BALLOT ISSUES ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NC VOTER GUIDE MARCH 2016 PRIMARY

Transcription

1 BALLOT ISSUES ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NC VOTER GUIDE MARCH 2016 PRIMARY Prepared by Democracy Rockingham Connect NC What is Connect NC? Connect Nc is a Public Improvement Bond is on the March 15, 2016 ballot in North Carolina as a legislatively referred bond question. The measure, upon voter approval, would issue $2 billion in bonds for economic development and infrastructure projects. Source Where does the money come from? The bond would be borrowed funds that the state would repay over a 20 year time frame. This repayment would come from funds that the state has on hand in the budget. According to the proponents of the bond, there would be no tax increases. Who benefits from the $2 billion in bonds? There would be statewide investments in education, parks, safety, recreation, and water and sewer infrastructure.

2 THE PRO S AND CON S Supporters of the bond state that about half of the proceeds of the bond issue would go to higher education: $980 million for building and repairs in the UNC system. An additional $350 million would go to the state s community college system for renovations. One thought: If it does pass, Rockingham County will benefit in several areas. City of Eden will receive several million dollars to help with sewer line replacements that need to take place because of the fines that the EPA has placed on the city. RCC will receive around 7 million dollars to help with upgrades and facilities for skilled job training for the citizens of Rockingham County. We need this financial assistance to achieve these goals. Without the bond funds, none of this can happen. Some wish that the bond included more for our infrastructure such as roads and transportation which is was the initial intent when the bill was crafted in Others believe that there is no guarantee that funds will be disbursed as outlined in the bill, nor is there a guarantee that citizens will not be taxed at a later time to pay for the bond. There is also money in the bond for the Mayo State Park, Mayodan, NC. $2 billion NC bond campaign A bond is not free money. Path To The Bond: Why Do We Vote For or Against It? Why Is It On The Ballot? The NC State Constitution requires that debts secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the State debts be sent to referendum. NC State Constitution

3 Board of Education Redistricting "[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST Reducing the membership of the Rockingham County Board of Education from eleven members to seven members over a four year period by redrawing the districts and reducing the number of the members elected by district from six to four and reducing the number of at large members from five to three, with all current members completing their terms of office." HISTORY In 1992 Rockingham County consolidated its 4 school districts into one county wide system. At that time the newly consolidated board had 8 members, 2 each elected from the previous school districts. In 2005, SL changed the configuration to 5 at large and 6 district members, with a transition period from 2006 to 2008.

4 THE FACTS Initiation of Changes: 2005: In 2005 a citizen lead group CASE (Citizens About School Elections) (1) lobbied local lawmakers to alter the election method to a 4 district, 3 at large format, to allow each voter to vote for a majority of the board. At that time North Carolina remained under review of the Voting Rights Act, and the Justice Department modified the proposal to its current structure (2) of 11 members, 6 districts and 5 at large. Review by the Justice Department / The Voting Rights Act was lifted in Current: The current referendum is proposed by Rep. Bert Jones, Rep. Phil Shepard and past Rep. Bryan Holloway after rather extensive discussion with several public officials and appointees, including commissioners, school board members, the school superintendent, the county manager, and feedback from numerous citizens. (3) This is part of HB 189 which changed school board elections in Rockingham County from nonpartisan to partisan in May This bill also determined the boundaries of the proposed districts without bipartisan input. Rockingham County is the only 11 member school board targeted for this change. Statistics on NC Board Composition: 93 of 115, or 80% of school districts have either 5 or 7 members (4) 5 of 115, or 4% of school districts have 11 members, the highest number in the state (4) 17 of 115, or 15% are partisan (2) 32 of 115, or 28% have districts, and require periodic adjustment due to population changes and territory exclusions or annexations.(2)

5 The Pro s & Cons Monetary Savings: Reduction of School Board Members by 4 would reduce School Board expenditures by $27,000 (5) to $31,000 dollars (3) out of a $121million budget (5). This savings represents to 0. 03% of the total school budget. The money saved would not quite restore one full time teacher assistant with benefits; due to cuts in the education budget at the State level we have lost 295 of 393 teaching assistant positions in the last 10 years Comparing the state allocations in to years, the amount per child was reduced by $ Using that reduced amount and multiplying by the current average daily membership (ADM), it appears that the schools are operating with approximately $1,861,589 less than they would have had if state funding per child had remained constant. The savings from a reduced board would restore 1.45 to 1.67% of that loss. Group Effectiveness: The average number of members serving on for profit boards is 9.5, and non profit boards is 16 (6). Studies on group decision making suggest the ideal group size as far as human decision making is somewhere between five and eight.(6) As a result of this diverse list of constituents, stakeholders, obligations, and revenue sources, nonprofits have, in effect, multiple bottom lines. A recognition of nonprofits as uniquely complex suggests one problem with incorporating ready made management models from the business world, where prices, wages, profits, and taxes drop down into a single bottom line. In sum, the for profit model may be too unsophisticated to meet the needs of the non profit organization. (6)(7)

6 Voter Representation through Districts: There are currently six districts that would consolidate into four districts. The districts will generally follow precinct lines and will closely approximate the four high school attendance zone districts (3). Currently all six districts cross high school attendance zones. There will be three at large countywide elected members, as opposed to five now. (3) Historically there has been significant concern with district conflict based on old school system zones (1). The current method of district representation, not based on old school system/high school zones, can contribute to improved board cohesiveness. There are no local grass roots movements sighting school board malfunction as in 2005 (1). More school board members allows for greater voter access, more manpower to serve the schools and the community at functions and events, and better representation and understanding of diverse views. Minority Representation: One of the six current districts (16%) was drawn to favor minority representation, and was the result of intervention by the Justice Department in If one of the proposed districts is minority favorable, it would be 1of 4 (25%) of district seats. Census data from 2000 to 2010 demonstrate that Rockingham County is increasing in diversity. Our current demographic make up is 76% white, 19% African American,.5% Asian, and 6% Hispanic. What is interesting is the percentage change over the 10 year period is showing a decrease of 15% in whites, increase of 12 % in African Americans, 53% increase in Asians, and an increase in the Hispanic population of 124%. (8) Based on our changing demographics it remains important that our elected officials also reflect the views, opinions and ideas of our population. (6)(7) (1)Greensboro News and Record. March 19, The Power of One: Wayne Barham Fought for Eight Years to Change the School Board Cynthia Jefferies (2) North Carolina Board of Education Election Law, General Laws and Background (Created in 2005 and updated with Legislative and other changes through January 2015) NC School Boards Assocation. Don Wright General Counsel N.C. State Board of Elections (3) Rep. Bert Jones / Maile Epperson January 28, 2016 (4) # on Board / School Board PDF, NC School Boards Association (5) Phone conversations with Financial Department, Rockingham County Schools February 10 & 11, 2016 (6) Size Matters: Right Sizing Your Board of Directors, Mitch Dorger (7) Landsberg, Bill E., The Nonprofit Paradox: For Profit Business Models in the Third Sector, The Journal of Not for Profit Law, Vol 6, Issue 2, January (8) Census Viewer.com/city/NC/Rockingham (9)

7 Stokesdale Fire District Tax HOUSE BILL 466: Stokesdale Fire District Assessment Committee: House Local Government, if favorable, Finance Date: May 14, 2015 Introduced by: Rep. Blust. SUMMARY: The PCS for House Bill 466 would require the Guilford and Rockingham County Boards of Commissioners to call a special election in the Stokesdale rural fire protection district for the purpose of increasing the allowable special tax rate for fire protection within that district from ten cents to fifteen cents. The Facts " In a nutshell, the new local bill passed by the state allows the two counties to grant a special election for a single fire district, out of all the fire districts in the state, in an attempt to put it on the ballot in both counties if residents first get enough signatures and then pass a measure that wouldn t raise the fire district tax but would allow the commissioners in those two counties to raise the fire tax up to 15 cents but wouldn t allow those commissioners to raise it any more than that, as it can in other fire districts. Guilford County Board of Elections Director Charlie Collicutt said that he has been discussing the possibility of the two county fire district special election with the elections director in Rockingham County. He said it makes things more complicated than usual but that his office handles complications of this type on a regular basis.

8 SPECIAL ELECTIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2015 SESSION LAW HOUSE BILL 34 SECTION 9.(a)G.S reads as rewritten: " Election to be held upon petition of voters.upon the petition of thirty five percent (35%) of the resident freeholders living in an area lying outside the corporate limits of any city or town, which area is described in the petition and designated as " (Here insert name)fire District,"the board of county commissioners of the county shall call a special election in said district for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters therein the question of levying and collecting a special tax on all taxable property in said district, of not exceeding fifteen cents (15 ) on the one hundred dollars ($100.00) valuation of property, for the purpose of providing fire protection in said district. The county tax office shall be responsible for checking the freeholder status of those individuals signing the petition and confirming the location of the property owned by those individuals. Unless specifically excluded by other law, the provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes concerning petitions for referenda and special elections shall apply. If the voters reject the special tax under the first paragraph of this section, then no new election may be held under the first paragraph of this section within two years on the question of levying and collecting a special tax under the first paragraph of this section in that district, or in any proposed district which includes a majority of the land within the district in which the tax was rejected. The cost of Special Elections are paid by the Counties holding the Election. General Statute Pursuant to General Statute A special election may be held only as follows: (1) At the same time as any other State or county general election. (2) At the same time as the primary election in any even numbered year. (3) At the same time as any other election requiring all the precincts in the county to be open. (4) At the same time as a municipal general election, if the special election is within the jurisdiction of the municipality only. Since the Stokesdale Fire District Tax Cap Special Election is being held when the Primary Election is being held, there is very little cost.

9 The only additional cost is ballots. Since only voters that live in the Stokesdale Fire District may vote on that ballot item, separate ballots had to be printed for those Voters. We have 1,646 Voters registered to vote that live in the Stokesdale Fire District. The estimated cost of the ballots ordered for these Voters is $600 in Rockingham Coun ty. Pro s & Con s I support the Stokesdale Fire District desire to raise the cap on their fire tax to 15 cents. It has been 10 cents since the district's inception in the 50's. Note that this is an increase in the cap and NOT an increase in the tax at this time. This is a measure designed to avoid shortfalls in the future. It also avoids the creation of an "overlay fire district" which I strongly oppose. As of right now Stokesdale has 1.3 million in reserves and I would not support any increase in the fire tax itself. (a) I do support the same opinions and concerns as Commissioner Richardson. I know that any increase is not popular with anyone including myself, but there was communication with the fire commissioners and the Guilford County delegations concerning this increase. I really believe that this will help the department with operational expenses and future needs that arise. Also, with all the services they provide and also with medical assistance they provide until a transport units arrive in emergency situations. I hope this helps explain why I support the changes. Thanks Keith Duncan Mr. Duncan is also a Rockingham County Commissioner. Source: (a) Rockingham County Commissioners Mark Richardson & Keith Duncan The Rhino Time

10