BC 2001 02 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

31 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002. He stated this was the standard contract the County has with other municipalities and fire districts for the collection of taxes. The fee will be 1.5 percent of all taxes collected. UPON MO?ION of Commissioner Privette, seconded by Chairman Fennel and unanimously carried, the Board approved the contract for providing Tax Collection and Tax Assessor services for the Town of Midland for the period from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. The County shall receive payment from the Town equal to 1.5 'percent of all taxes collected for the Town, which is netted each month prior to distribution. The Board authorized the County Manager to sign the contract on behalf of Cabarrus County. Mr. Clifton reviewed the proposed contract for the County to provide services associated with the 2000 tax levy by the Town of Midland. The contract included the following provisions: (1) The Town will contract directly with the software provider, Cott, to do programming necessary for billing vehicle taxes; (2) The Town will handle all taxpayer disputes and appeals and the bills will provide information, name and telephone, to which calls are to be directed;' (3) Cabarrus County will receive reimbursement for all direct expenses and actual man hours for in-house programming of the real estate, personal property and vehicle tax data along with the scrubbing of that data to make it ready for billing purposes; (4) The County will pass along the direct fixed costs for printing tax bills and related postage; and (5) The County will receive 1.5 percent of all taxes collected for the Town. The total cost of services associated with the 2000 tax billing was estimated at $9,000.00, including an estimated payment of $4,000.00 to Cott. Mayor Dan Short stated the Town'of Midland wants to levy a five cents (5¢) tax for 2000 in order to receive Powell Bill funding and other State shared revenues (e.g., local option sales and use tax). The Town is currently operating on funds donated by Midland Fire and Rescue. Mayor Short asked the County to provide staff services to the Town at no cost with the Town to contract directly with Cott and pay any out-of-pocket expenses. Mr. Clifton highlighted issues associated with the Town's request to bill its 2000 tax levy using the tax values as of January 1, 2000. He explained the County establishes its tax roll as of January 1 of each year. Since the Town did not exist on January 1, 2000, the County does not know who the individual property owners were at that point in time for the Town of Midland. Mr. Clifton discussed the additional work that would be required by County staff, programming work by the software vendor for the vehicle tax bills and timing issues related to the tax billing. There was lengthy discussion about the Town's plans to tax its residents for 2000, the legality of the tax, concerns about a "retroactive" tax, the date of incorporation (November 7, 2000), and the provision of services to the citizens of Midland. Mr. Clifton pointed out that the County could defer payments for services provided to the Town until the Town's fiscal situation has improved. After discussion, there was general consensus that the Board did not want to retroactively tax the citizens of Midland and that the County and Town would work towards a partnership to meet the needs of the Midland citizens. The Board scheduled a work session with the Midland Town Council at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 26, to further discuss this issue. Staff will review and discuss potential service contracts at that time. OLD BUSINESS Proposed Unified Development Ordinance and Zoning Memorandum of Understanding with Local Municipalities Planning Services Director Maps and Proposed Jonathan Marshall, Mr. Jonathan Marshall, Planning Services Director, updated the Board on the status of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The Town of Mt. Pleasant adopted the UDO to be effective March 1. The Harrisburg Town Council will hold a public hearing on the UDO in March. The Midland Town Council established its Planning Board last week and is just beginning to consider the proposed UDO. Also, the UDO Steering Committee will continue to meet under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding and recommend changes on a quarterly basis. There was discussion regarding the proposed UDO, the work by the UDO Steering Committee and planned quarterly updates concerning recommended changes to the UDO. Commissioner Privette proposed that the Board wait until