(A summary of decisions made by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners:)

AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS. The Board adopted a proclamation commending and supporting the Mecklenburg Medical Alliance and Endowment's Community Mental Health Symposium on February 10.

PUBLIC APPEARANCE. The following people addressed the Board on items not appearing on the agenda:

• Donna Dawson on the Cedar Grove cemetery.
• Tyler Hough-Dawson on the Black Heritage tour.
• Rob Weigle, Beth Wells and Anna Bennett on the homeless shelter.
• Myra Alexander Sceau, Sam Hearn and Jimmie Hackett, Jr. on courts, jail overcrowding and electronic monitoring.

APPOINTMENTS. The Board appointed Corine Thomas to the Waste Management Advisory Board.

LAND ACQUISITIONS. The Board approved the following land acquisitions:

• The donation of 6.9 acres and 100-foot SWIM buffer on Dixon Branch from The Taubman Company. The property is directly north of Northlake Mall, off Northlake Centre Parkway.
• The donation of 2.21 acres at Bellhaven Boulevard and Interstate 485 from the N.C. Department of Transportation. The parcel is a remnant of land from the assemblage for I-485.

SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND IMMIGRATION. The Board authorized a Memorandum of Understanding between Mecklenburg County, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create a project whereby the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorizes trained and certified Sheriff's staff to perform certain immigration enforcement functions in Mecklenburg County.

BUSINESS INVESTMENT GRANT. The Board approved the County's share of a business investment grant to Hewitt Associates for $251,040 over five years. During these five years, Hewitt's investment is projected to generate $1.7 million in new tax revenue for the County.  The total city and county grant for the five-year term is $377,040. Hewitt plans to make a capital investment of $8 million in 2006 and create 900 new jobs over the next three to four years.  Hewitt expects all the new jobs will be filled locally and pay an average of $52,000 a year.

CAROLINA THEATER UPDATE. Under consent agenda, the Board authorized the County Manager to work with the City of Charlotte and Camden Management Partners to establish a development funding agreement for the Carolina Theater. Under the agreement, the city and county would provide annual payments to the owner/operator for an arts center and arts program that would be open to the public.  Total payments would not exceed $4.5 million or 90 percent of the property taxes collected.

REVALUATION. The Board received information on options for the next revaluation, including recommendations from the tax assessor to delay revaluation from 2007 to 2009. This delay would provide time to complete the installation of the new tax system and other infrastructure needed to conduct the mass appraisal. By state law, counties must conduct revaluation at least every eight years but can do so more often with the approval of the Board of County Commissioners. The last revaluation was conducted in 2003. The Board policy is to conduct revaluation at least every four years to ensure tax assessments remain consistent with market changes.  Revaluation is a mass reappraisal of real estate property values to ensure these values are consistent with the market.

The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners met in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center on Tuesday, February 7, 2006. The meeting was televised live on The Government Channel, cable channel 16 and rebroadcast on WTVI at Midnight. The meeting is scheduled for re-telecast at various times on the Government Channel and GOV-TV, digital cable channel 232.