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County lobbyist reports momentum on real-estate transfer fee; waste-management proposal still under review
Summary
Commissioners heard a legislative update: the governor is reportedly supportive of increasing the real-estate transfer fee incrementally and county revenue showed positive months in July and August; a separate waste-management proposal remains under review and the county's legislative delegation has signaled opposition to an element discussed.
With the county's lobbyist absent, Chairman Harris provided an update on recent legislative matters.
He said the governor supports raising the real-estate transfer fee but expects any increase to be incremental rather than a single large jump: "it looks like it could be anywhere between 3 to 6," the chairman said, in the meeting context that the county had previously considered a change from 37 to 50 (figures not fully defined in the transcript). Chairman Harris cited positive county revenue figures — "we had a $132,000,000 revenue positive in July, and we had a $116,000,000 positive in August" — and said those revenues would be relevant as the governor prepares his budget in January or February.
The chairman also said the county continues to study a waste-management issue raised previously (Senator Campbell was mentioned as having come in at an earlier meeting to discuss the matter). Chairman Harris said the county was still working through questions and did not have a full staff presentation or recommendation at this meeting, promising a fuller report next month.
When Commissioner Jeff Phillips asked whether the county had heard from the legislative delegation on the waste-management item, a speaker identified in the transcript said they were "not for it." The meeting record indicates the delegation was not supportive of that particular introduction at the time of the meeting.
No formal action was taken on either item during the meeting; both were informational and slated for future follow-up.
