BC 1998 08 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

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33 the inclusion of capitalized interest in the determination of future tax values beginning with January 1, 1998 unless the State of North Carolina requires all counties to do so as standard practice. This action by the County will affect a lot of taxpayers other than just Philip Morris, but it does bring to conclusion the Philip Morris case on capitalized interest. It would be subject to the approval by the Property Tax Commission, and the agreement itself has to be ratified by the Board once it is drafted and drawn up. Just for general purposes so the public will understand, the real property case or dispute between Philip Morris and Cabarrus County continues and goes through the legal processes. This only settles the capitalized interest dispute. The action by the County should impact positively upon businesses and industries that have previously included capitalized interest in valuation and on firms that have not. The cost for the County to equitably assess capitalized interest on all businesses in the county would require the County to increase staffing and go through annual audits of these firms. It is predicted that outside of Philip Morris this action will probably cost the County in the range of $50,000 annually in capitalized interest tax payments. The amount of money is not as significant once you get by Philip Morris, but the Philip Morris case has been going on for so long and it has really brought the issue to the presence. The City of Concord will also receive tax payments under the settlement. Those amounts have not been determined to be accurate, but the City's amount should be about 60 percent of the County's settlement if the Board takes action as has been discussed. UPON MOTION of Commissioner Mills, seconded by Commissioner Carpenter and unanimously carried, the Board moved to accept the settlement of the Philip Morris capitalized interest disagreement for the tax years 1990-1997 as outlined by the County Manager and subject to the approval of the Property Tax Commission. Further, the Board approved a policy change to suspend collecting capitalized interest on industrial and commercial property assessments of machinery and equipment in Cabarrus County effective January 1, 1998 until such time the State Legislature directs the County to collect it. REPORTS The following reports were included as a part of the agenda: (1) Status Report on Liability and Property Insurance Fund; (2) Status Report on Ambulance Collections/Outside Agency; (3) Status Report on Workers' Compensation Fund; and (4) Notice from Time Warner Cable that Comedy Central will be added to the Preferred Service Tier on Channel 67 beginning August 31. ADJOURNMENT UPON MOTION of Commissioner Mills, seconded by Commissioner Carpenter and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 P.M. Clerk to the Board