for capital planning purchases, especially for those major capital projects that you'll hear from facilities tonight. Um, we're going to take a look over the next six years for those major capital projects. The feedback that we get from you tonight really helps the management team, myself, the budget team, and then we go back to our financial advisors and ask um for assistance to determine based on your goals and priorities what we can afford and how do we need
048to finance those items that we may not have an ongoing revenue source for. today. Um to begin with, I'll be doing a very high level overview of the um government finance officers association capital planning best practices that is used nationwide from local governments to put together their capital um budget. Um I will also do a five-year summary of all capital requests from the departments. Following that, you will hear from our facilities director, Chris Boyd. um he will go over major capital projects in detail, but within your notebook in section 2A, there is a detailed list of all CIP projects, including the repair and renovations, ongoing capital request, um so you can actually see what all that actually funds from a very low detail project level. Following that, um, Deputy Manager Patrick Nolan will discuss the
049CIP needs for public safety, um, emergency 911 communications and parks and recreation. Also in your notebook for those departments is a detailed list of the requests that we received from Union EMS along with the replacement schedule for the volunteer fire department's airpack replacements. and then parks and recreation. They also have a detailed schedule for their repair and renovation request in section 2C. Following that, you'll hear from Clayton. He's going to present on the needs for um information technology and security and risk management. And then I will finalize the CIP presentation to discuss um very high level the DOT critical intersection program funding the request that we have received from South Pedmont Community College and the draft request of the Union County Public Schools capital budget which you were presented at your meeting on Thursday night
050as well. Um, in your notebooks, there's also detailed list for the project specific for South Pedmont and for um, Union County Public Schools for the individual project detail of what makes up those funding categories for them. Um, following that, I will present information on all of our outstanding debt and the upcoming debt issuances and the tax rate impact for those um, new voter approved bonds that we'll be discussing. We'll focus mainly on the education debt fund today because that's the the fund that actually is going to have a new tax rate impact going into FY26. And all of those debt models are actually found in section three of your notebook printed out on 11 by17 paper so you can see those more clearly. Um I actually don't have the debt models in the presentation but
051a highle overview of the tax rate impacts. Um let's see here what else before we get started. Uh, one important factor is everything that we're looking at tonight is looking forward. We're not looking back. So, any of the current projects that are already funded, we will not be discussing those tonight. But you do have section four in your notebook which is a quarterly capital project report that um for each major capital project there's an individual detail sheet that shows you what phase we are in with those project what's been spent to date um what is remaining balances through the end of March that is also included um in that report includes water sewer and solid waste and Union County public schools So, if y'all don't have any questions, we'll go ahead and get started and
052I'll quit hitting this keyboard. Sorry. So, for the Government Finance Officers Association, best p planning practices for a capital improvement plan, the things that we have to worry about um internally as staff and as a board um first is do you have a capital planning policy in place? and and for Union County, we do there is an adopted CIP policy that was adopted by the board um that states that we will present annually to you a six-year CIP plan. Also, they recommend that you have master planning and comprehensive plans in place. Um as you are aware, we just completed the 2050 comprehensive plan. We use that as a tool to guide us through our CIP process. And for master planning, you're very aware of how this works for water and sewer with the master plan
053that they update regularly, but also our facilities team also uses master planning tools to help them put together those major capital project needs. If you recall, we had a space study need done not too long ago, just a couple of years ago. And parks and recreation has also done their own master planning for their parks um to determine what needs could be there in the future for parks and recreation as well. There is also a multi-year capital planning recommendation which we are doing tonight. We are showing you our six-year CIP plan. And there is also recommendations for capital asset management. And what this really means is that you have a procedure in place or tools in place to really review your current assets and how you manage those. And our facilities team really does a
054great job doing that. um they provide asset management for the county through actually scoring our current assets with a scoring matrix and that helps them determine the needs for repairs um that you will see in your renovation and repair budget, those individual um projects that are in your detail sheets. And then communicating. They really recommend that you communicate out to your citizens and be very transparent on your major capital projects what you're actually spending taxpayers dollars on or if it's a water and sewer project, what those rates are really going towards. We did a really good job with this when we did the Yadken project and we had a separate website just for citizens to go see everything that was going on with those projects and where they were at and what phase and when
055they were estimated to be completed. So, um, very high level here, five-year county capital summary. Um, what this shows you is the request by program for each of the departments that have submitted request. And on the bottom portion of this, this really shows our revenue sources that are available. You can see we have it balanced at the bottom for FY26. And then looking out into the future, you can see there are some shortages there. So, this is really where we're looking for your feedback for your priorities to say we really haven't identified future revenue sources um for those shortages and we want to make sure that you have a a goal and a priority in place for what we would be asking for additional funding for through either financing or a tax rate increase. Um
056for FY26, um total capital request was 6.8 million. Of that 6.8 8 million. I wanted to point out that we have a contract in place with Union EMS that states they should not carry over $500,000 of unassigned fund balance um within their finances. And so they have excess right now. And so we are recommending that they spend that down and they spend $1.5 million of their unassigned fund balance to reach their total capital request needed for FY26. Um, in addition to that, there is PIGO capital funding built into the education budgetary fund for South Pedmont request at $375,000. Um, the transportation federal transit grant, if that is fully awarded, there is a project within building to the CIP for a total of $4.4 million. That's for transportation renovation needs at the Union County Progress Building.
057if they are not awarded those funds from the federal government over time, um you should expect to see those renovations needs maybe go away or not be funded or be funded with county dollars instead. Um this year we are recommending to fund all of the um capital requests with unassigned fund balance. If you recall during the audit presentation um we showed a schedule of unassigned fund balance that was available in the general fund. you have an adopted board policy that states you'll spend un assigned fund balance on one-time items such as capital or to pay down debt service. So, the recommendation this year is to use that fund balance for these one-time capital needs. If you don't have any questions, um we will move forward and let Mr. Boyd come. Well, good evening, commissioners, madam
058chair, Mr. Vice Chair. Um, as Beverly said, I'm going to talk about the facilities um capital improvement plan. Got a few things to talk about. Um, I'm going to try to keep it an hour or less. Just kidding. Uh, uh, first about our funding groups real quick. you you you know about most funding groups. Um then give you an overview of our CI our proposed CIP and uh then talk a little bit about some of the uh major capital projects in a little more detail. So our funding groups, we have four uh that make up our our uh CIP versus major capital, those are projects that are over $500,000. critical infrastructure. Those can be any cost. Um but they are at critical facilities that address critical systems and or critical functions. Um next is facility
059repair renovation. Those are projects between 200,000 and 500,000. And then operating capital projects that are less than 200,000. Uh this is a summary of uh a proposed CIP this year or for for the you know six-year plan from 26 to 31. Um I'll point out the first two items repair renovation operating capital that uh if you want more information about the specific projects they're included in your your workbook. I won't talk about all those projects you know a little more than the major capital projects. So I won't talk about those. Um, but our goal since 2019 was to keep these two lines fairly consistent in funding level. And if you follow those two lines, uh, all the way across, you'll see, I'm going to call it a moderate increase over every two years. Um, it's
060about 5% over those two years, so two and a half uh, average annually. Um this year we are recommending uh 1,350,000 in repair and renovation and then 800,000 in operating capital. And again you can see those projects that are listed in uh your workbook. U moving to major capital got the jail there and you see TBD. Um I'll share a little bit of information about the process and where we are in the process a little bit later. Um, but I want you to focus on 2026. Uh, Beverly just mentioned that transportation project. We included it here, but it's important to understand that those are planned to be a federally granted program. Um, and uh, you know, it won't be general county dollars at this point. Now, Beverly's point that if it's not approved or something,
061we'll have to make some decisions about whether the project does move forward or the county wants to fund the project. But I don't have a project specific sheet or detail sheet for that project in tonight. Um so I'll just share a little bit about that project. So it is intended to build a few offices for well not a few but um uh offices to support the transportation services department in the progress building in warehouse B which is the original the original warehouse. Um, it'll also include uh spaces for uh driver touchdown uh spaces when they come in, they can sit down, work on a computer, do their time sheets, do all those things. It'll also include a big training room. Um um dispatch center and typical kind of spaces like restrooms and other other spaces
062that are included there. Total uh budget for that right now is $4.4 million. Um the 275 really gets us started in design. Uh but we wanted to include it because we uh they want us to get started on it fairly quickly started next fiscal year. So we wanted you to see it, get it get it out in front of you. I think actually there's been some approval some grant requests uh that uh Teresa Torres has brought to the to the board before. So um anyway, moving on. So if you see major capital Yeah. Go ahead. Um, let me let me stop you right here and I'm sorry if I missed this earlier, but this grant, when will we do we have an idea about when we're going to know if we're getting approved on that
063as far as like a timeline? So, they apply for that grant annually. Um, and we have received notification for the first award for the first year that they actually applied for it. So, the federal fiscal year is a two-year lag from ours and we just got notification. Um I believe at your last meeting there was actually a budget amendment done for that first phase um to add some additional funds to the CIP budget. Um but as far as all of it in whole we will not know until next fiscal year. So okay thank you. Okay. So in fiscal year 26, you can see that that's the only funds that we're uh recommending um in fiscal year 26 for major capital. Um moving down to critical infrastructure, you'll see we've got two projects. One is um
064a project of judicial to do a uh do provisions for a temporary generator connection much like we did at the government center when we replace the generator here. So, if we've got a failure generator, we can roll in a temporary generator to keep the building uh operational. Um, and then the next one is fueling stations. Three locations. Uh, one of them the board recently approved over at the new sheriff's office. Um, and there's a plan to do one at Progress Building and there's one uh at the UC water op uh ops center um to complete out our I'm going to say infrastructure for fueling. Um we've got 225,000 budgeted for each of those. Um much less than what the sheriff's office cost just because it's a different scenario. Um I'm going to say not as
065secure area. you know, we we did some walls and some other things over at sheriff's office that won't be required on these these other two. Um, so if you look at 26 for facilities capital needs, it's $2.745 million um total. If you look over to um the bottom right, you'll see overall over the six year span, it's uh 27960. Now, this doesn't include the jail. So, whatever decision and direction the board has with the jail, that'll impact, you know, what we do uh and what this CIP looks like moving forward. I want one clarification before we move on. Did you going back to the uh fueling stations, is it 225,000 for all three or each? So, they're spread out over two years. There's two remaining. We've already funded the first one and there are two
066remaining and they're spread over two years. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, the jail uh again, we got it TBD. We all know we're working through that. Um, but I did want to share if you look at uh the sheet, the capital project sheet in your notebook, you'll see that we're carrying uh the 500600 bid in 2027. It, you know, it's going to be adjusted whatever direction you all uh make on on the jail. Um, but if you see that, I don't want you to, you know, think we've made decisions on it's just we wanted to put it somewhere and we put it in 2027. Um, so the next phase of the jail study we're coming up on hopefully completing that very soon. So we'll have new refined estimates for the 500600 and the
067400600 options that the board gave us direction. Um, and we'll also bring operational cost models for both of those uh, sizing options as well. U, we're targeting the first week of May to have that ready. And so, um, you know, we'll work to figure out what date that means, you know, to get it in front of the board. Uh, the next is a jail, uh, at the jail, another jail project, the roof replacement. Um, I'll note the note at the bottom is if a new jail is approved, then we can remove this project and we'll just bandaid that roof until um, we get the new jail completed. So, that can be removed. But the jail the roof there is in horrible condition. Um, you can see, uh, it's about 24,000 square foot of roofing that
068we'll be replacing. Um, and there's a project budget if you're interested in how the budgets broke down on that project. Next is Cane Creek Park, a outdoor rec center and storage facility. Um, that's programmed in uh, fiscal year 27. Uh, total budget of $865,000. Um, so the scope for this project is to build um about 2,000 square foot facility. We think it's going to be pre-engineered uh a pre-engineered facility. It's going to have dedicated storage space for uh park supplies, materials, equipment, um have a little bit of office space, uh and then uh a meeting space for on-site events and you know programs available to the public. Um over the years their staff has increased uh in the outdoor recreation department from actually a one-man shop to a eight-man you know shop now. Um some
069of them are seasonal employees but uh still pretty significant increase and the demand for services and different types of services um has changed their need for storage space uh and operational space there. And you can see the the uh budget breakdown on that one as well. Could I ask you a question about the out outdoor um you don't envision as part of the space any stalls for horses or animals participating in the event. So it's not going to be any kind of a barn. No. Okay. No, it it's I'm going to say mostly um historic, you know, lake kind of activities and things, but there are other, you know, I've got some write up some information in there. They got arts and crafts supplies, small hand tools, ATVs, kayaks, paddle boards, archery equipment, outdoor movie
070equipment. So, that type of storage, but not livestock or horses or anything like that. All right. Next uh project is a progress building uh building and site improvements. Um we've got that programmed in 2027. That's a 2.9 million uh budget for that project. Um the uh scope of work in this project uh mainly is about uh exterior improvements uh to roads uh parking. Um there's a plan to put a single bay vehicle wash station. So consider what we have in the progress building. We have the transportation department that has to wash uh regularly wash their vehicles. We have the sheriff's office that stores most of their um specialty equipment and you have emergency services that also does the same thing. Um so u there's been talk about a vehicle wash station, you know, kind of
071ever since I got here. So uh it will include uh a vehicle u a single bay uh wash station. You'll see I've said that it's going to also include a vehicle fueling station. Um depending on whether this project gets I mean this uh capital plan gets approved, we'll roll that in that uh CRI project into this project. Um and do them at the same time. Uh and this is how the budgets broke down. Um and I did have a note about the CRI project on the fueling station. Uh next is agriculture center um office and support expansion. Uh we've got this program in 2028. Um that's a $7.5 million project. Uh the scope of work is going to include two additions. Um the first is a 3200 square foot office uh uh addition that'll be
072on the west face of the facility up front. And then the other addition is about 2200 square ft uh at the south elevation which is near the entrance to the banquet halls. Um that addition will be for event support um and coordination of events and all those kind of things. Um this project was identified uh and Beverly talked about master plans. This was in the 2022 master plan. It was identified the space needs there. Um, and again there's the uh project uh budget breakdown if you're interested. Any questions about that project? I was told once that when the egg center was originally designed, they uh intended a full commercial kitchen um in the area. What kitchen capability does it have? And is any of this expansion include an expansion of the kitchen part of it?
073It doesn't include an expansion of kitchen, but they do have a commercial kitchen. Um, and it's it's I'm going to say mostly used for uh stuff. Not commercial cooking or anything, but you know, just learning, you know, about cooking and things like that, but there is a kitchen in that space. Any other questions? All right. Next one is progress building warehouse B roof replacement. Um program in 2030. Um that gets us through the life cycle of that roof from 1986. So it'll be 40 I think it's 45 years old. So uh $600,000. Um actually, you know, there's an original warehouse and uh additional warehouse and the additional warehouse I think is in 2035 or something is how we got that program. Um, but it was it'll be to replace 34,000 foot of uh roofing. Uh,
074we use the same type of roof. Um, and that's the budget breakdown for that project. Okay. Should I go back to the egg center for just a minute? Um, am I correct in assuming there are no expansion or improvement plans for the event center? No, sir. Okay. Not in this five, sixyear CIP. Okay. at least. Um Chris, if we can go back to the progress building. So I I want to make sure I heard you correctly. How old did you say that roof was? Uh 1986. Wow. Okay. We we have active leaks. Okay. Now, are we going to be able to get that much time out of the new roof? I think so. I think we'll probably use better materials. Well, we will use better materials. Um, you know, look, that that warehouse was built
075on the I'm going to say on the cheap to in certain cases and we got a great deal on it. So, Patrick, you know, kudos for getting that that building. Um, got a great deal on it, but there we're fine. You know, you find things after after periods of time, but um I think we can get that that long out of it. All right. Thanks, sir. Yep. All right. Then the last um project that's a major capital project in the CIP is Patton Avenue parking and storm water improvements and that's program for fiscal year 2031 a budget of $850,000. Um so Patton Avenue is home to our fleet maintenance group and our emergency vehicle installation shop. So that's a mouthful. Um it's a radio shop. It's what we we kind of know it as. Um,
076and so parking there has been, you know, just a problem from forever. And now that we've got the vehicle in emergency vehicle equipment installation shop there, it's it's even worse. Um but not just the people that come, customers that want service work done, but we also do surplus vehicle storage there, wreck vehicles, um new newly delivered vehicles awaiting, you know, processing and all those things. Um we've got trailers, we got other large equipment that goes back there. Um and it's just difficult to move it around, especially when it gets damp and wet. Uh it's almost impossible to move things around. So that's uh what kind of drives this project. Um and once you start adding impervious, you've got to do storm water management. So we'll have to put a pond, you know, on that on
077that project. So that's how the budget breaks down. Any questions about that project? All right. So any overall questions about CIP feedback and feedback for it because we're open. This is just a proposed CIP. Um ju just a quick comment, Chris, but uh you I don't know what kind of roof is on that progress building, but if we can get that much lifespan out of that thing, maybe we should consider putting that roof on the jail. Well, it's a metal roof, so metal roofs usually have a longer lifespan than uh asphalt shingles and and even tpo and you know, builtup roofs. So, thank you, Chris. Yep. Never mind. Uh Chris, a first of all kind of a general question looking down even past the next five years to 10 years. We are currently have approved
078moving on a project to move the water department out to Gold Mine Road and do other improvements. Do you project 5 to 10 years out the need for additional uh accommodations, office space, uh non non-wearhouse, non-heavy duty space that the county will need looking out that far? Well, we did that in 2022 in the master plan and we did growth to 2045, I think, anticipated growth. Um, and you know, we put together some projects, but really they were it it was too much, you know, too much uh too much cost associated with all that. And I know that um, you know, we're working through some some ideas on how we're going to manage some of the growth um, as we're moving forward. We don't have any concrete plans past that five years. Um, but we'll
079work on it. And I think um you know in I'm going to say 2027 we need to at least look at master planning again and take another look at um you know usually five years is is good amount of time for master planning. So 2027 I think that's when we we hit that process again. Right. And and so the good question commissioner sides the yes we do anticipate we'll have some space needs uh and as Chris indicated we are currently looking for ways to accommodate space that we have to provide for other users um like judicial um the u the public defenders office. there's things that we have to provide space for and we currently lease several of those spaces. So, we're looking at what are the options for getting out of um the rental
080business and you know more owning spaces. Uh we are putting strategies together for that. You don't see that in here because we're working on those strategies right now. We will bring that back to the board for you to look at. Give us some feedback on that. Um, but yes, we do anticipate there will be some space needs across all areas that we'll have to address in the next five years or so. Well, I'd like to offer something to consider along those lines. I realize we're not going to be hitting in stone or voting in concrete tonight, but when I first came on to an orientation, we had in a physical year 26 project um design fees for a UCPS administration building. And I don't know exactly why it's gone, but it is. And uh I
081un from my understanding someone can correct me if I'm wrong that it had not been requested by UCPS therefore it was considered moot and dropped. Well I want to look at it from a different angle. I want to look at it from a space need standpoint. Uh, I can remember when UCPS was actually in this building and were moved out to current locations because of space needs. So the admin the UCPS administration may have not have requested a new building, but for our needs as a county, it makes sense to me to provide them a combined space that would free up not only their central office location, but also the old post office. So you're getting two birds with one stone. you're consolidating their offices and you're freeing up considerable space for county needs. So,
082I would like to suggest that at least the design work go back into the capital budget for next year because this is going to be longer than just planning because we're going to have to look at site selection. So, we may not actually even complete the planning process for a new facility in the next fiscal year, let alone start construction in 27. But I think if we are going to long-term know that we're going to need additional space, that makes sense. So, I guess my question is um Union County Public Schools has has a facilities department just like we do the county. Um you haven't recommended it. They haven't asked for it. Um with Commissioner Sad's um urging of having a new central office, I mean, where where do we where do we stand on
083this? Is this something that you're asking for or not asking for? Sure. Uh so what commissioner sides is talking about is in the previous some CIPs we showed the possibility of a central administration building and we did have conversations with the staff level at um at Union County Public Schools. A and this was driven by the county, not driven by Union County Public Schools because we have space needs that we're having to address with judicial with the um the um the the folks that are do the public defenders office, our juvenile justice, so many of these different facilities that we provide space for. And so we looked at it and said, well, what is an option? And one of the options was that in order for us to gain back space we already owned because
084we do own that central administration building, we do own the p the um the old post office, we could build another building and that space could be occupied by Union County Public Schools. It was really an exercise in how can we accommodate space. Um, it is not a bad idea, but the board would have to understand that that strategy means we're building from scratch. We're building a probably a 30 35,000 square foot or more facility. That's my understanding when we met with them how much space they felt they needed. Um, and that wouldn't be inexpensive to build that big of a space. U, so, you know, that is an option. That's certainly not something that we think is is terrible, but that would have funded by some way. Another option, again, always exploring opportunities that
085we purchase a building that we could occupy with the spaces that we need or we purchase a building that the schools could occupy. So, that's why I said we're looking at strategies. We remove the um the school admin building from the CIP because we did hear some concerns from board members that that was not something the school asked for. It wasn't a priority for them. It was really more about us having a priority for identifying ours is so I will say it's off the table but understand it's expensive or it's got to feel comfortable with that as an option and there may be other ways to accomplish some of it not all of it at a lower cost. How how would we go about in in versus adding a dollar trying to come up with
086a dollar amount to add capital? How would we go about the process in determining what is the best avenue to go about? Yeah. Yeah. I would say it's it's it's a lot of it is cost driven. Um, when we presented that to the board, there was some concerns about how much it was going to cost. And so, as Brian mentioned, we are looking at some alternatives and have been looking at some alternatives. Um, they're not including here because we're we're not far enough along in that analysis. Um, that could be lower cost. Okay. So, we know we're going to need space. five years plus. We know we're going to need space. It's a matter of like Brian said, what's the most cost effective? We move part of here out or we move them out and
087and take their space. So, and and five years isn't I'm finding in capital projects isn't a whole lot of time. uh if you're looking at site selection, how we're going to fund design and then actually build. Even if we decided tomorrow, we would most likely be looking at four to five years before something's finished. Or if we find something to buy and upfit, then you're maybe a little less time, but still there'll be there'll be some time. So, I'm just um I'd like to know how we go about determining where we go other than putting back, you know, what's a better alternative than putting back in the capital plan, building a building specifically for UCPS administration like we did for human services and um taking back over their space and refitting that for our needs.
088Yes. So I I would answer that with our process. We need to finish the process to identify those alternate um um options u versus building a new a new facility and do an analysis on you know what makes the most sense um you know both from a schedule and a cost standpoint. And you know, I'm going to say until we finish, you know, our look at that al you know, those alternate options, you know, I don't I don't think we could be able to analyze, you know, what's the better option. So, it's much like, you know, you're dealing with with the jail. I mean, honestly, like what size jail do you build? I mean, you can build as big as you want, but there's a cost that comes with that. and and so you know
089really ultimately what it comes down to is we we'll show you all the options but it's you know what is the appetite that the board has for these capital costs and you know we'll show you we'll we'll we'll be happy to say well this can accommodate growth over the next so many years this option accommodates it in a less or more time this is the cost and then ultimately you guys have to say what you feel comfortable with or don't feel comfortable with is it realist istic to expect those options in time if so inclined to include in this fiscal year or is that more of a project for next fiscal year? I'm just trying to get a feel for more. Okay. It's probably more next year. Make it a project for next year. Okay.
090All right. Madam Chair, Commissioner Helms. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um Chris, I I appreciate you you bringing up the alternate options because I I think that we definitely have to keep our eyes open for for uh you know other possibilities other than building a new building. Um you know I understand that you know the county probably has some space needs. You know that that's been something that we've discussed and I certainly appreciate our county managers you know willingness to recognize that it's more fiscally responsible for us to buy versus you know lease or rent office space and and I'm in complete agreement with that. Um, but you know, the figures that we're looking at right here, uh, with what Beverly showed us, you know, about our our, uh, needs for, uh, for future years, um,
091the information that we have in front of us with our current debt service, you know, I I think that that just emphasizes the fact that we've really got to get creative, you know, when it comes to a solution for these uh, for these needs because, you know, as I'm looking at this, you know, I see an awful lot of need as far as resources and revenue in in future years. And you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but if we take on additional debt service, then we're we're also taking on additional tax increase. And I think that, you know, that's something that we all need to recognize is that, you know, yes, we we have needs. Yes, we have things that that need to be done in this county, but we're going to have to
092be selective and we're going to have to, you know, prioritize what those needs are. Um, you know, right now we've got a bond that's hanging out there that the voters have approved. So, our voters have approved, you know, a school bond. Um, and it's on this board to to to come up with a strategy about how to fund that. Um, so so we've got that. We've got um I I mean, for my two cents, I' I'd rather see us pay down debt than than acquire more. Um, but you know, obviously that's for our board to to uh to deliberate. Um, I I would just say that, you know, I think we need to be careful and again my I would urge my colleagues to to recognize that we're going to have to be very selectful
093or selective in what projects we pursue from this point. Um, thank you. [Music] Agree. Um, and I know that Union County Public Schools has their own five-year CIP. You know, they're always looking five years out, five years out, five years out. And they have a lot of aging schools that, you know, they have brought to us over the past few years of school replacements because they've aged out or they're aging out and it's more expensive to repair them. Um, or some of the repair costs. um are getting pretty expensive uh versus a replacement. Um so, you know, it comes down to do we want a new central office or do we want to, you know, replace aging facilities? And I know their focus um my eight years on the board and all eight own facilities
094um we were looking at you know how do we maintain aging facilities and when do we start going to the county on addressing you know replacement and and that's what we've seen um on the past few bonds. I think the most recent one was design work for um for Parkwood and I think after Parkwood you know they're looking at Piedmont and uh you know all of these schools were built like in 1960 and um you know things are getting more and more expensive you know when you have HVAC or kitchen equipment replacements, roof replacements. We talked about roof replacements tonight. Um, so I think we have enough on our plate and I and I would just appreciate um staff continuing um to look at alternatives um because we need, you know, extra space. So, thank
095you for taking the time to do that. Okay, let's go forward. Yeah, I I want to echo that too, Chris. I think it's to me it's progress that we recognize the issue and we recognize there's a certain time frame that not only to address that issue or also when the issue becomes more critical. We we need the space pretty quick. So I think that's in itself is progress and I support you looking at the alternatives of what we need to do to address that and doing that in a time frame that gives us the options that we're not scrambling at the last minute because we let this sneak up on us. So, I uh I appreciate you taking that approach to it and uh I would agree that uh adding anything to our CIP as
096far as any building right now would be premature until you've had a chance to look at all the options. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all. I'm going to talk uh briefly about uh some of the public safety and um uh parks and wreck capital requests. Uh the SCBA airpack fund um you can see it there on the left side of your screen. Uh it stands for self-contained breathing apparatus and it consists of a air bottle, a breathing regulator, um the face mask, and some of them can be outfitted with thermal imaging cameras, that sort of thing. Um, we started this fund a few years ago because what we were running into is you had departments that were getting to the end of this their useful life on these things. Most of these are kind of
097first generation packs. Um, this didn't exist 20 30 years ago. So, this is newer technology and when these need to be replaced, it makes sense to replace them all at once because what you what you have is different standards over the course of about 15 years. That's a useful life. and those standards change and some of the old packs aren't compatible with the new packs. So, what you run into is firefighters on a scene that if they're stuck in a building and they need to swap out regulators, they couldn't do that. Um, the problem was these packs run from $10 to $12,000 a piece. And if you look at a station like uh Stack Road or Griffith Road, um it's small department, small budget, but they still may have the need for 20 to 30
098packs. That's $2 to $300,000. and looking on that at an annual basis. Sometimes that was more expensive than their entire budget. So we looked at it and said we don't want these costs to impact any one department on one specific year because you don't want to take a tax rate from 3 cents to 6 cents and then back to 3 cents. So we were able to preund a lot of their uh their needs in these breathing apparatus. And right now we replace a department's air packs in whole as they come up. I will say over the last six years, we've been able to replace every department in the county. So, we have about a four-year window moving forward that we won't have to do a wholesale change. In fiscal year 29, we will start the
099cycle over again. And that's where you can see the $300,000. It's level funded in anticipation and hope that when we get to the need, we will have enough money in that fund to start that cycle again. Um right now the fun there is very little fund balance in that fund because we have replaced all those packs but over time you build it up for when the need arises. Um so that that program's been fairly successful and now we are in a in a a period of hopefully just maintaining that level funding for a consider considerable period of time. Moving on to EMS. Um Beverly has worked pretty hard with EMS over the past couple years to come up with a similar plan, a level funding capital plan. And the biggest cost they have is replacing
100ambulances. When we need a new ambulance, we don't just buy a new ambulance. Uh you can replace the chassis, which is the frame, the engine, the transmission, the cab. You can take the box off an old ambulance and put it on a new chassis and get four to five more years out of that. We get about 200,000 miles out of these chassis. and that's about four to five years of use. These are modern diesel uh Dodge 5500 chassis. Um they are they are reliable. They are not as reliable as old diesel trucks. There's a lot more electronics on them. There's a lot more work that goes into them. Um we are also in a situation where some of the lingering effects of COVID chassis are still a very long lead time. So what EMS has
101been able to do is they've broken it up. They purchase chassis a year ahead of time for the build that comes next year. and they've actually been able to save a considerable amount of money and have the inventory ready to go when they're ready to build them. So, what you'll see is um every once in a while we will have to build buy a complete new ambulance, new chassis, new box, but if we can reuse the box, we will put it on a new chassis and save a couple hundred,000 in the process. So, you can see um from this 5-year plan that the the funding for EMS Capital is fairly consistent. Um there's a few dips here and there. Um the support vehicles, that's your Durango, your expedition supervisor vehicles, that sort of thing. And
102then technology, that 166,000. Um that is for the ZO stretchers. They are not the old school just metal simple stretchers. They are very mechanical now. They have electronics to them and they're very expensive. What we are doing moving forward is as we buy a new ambulance, either a chassis or a box, we are buying a stretcher as part of that process. We did have to replace a lot of them at one time and this is the last in a series of five payments to pay for those things. So if there are any questions about fire or EMS, I can answer them. If not, I'll I'll move on. Could Yes. I have a question. Yes, sir. Did you use the Did you say Dodge and reliable in the same sentence? I said as as reliable as
103a Dodge can be, a modern Dodge. um 911 communication uh the radio tower southwest union we are currently in the process of working with the state on an old highway patrol tower to be able to put some of our equipment on their tower. So there is there was a little bit of cost savings we saw by doing that. So we are moving money out of that project and into mostly the birectional antenna at the uh uh the schools. Um the schools have been on a 400 megahertz legacy radio system. It's a very good system. Um but no one makes equipment for it anymore. So we've been buying parts off of eBay to try to maintain it. We are moving them to the 800 meghertz system which all our first responders are on. The state Viper
104network's on. So there will be a lot more inter uh operability with this system and parts availability. Uh there are few schools that need an additional antenna just because of the different wavelengths from a 400 to an 800. 400's a little bit smaller. It can get into tighter areas. You sometimes with the 800, it's just a little bit harder to get it into lowline areas, that sort of thing. So, this will help with that. And then radio replacement and maintenance. We maintain about a thousand uh handheld radios for various departments. That's your volunteer fire departments, your sheriff's office, uh parks and wreck, uh our utilities department. And every once in a while, they will break or they'll have expansions that we need to replace. So, that's what that $150,000 is. Every year we have a
105few need um a few requests for expansion and that's how we fund it out of that that fund. Chris went over some of the major capital in parks and wc budget. Um this budget is ma maintained by parks and w staff and this is for your bathous, your cabin replacements, um some parking lot repair, that sort of thing. Those bathous, we have four main bathous at Cane Creek. They haven't been touched in about 25 years. and you're talking about bathous at a campground that get a lot of use that are old tile. So, there's just they're in need of a lot of repair and most of them will have to be completely gutted and put back. They um 20 to 25 years getting that kind of use out of a bathroom at a campground is
106a is a pretty good thing. But there's just needs that have been building. So, again, Beverly, myself, we work with Jim to come up with a trying to get level funded capital plan because if we can get to a level funded platform, it's just easier to predict. It's easier for you all to um understand. there's not those big jumps from year to year. So, the detail on this is in in your binders. Um, so I can answer any questions now or if you have any questions after you've been able to look through the detail, we can answer those as well. I had Oh, I'm a chance to uh well meet with Mr. Chapen early on and um I understand part of the infrastructure needs are some some piping, some systems in the ground that need
107replacement as well. That's part of the CIP. Uh there's some storm water issues that we're dealing with that are always part of that. There's always some um most of Cane Creek's on a septic system, so there's always underground water lines and you know septic field repairs that we need to do. There's you know there's always there's always stuff. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. And I think that is uh on to Clayton. Thank you. I'm going to be um very brief in in my comments about information technology and security needs. Uh the first is un uninterruptible power supply infrastructure upgrades or UPS. Um these devices provide emergency battery backup power that protects our servers, uh our phone system, our connectivity equipment against any power outages or uh fluctuations. Um we have been funding this um added level
108funding for a few years. Uh so this fiscal year we're going to be purchasing two uh UPS devices and we currently have funds in our budget because we have been funding this over several years. Uh the future years are to cover the maintenance of those two devices as well as a planned refresh that will be needed in the next seven to nine years because that is the typical life cycle for those devices. Uh pictometry imagery that's our aerial photography. It provides high level imagery of land buildings and other um geographic features. We have been using this service every two years beginning in 2019 with Pictometry International Corporation. Uh we recently negotiated with a company to to provide flyovers uh every year now with greater resolution at roughly the same cost. We think that um that
109is a good deal. So we currently have funds for FY26 in our current CIP budget. U future numbers represent future annual costs needed to continue those flyovers. And we obviously have several departments that use that data as well as our public that uses our online GIS system. Uh AV equipment, uh that's just again level funding for upgrading and refreshing our conference rooms at county facilities on a 5-year cycle. And then uh security system upgrades. Uh again trying to get somewhat of a level funding um uh for cost of equipment and installation for um security system upgrades at county facilities and those will be phased in over those few years. Any questions? Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. So it's back to me to finish it up. Um so the only other CIP project for
110county general fund that we um fund annually at a flat rate is our critical intersection projects that we partner with DOT and Carpo on um that you are all fairly familiar with. Um, this has the list of the current and previous projects that have been funded and Bjorn and the planning and zoning department are now working through some new proposed projects that I do not have listed here, but those can be found on their um web page on our county's website um if you want to dig into the details for those future projects. If you don't have any questions or feedback for overall for um our general county CIP um or if you do have any, we can take that now or we'll move into South Pedmont and Uni County Public Schools request. Okay. Um
111so for South Peont Community College this year, we did receive a pretty significant request um for $7.7 million. Um, we normally fund them ongoing annual operating RNR type costs for $375,000. We are recommending this year to keep that at the same rate until they actually have a new president in place so we can revisit their entire CIP needs um and their long-term bond request needs once um that position has been filled. And for Union County Public Schools, you saw this last Thursday night at your joint meeting with the school board. Um, this is from their superintendent draft budget. They are going to request, if nothing changes in their recommended budget, around $29 million. Of course, as they presented to you all, this is an increase from their request from the prior year. We funded to
112flat about $19 million a year plus some lottery RNR funds for them. So, of course, as we bring back their final request to you, this will be updated throughout the entire budget process. So, we are not showing you a recommended request at this time until we receive their final recommendation. So, now we'll move into the debt presentation. Um, we'll talk about our current outstanding debt and what the debt service requirements are for that for FY26. We will discuss our upcoming bond issuances um the twothirds bonds and the voter approved bonds. We will look at our existing and proposed debt service with the new bonds that we will be issuing in July. And we'll look at the voter approved geo bond tax rate impacts um and the estimated debt fund rate that will be needed for
113FY26 to cover existing debt and the new bonds that we will be issuing. And then also the total estimated tax rates for all debt funds. Um I wanted to point out that we're not going to spend a lot of time on the general county debt fund or economic development because there is no increase in tax rate required for those debt service funds in FY26 above revenue neutral rate. So this slide here illustrates our current tax supported debt service cost by year. Um this does not include anything for water and sewer. So only the debt that is supported by our taxes. Um so for general county debt and FY26 you can see that line um debt service payments are going to be 7.3 million. And then for the education debt service fund around $46 million for
114a total of around $43 million in outstanding debt service payments that we're going to have to pay in FY26. So, as we're going through the budget process, um, understand that these bills have to be paid first before we pay any other expenses through the adopted tax rate. Um, the current outstanding principal amount that Brian alluded to earlier is still pretty significant. We have around $416 million in outstanding debt for both the county and education partners. Um, outstanding. Um the graph up at the top just shows you overtime for our current existing debt, how that pays down over time, what portion of that is the county's debt and what portion of that is education. And of course, the majority of the outstanding debt is still related to education for um Union County Public Schools and South
115Pedmont. So, moving forward into um our future plans for bond issuances. As you are aware, in this past year in FY25, you as a board agreed that we would um adopt a CIP project for judicial center and government center expansion renovations. Um during that time, we presented to you some debt models um with the plan to issue a 2/3 general obligation bond um to fund this project. And I wanted to point out that um when a bond order is adopted for projects such as these, it's really adopted for administration buildings that can be used, the funding can be used for any general county administration building. So, as you alluded to, as other alternatives may come available over the next year, if for some reason we didn't need all $13 million of that for judicial center
116renovations or renovations to this building, it can be utilized for the same purpose for any general county administration building. Um, one thing to point out is that this does not require a tax rate increase. we can afford to issue the $13 million in debt without a tax rate impact to the general county fund. You have a um debt model in your notebook for this showing current debt service plus adding this in showing there's no increase needed at all in your tax rate to accommodate this particular bond. Um the other two bonds that we are going to be issuing coming up in July as well, both of these are voter approved bonds. Um the first one we'll talk about is the schools um which was voted on this past November for 39.4 million. Um this is
117to fund the renovation of the current existing Forest Hills High School for East Union Middle. And as the chair alluded to earlier, the design and pre-construction services for Parkwood High School. The second bond issuance that was voter approved is for South Pedmont Community College. These were voter approved bonds on the November 2022 referendum for a center for entrepreneurship. Um they are just now getting ready to start construction on that project which is why we didn't previously issue the bonds because they were not ready to move forward with construction following that um bond election in 2022. So for these three total um we will be going forward in the market in July to issue about $85 million in general obligation bond debt. So when you look at our existing and proposed debt service um the previous
118slide showed you in the graph just our existing service existing debt service. This actually adds in the new bonds that we will be issuing. So, of the 85 million total debt service calls for the new bonds, it's going to be about 133 million with interest added in over the life of those bonds. Those will be 20-year term bonds. We always issue geo bonds at level principal. Um, we factored in an interest rate of 5%. Um, and then the first year, you don't have to issue I mean pay a full debt service cost, so you don't really recognize that full debt service payment until the second year of issuance. So, moving forward, um, some things I want to point out about these tax rates and the debt models that you have in front of you is
119that everything that I'm going to be showing on these slides are voter approved debt for the tax rate impacts. And I think it's important that we keep in mind that um, Union County Public Schools also had a bond approved in 2022 that we issued in the spring of 23. And at that time, the county did everything they could do to mitigate a tax rate impact. Um, we put county funding into the education debt fund of about $10 million. We also at the time of the bond issuance generated premiums that was allowed to go into that fund to help pay that debt service cost down. In the years of FY24 and 25, we have spent all of that money down. It is gone. So the bill is coming due for those bonds in full in addition
120to the school bonds that were just approved in November of 24. So what I am showing here on the slides today is um what you have been presented just for the bonds that were just approved in 24 for Union County Public Schools. Um, and then we go to the next slide, you'll see why there is a current rate impact based on those bonds that were issued in 23 in addition to the bonds that were just approved in 24. Um, so during the bond referendum process when we presented to you as a board, what did we think that tax rate impact was going to be? Um, for Union County Public Schools, um, we said we were expecting it to be 1.77 cents of a tax rate increase. Um, for South Pedmont, back in 2022 when we
121showed you those models, we anticipated 0.85 cents of a tax rate impact for a total of 2.62. But I want you to keep in mind this did not include the 2022 school referendum request. And I actually went back today and looked to see what did we say then that tax rate impact would be. It's not on this schedule, but it was 3.5 cents. So we did the best we could to mitigate any tax rate impact from that point forward even till today for that particular bond. Um so during FY25 we presented to you at the board retreat some debt models at that time also that was based on the current year's penny value not reval. Um so what you're seeing in the second column is the estimated increase prior to reval. So we thought at
122that time based on what was going on in the market um we thought we might be able to generate some bond premium in this upcoming bond without knowing what the market was going to do. There's a lot of uncertainty right now in the economy. So we're not banking on generating bond premium to pay any future debt service cost at this time. Um so at that point the school's um estimated increase was 1.8 cents or 1.8 cents. And then for South Pedmont, we said it had dropped down significantly from the time we did the bond referendum process to 0.28 cents for a total impact of 208. Um, fast forward today, um, as I we have built out the new models um, with the new reval as Jason alluded earlier, the new penny value that is being
123used for our models is $6,81,022. Um, again, we are not factoring in any bond premiums. As I said before, those have been spent in full for the 2023 bonds that were issued. There's nothing left to spend, and we really can't predict the market to determine what a future bond sale is going to generate on a premium, if any, um, that we could use towards debt service cost. Um, we've also factored in conservative estimates for sales tax. As you're aware, as Jason said in his presentation, sales tax can be very volatile. um in an uncertain economy. We're not really sure where we're heading. We're trying to be very conservative with our growth factor for sales tax that's being factored into the education debt fund. And we really need to take that in consideration to try to
124prevent and build a buffer into any losses that we could possibly see in sales tax revenue in the future. Um, you may recall when I did the audit presentation that when that three months lag, sales tax doesn't come in until the end of the year, I don't have that cash in the bank, but I've already paid all the debt service payments. So, um, this is a very conservative model for sales tax for that reason to try to create somewhat of a small buffer if we can against any volatility we may see with sales tax revenue in the future. And the new bonds that are added into your models um of course are added in with the 5% interest rate um which is conservative again based on the market conditions that we're seeing today. Um the
125models also add in the total debt service cost um for the voter approved Union County Public Schools bond and the South Pedmont bond. So with all of those factors added in and with the new penny value, the estimated actual increase for FY26 um for both schools in South Peont is at 1.82 pennies now um compared to what we estimated during the bond referendum process and prior to reval. So do you have any questions about that before we move forward? So, this is just an example of what an annual tax rate in increase impact would be to a homeowner. So, for a someone that has a property value of $100,000, the estimated tax rate increase needed at 1.82, they would pay an additional $18.20. Um, for an average value of a home in Union County, we
126would use 450,000 as the property value. So they would see an estimated increase of around $82 above revenue neutral um for the education debt fund. Madam Chair, yes. Um Beverly, we don't I don't know that we've got this page in our packet, but can can we get this sent to us? It's in your presentation. Um but I don't have a separate sheet for it in your packet. It didn't get printed out. Um, we can definitely get this to you. I don't know why that wasn't printed out. Did the rest of it print out? Did it just that one page? Is this one in there? Huh? Well, we can reprint it. And yeah, actually that whatever slides past that are not showing up on Okay. I don't know what happened there. We'll um get Was it
127in your email that you got Friday? We'll repent it and we can get it to you. Thank you. Yes. Sorry about that. Um so this is the overall total tax rate needed for FY25 for the education debt fund. Our current tax rate um for all current debt is 2.92. And then the revenue neutral tax rate brings that down to 207. And then with the increase needed that we just talked about for all the new voter approved debt, um the increase is 1.82 for a total tax rate needed in FY26 for 3.89 pennies. Um, and understand as we continue through the budget process, if these estimates were to change, we will come back and of course update you on any changes at that time. Um, for the overall um debt funds for the county, um, of
128course, no increase is needed for the county's general debt fund or the economic development fund. The current um tax rate for all the debt funds is 5.06 06 pennies. Um, revenue neutral tax rate drops that down with a new penny value to 3.59. And again, the increase needed for the education debt fund of 1.82 brings the total tax rate needed to 5.41 pennies or cents on the tax assessed value. So, any questions about this? So, um I'm just going to wrap it up with what are our next steps now for capital planning and debt. Um we will be coming back to you through the May and June time frame to finalize the steps that are needed for the upcoming bond issuances in July. Um that first resolution that you will see and bond order will
129be on your May meeting. Um, and then you will adopt your budget ordinance, as Jason alluded, in June. And then following that, we come back to you with capital project ordinances to adopt the actual capital projects in July. We're going to issue that voter approved debt and the twothirds bonds in July. And one thing we're going to be working on over this next year is really revisiting all those long-term CIP plans with our education partners. It's time to update those. It's been a long time since we had the educational committee which you served on at the time with the schools. Um there's been changes in personnel for facilities across both um SP and you Union County Public Schools. So we're going to work closely with our partners there to update their long-term bond request needs
130and CIP needs. And then as um Mr. Boyd alluded, "We'll continue to work on our general capital project needs with new assessments and alternatives and come back with those over the next year." Brian, I think you want to say something. I was going to speak whenever you're done. I'm done. All right. Can you go back to the slide that shows some of the Yeah, Mr. I'm sorry I started speaking and I didn't ask for all right. So, um, and Beverly said this and I I I just want to reiterate it. Um the county was um very fortunate that the general fund was able to um adjust and not have a tax rate impact on the 22 uh 2022 school bonds. Um we did um indicate to the board after that that any future debt would
131have an impact to our our tax rate. I think if you will see um we have certainly been um you know conservative on that impact but what that impact has done has actually gone down because of the fact that the revaluation has has assisted us with the penny value. Um a lot of factors have gone into that the the impact is much lower than what was originally anticipated. Um, so when I said earlier that you had a tax rate, um, a revenue tax rate of 41.59 cents on the 100, obviously that didn't take into consideration what we need to have for school bonds and for that that debt we need to take on. Good news is it's less than what we told you it was going to be. Bad news is there's still debt that
132we've got to pay for. Um, so I think that staff has done a really good job. Number one, trying to be conservative, number two, trying to find ways to fund things as e as best we can without a rate impact. U, but we're getting to where um the rubber meets the the road and we'll have to make some tough decisions. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so Beverly, correct me if I'm wrong because I mean it's it's been a while since November. Um but during the uh the bond referendum what the voters had in front of them? Yes. Um was it the 177? So no. So what we had to show to voters was what the highest interest rate had been on a similar bond issuance in the last 20 years. So it was
133a little bit higher. Um for this new bond it was 0.8 not.77. But what we showed to you based on what we know the market's doing today at 5% it was the the 77. Yeah. Okay. So So basically as our county manager said we we well we assume probably a little bit higher of an increase than what we're getting currently um with you know this uh this new bond. Right. That's correct. Thank you. You're welcome. Looking at this right here. Okay. Okay, I just want to clarify u for myself and anyone watching the increase needed column 1.82 cent. But then the total rate needed for 2026 we went from needing 5.06 to now 5.41. So I just want to clarify. Do you want the are you re are you saying that we so the current
134tax rate is based on today's penny value before reval is added in? So today your rate is the 5.06 but we're required to show the revenue neutral tax rate for budget adoption. Yep. I got that. Yes. So the revenue neutral tax rate if nothing else was changing and you were not issuing any new bonds you would only need a tax rate of 3.59. Mhm. So what we have to do now is show you based on the new penny value, what is that increase now required to be after reval above what you would normally adopt for your revenue neutral tax rate. So if you really looked at your current tax rate with all factors added in, now we've gone through reval. Now you're at 5.41. It's not that much of a change from the 506, but
135we're required to show you and to the citizens what the revenue neutral tax rate would be. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, essentially, you would add this 1.82 to the 41.59 to get you to what the rate would need to be cover everything to cover debt as well as a revenue neutral tax rate. Okay. Miss Miss Beverly, was it the 22 bond? Was it basically, and my terminology may not be correct, overs subscribed? And that's where the additional funding came part of it came that you were able to apply towards debt service. Yes, that's correct. And you won't know that until actually until we until July is July. You don't know that. I'm sorry. You don't know that until you actually go to the market to sell. And that will be July. That's correct. Okay. Which will
136be after your that will be after your budget is adopted. So factoring in a premium that we're not guaranteed into a budget adoption would not be my recommendation. Right. Right. And there's no guarantees anything happens even after they're issued. Correct. So it won't be able to help us this year. That's correct. Yes. Any further questions? Thank you. Thank you all. Yeah. So, I I know that um that is as I just heard Commissioner S say that's a lot to digest and it is a lot to digest. Um and again, we are going to continue to refine this information, bring you back um you know, additional um additional uh impacts that we know and we see. Um, the good news is, uh, I I think we've done a good job of at least trying to reduce
137that as much as possible. Please don't hesitate to reach out to myself, Beverly, or any of the management team, try to answer your questions if you have any. Um, I'm happy to um, certainly meet with anybody to explain how we get to where we we got. You had some questions about uh, you know, tax rate, the the penny value, those things. Uh and and I want to assure the public that um the that myself, my team as well as this board are very concerned with the rate. Make sure that we keep that as low as possible so that everyone's tax bill is as low as possible. Thank you. Okay, that brings us to commissioner comments. I will start with Commissioner Balkam. Um, I would like to thank staff for giving us plenty to digest and
138think about. Um, just a lot lot to take in, but we will get on top of it. And I appreciate I appreciate uh county managers Matthew's comments about trying our best to keep the tax rate as low as possible. Um, also I I would hope that everyone has a safe and meaningful Passover season and I hope everyone will be careful on the way home. Thank you, Commissioner Christina Helms. Okay, I'm going to pass tonight. I do want to thank staff. Um, I know there was a lot of heavy lifting um to make that presentation tonight. So, thank you very much for everything you brought to us tonight and everything it took to bring it here tonight. So, thank you, Commissioner Brian Hams. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I'll keep my my comments somewhat brief. Um,
139I'd like to thank Mr. Counter for uh for being here tonight sharing his story. Um, appreciate that. I'd also like to thank uh Miss Loretta, who was here earlier, um for all of her efforts over the years in keeping Union County um clean and and litter free. So certainly acknowledge her and and thank her for what she's done. Um thank you to all of our staff, uh Beverly, Jason, um County Manager Matthews, Patrick, Clayton. Um thank you to everybody. Chris, I know that this has been a tremendous amount of work um for for you folks. Um and I I think that at least this board sees it. I I hope that the public sees the the effort that was made here to to get us um you know, in a position where we um we
140can we can kind of talk through and and look at the u the effects that you know these things have on our budget and ultimately on the tax rate. Um, you know, obviously we've got some voter approved things that we've got to uh to fund. Uh, we've got to consider, you know, how we're going to do that. And yes, you guys have given us plenty to to look at and think about. Um, but I do want to acknowledge the great effort that staff has done. Um, I'm convinced that, you know, we've got great folks working on these these budgets. So, thank you very much. Um, just echo Commissioner Balkam's uh comments. You know, we've got Easter coming up. So, I wish everybody, you know, a happy Easter. Um, and uh and and my my prayer
141for everyone out there is is that we remember the meaning of Easter. So, thank you, Commissioner Sods. I also want to thank staff this excellent information. Um and uh I want to wish everyone a happy Easter. That concludes our regular meeting for tonight. I move that the board adjourn. All those in favor say I. I. I. Good night.