A - Town Council Meetings

MOUNT PLEASANT TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING Friday, September 25, 2020, 11:00 a.m. Municipal Complex, Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES I. Call to Order Mayor Haynie called the Town Council Meeting to order at 11 a.m. Council Members Howard Chapman, Laura Hyatt, Tom O’Rourke, Jake Rambo, Gary Santos and Guang Ming Whitley were present. Council Members Brenda Corley and Kathy Landing were absent. II. Public Comment Michael German, 1707 Snowden Road, stated that he is a neighbor in the settlement community of Snowden and is not in the Town of Mount Pleasant, which is one of the two reasons why he is before Council. He is asking Council to reconsider the sewer connection to his community. He is tired of coming to various Council meetings repeating the same request over and over again. He said they do not want something for nothing. He said additionally, regarding Highway 41, the Town made all the decisions and did not invite those affected to the table. III. Action to establish a Millage Rate and Sales Tax Credit Factor Ms. Marcy Cotov, Chief Finance Officer, stated that every year Town Council is required to establish and certify to Charleston County, the Town’s millage rate and Local Option Sales Tax Credit Factor, once the Town’s property appraisals and assessments are received in September. This year is slightly different, because it is a reassessment year. She stated that property is reassessed every five (5) years. She stated that new construction and growth are not factored in; however, for reassessed properties it needs to be revenue neutral. Page 2 of 8 Page 3 of 8  Council continued discussions. Ms. Whitley asked what the debt millage would need to be in order to fully cover the Town’s debt and not utilize the Town’s Operating funds. Mr. DeMoura explained different options. He stated that the top line in the illustration is prior to the reassessment and in the far right column is the .041 which was the millage rate. This is 41 cents for every $1,000 in value. Page 4 of 8 Mr. DeMoura said the second line is the base, which is, after reassessment, the requirement to move it back to revenue neutral, which brings the total to .0376. He said this is an option. He said there are five other options also shown. He said on the third line where it shows Base + CPI/Population, this is 3.83% which is for one year we are allowed to increase taxation. He said this is an additional 1.3 mills and is reflected on the operating millage side. He reviewed the other options. He stated that if Council would like to pursue one of the projects in the Old Village and make the debt millage pay for as much debt service as possible, the Debt mills to support debt and 1 mill, 2.4 mills would be an option he would recommend. Council continued discussions. Ms. Whitley moved to lower the total millage rate to .04 with an operating millage of 0.0347 and a debt millage of .0053; seconded by Mr. O’Rourke. Mr. Chapman stated that as Council reviews the debt millage and the motion that is currently on the floor, to encourage the Town Administrator to get the study underway so this may also help residents who may not feel they are receiving the full rollback in the millage. Mr. O’Rourke stated that he agrees with Mr. Chapman and believes there is merit in what was stated. He said if Council votes for what was stated, he believes there will be funding available for those projects stated by Ms. Whitley and Mr. Chapman, and likely some of the items Mr. Santos stated. Mr. Rambo stated that we are in the middle of a pandemic that has created an economic crisis for many. He said businesses and people are hurting. He stated that he cannot support raising anyone’s taxes. He stated to receive a higher tax bill this year than the previous year is not right. Mayor Haynie asked what the average house is in Mount Pleasant. He said what would account for a higher tax rate is the appreciation of their property. Ms. Cotov stated that she calculated those homes $250,000 to $1 million and also put in a recommendation for the tax credit factor. Page 5 of 8 Mayor Haynie stated that he is trying to figure out what the difference is on a $400,000 house from what was being paid and what the resident will be paying now. Ms. Cotov showed Town Council the difference. She stated that this is without the LOST factor. Mayor Haynie asked when the property owners would receive their tax bill and be required to pay the tax. Ms. Cotov stated that it would be due in January 2021. Mr. O’Rourke stated that he believes the Town needs this funding in order to continue servicing the residents. He added that the Town is not taking more money, because the residents will be the recipients of these projects. He said there are projects that must be done. Mr. Chapman discussed the issues with drainage in the Town that must be addressed due to rising tides. Mr. Santos stated that he was in favor of Ms. Whitley’s comments regarding the referendum on Recreation and asked if Ms. Whitley would include that in her motion. Ms. Whitley asked if Mr. Santos’ issue can be addressed at the Recreation Committee meeting in October. Page 6 of 8 Mayor Haynie stated that when money is put into the debt millage and then funding goes into the operating millage, how does the Town assure the taxpayers that it is being used for those projects. Mr. DeMoura stated that funding captured on the debt millage side must be used for capital. Ms. Cotov stated that the debt millage is sent to a debt fund and must abide by all the criteria and may only be used for capital. Mayor Haynie stated that he would like to keep the operating millage the same and increasing the debt millage by something less than the 0.0053. He said most of our citizens are benefitting from rising property values and they are primarily those experiencing flooding. He can justify capturing a small portion of this increase to bond and fix the Town’s major flooding issues where those residents are not doing as well in terms of appreciation. He believes the 0.0053 is too much during a pandemic and if it is lowered, he would be able to support this. Ms. Cotov stated that with the .0062, this will fully fund the $2.1 million. Mr. O’Rourke stated that he believes it is dangerous to decrease operating millage or any millage. He said there is a list of capital projects that the Town needs operating funding for and believes there may even be a list of operational projects. He stated that there is also the unknown. He stated that he would be in favor of a compromise in the total, not decreasing any millage, and the increase going towards the debt. Ms. Whitley stated that she would agree to take it from 41.0 to 39.3 which would be 1.7 and would be 0.0046, so the debt millage would go up to .0046 instead of .0053 and the operating millage would stay the same. Ms. Whitley amended her motion for the operating millage of 34.7 and a debt of 4.6 for a total of 39.3; seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mayor Haynie stated that there is a motion that would put the operations millage at 0.0347 which is the revenue neutral number, the debt at 0.0046 for a total of 39.3 mills which is less than 2 mills total of what would be totally revenue neutral. He said this would go into effect immediately and reflected in the outgoing property tax bills. Page 7 of 8  Ms. Hyatt, Mr. O’Rourke, Ms. Whitley, Mr. Chapman, and Mayor Haynie were in favor. Mr. Rambo and Mr. Santos were opposed. Motion carries 5-2-2 with Ms. Landing and Ms. Corley absent. Ms. Whitley moved to approve the recommended Sales Credit Tax Factor at .00028; seconded by Mr. O’Rourke. Ms. Hyatt, Mr. O’Rourke, Mr. Rambo, Mr. Santos, Ms. Whitley, Mr. Chapman and Mayor Haynie voted in favor. Motion carries 7-0-2 with Ms. Corley and Ms. Landing absent. IV. Adjourn There being no further business, Council adjourned at 12:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Ashe MacDonald September 25, 2020 Page 8 of 8