By Susan Dickson, Staff Writer
The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to take steps toward creating utility districts in areas of the county identified for economic development.
The establishment of water and sewer districts would create an authority that could levy taxes from property owners in the district in order to finance the installation of water and sewer lines, which county officials say is imperative to attracting developments and businesses.
“The key to this whole scenario, and really the only reason to pursue it, is to provide the opportunity to put utilities in your economic-development district,†County Manager Frank Clifton said. “This is just a vehicle to get you where you have talked about going and a methodology to let you move that process forward.
“Right now, we are totally dependent on other entities,†he added.
The county could potentially also use proceeds from the proposed quarter-cent sales tax to be voted on in November’s election, to fund the infrastructure. Last month, the commissioners voted to allocate 42.5 percent of funds raised from the tax to economic development.
County officials are eager to explore economic development in Orange County, given that property tax makes up more than 75 percent of the county’s total revenue and an increase in businesses in the county could help diversify the tax base.
The county has more than 4,000 acres of land identified as urban transition areas, where higher levels of density are planned. Economic-development districts include the Efland/Mebane/Buckhorn area and the Eno district in the eastern part of the county. If approved, the establishment of utility districts would include a “backbone†utility system that would allow individual projects along the corridor to connect to the master system.
County planning director Craig Benedict said the county could create multiple districts within the districts in order to identify each area’s unique needs and existing infrastructure.
Commissioner Alice Gordon said she wants to be clear about how much installing water and sewer would cost before the county commits to the project.
“We want to do this. We understand the importance of having infrastructure … and we’re talking about not having burdensome tax levels [in the districts],†Gordon said, adding, “But we don’t want it to be burdensome on the general taxpayer either.â€
Commissioner Barry Jacobs said he wanted to be sure the public knew that an eminent-domain clause in the utility district plan was not for development but infrastructure.
“It is not our intention to be condemning land for economic-development purposes,†Jacobs said. “This would be related to water and sewer extensions and only as a last resort.â€
Clifton urged the commissioners to move forward with the project.
“If you create the opportunity of water and sewer extension, you are creating the viability of this district,†he said.
Staff will return to the commissioners with a water and sewer district map and the county will hold a public hearing on the possible utility districts within the next several months.