BC 2013 03 18 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 18, 2013 (Special Meeting) Page 1443 The Board of Commissioners for the County of Cabarrus met for a Special Meeting in the Multipurpose Room at the Cabarrus County Governmental Center in Concord, North Carolina on Monday, March 18, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss County goals and concerns with the local legislative delegation. Present - Vice Chairman: Commissioners: Absent - Chairman: H. Jay White, Sr. Larry M. Burrage Christopher A. Measmer Stephen M. Morris Elizabeth F. Poole Also present were Mike Downs, County Manager; Jonathan Marshall, Deputy County Manager; Pam Dubois, Deputy County Manager and Megan Smit, Clerk to the Board. Senator Fletcher Hartsell and Representatives Carl Ford and Larry Pittman were also present. Commissioner Measmer arrived at 9:03 a.m. and was present for the remainder of the meeting. Call to Order Vice Chairman White called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m. and welcomed the attendees to the meeting. He advised that Chairman Poole could not attend because of school commitments that morning. Conduct the Meeting in a Box with the Local Legislative Delegation in Order to Promote Awareness of County Needs and Concerns 2013 -2014 Cabarrus County Legislative Goals The following legislative goals were generally discussed: • Request Federal and State legislatures to stop passing on unfunded mandated programs to local governments. • Schools - Return North Carolina Lottery revenues to the schools' operating and capital improvement budgets. Return to original allotment structure and funding levels. • Board of Elections - a. Allow for the creation of larger voting districts. b. Allow county to reduce amount of operational voting precincts. c. Continue to permit Early and One Stop voting program. • Require /permit state administrative offices to provide "sales tax" information when requested by counties /cities for their budgeting purposes. • Allow local public health departments /alliances to create and collect fees for restaurant inspections.. • Oppose collective bargaining programs for local government employees. • Oppose shift of NCDOT (N.C. Department of Transportation) responsibilities to the counties. • Support the State's Pilot Project to Benefit Local Farmers and Lower Income Households. • Maintain Medicaid funding at current levels. • Reinstate sales tax exemption for public schools. • Study the impact to local government finances of exempting non- profits from the requirement of paying property taxes and review possible payment in lieu of taxes requirements. • Address current unfunded mandates (DSS, Schools, Jail, etc.) by providing additional funding, or additional funding sources. • Review the use of local government incentives in business recruitment, in particular, the practice of local governments bidding against each other for projects. • Change NC Rural Center's grant /loan award criteria to more closely match the USDA Rural Development aid requirements (specifically, remove the prohibition against aid to municipalities in Tier 3 counties). • Authorize local option revenue sources already given to any other jurisdiction. • Revise current tier structure for counties to become more equitable with respect to the recruitment of and expansion of jobs within North Carolina.