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Carrboro Town Council receives finance report, discusses stormwater assistance

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Carrboro Town Council receives finance report, discusses stormwater assistance

The Carrboro Town Council discussed its annual comprehensive finance report, a draft of a new residential stormwater assistance program and a proposal to extend the water and sewer service boundary during its meeting Tuesday night. This was the first with new council members Catherine Fray and Jason Merrill.

What’s new?

  • Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee issued three proclamations: one to recognizeInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day, another for National Mentoring Month and a third for National Day of Racial Healing.
  • Interim Town manager Marie Parker introduced Bret Greene, Carrboro’s new finance director. 
    • “I’m looking to bring some new perspective to the finances of the Town and continue to build on the success that everyone has contributed to,” Greene said.
  • Chad Cook, director of the accounting and consulting firm FORVIS, presented the the annual finance report and audit for the 2023 fiscal year of the Town’s finances.
    • The Town saw an increase in available funds of about 30 percent from the 2022 fiscal year.
    • The Town’s biggest revenue source is property tax, which increased 1.6 percent from 2022. 
      • “There was no change in the property tax rate during fiscal 2023, so the increase there in the revenue is really just related to an increase in evaluations,” Cook said.
  • Stormwater utility manager Randy Dodd presented a proposal for a new design of the Town’s residential stormwater assistance program.
    • Dodd outlined the work the Town has completed since 2020, when a study was authorized with the expectation that the Stormwater Advisory Commission would follow up with recommendations from the study’s findings.
    • Dodd’s team conducted over 50 site assessments in the early months of 2023 and collected survey data from residents at each site.
    • To implement a new design that was drafted by Town staff in the second half of 2023, Dodd asked for a 10 percent increase in Carrboro’s stormwater fee to cover cost-sharing initiatives. The increase would also allocate funds for an additional staff member to work specifically for the program.
  • Town Planning Director Trish McGuire presented on possible changes to the water and sewer service boundary in the Chapel Hill jurisdiction. 
    •  The Chapel Hill Town Council agreed to this extension in November 2023 and forwarded the resolution to other local governmental entities who would be part of this agreement, including Carrboro, for approval.
    • Council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell said she was concerned about whether or not the new land parcels available for development created by the water and sewer boundary expansion would be used to create affordable housing.
      • “We talk about having parcels that would be eligible for affordable housing, and I know this is going to sound incredibly naive, but what assurance do we have that this is going to be affordable housing?” she said. 

What decisions were made? 

  • Haven-O’Donnell moved to accept the draft of the new stormwater assistance design and schedule a public hearing on Feb. 27 for community input on the program design. The council voted unanimously in favor of Haven-O’Donnell’s motion. 
  • Posada moved that Town staff bring a resolution back to the council on Feb. 6 with information concerning key stakeholders and information from the Town of Chapel Hill on the water and sewer boundary expansion proposal. The council voted unanimously in favor of the motion.

What’s next? 

The council’s next meeting is a work session that will be held on Jan. 16.

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

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Finance

Fed’s Barr Warns Bank Deregulation Threatens Financial Stability | PYMNTS.com

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Fed’s Barr Warns Bank Deregulation Threatens Financial Stability | PYMNTS.com

Recent moves by the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators to weaken regulation and supervision of banks threaten to undermine the safety and soundness of the financial institutions and increase financial stability risks, Federal Reserve Gov. Michael S. Barr said in a recent speech.

Speaking Saturday (June 6) at American University in Washington, D.C., Barr pointed to what he described as decreases in capital requirements, lighter-touch bank supervision, a potential push for lower liquidity requirements and declines in consumer protection.

“Taken together, the regulatory and supervisory changes recently enacted or proposed represent the most significant deregulation of the banking system since the Global Financial Crisis,” Barr said. “They tip the imperative balance that must be maintained between openness and innovation, on the one hand, and safety and soundness, on the other, in a way that will increase the risks of financial instability.”

“I have voted against these changes, and I feel it is also my duty to continue to speak about them and explain that the costs they impose, in the form of risk, greatly outweigh the promised benefits of a lighter regulatory burden,” Barr said.

Barr also highlighted what he described as growing risks in the nonbank sector and said these risks require a strong banking sector.

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Some have argued that the banking sector should be deregulated so it can better compete with private credit and other nonbanks, but the sector needs improved regulation to protect banks from their exposure to nonbanks, Barr said.

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Banks are exposed to nonbanks through credit lines and asset-holding commonalities, he said.

“What all of this means is that we need strong banks at the core of the financial system to deal with shocks, including from nonbanks,” Barr said. “Dealing with those shocks requires robust capital and liquidity, and loosening bank regulatory standards moves in the opposite direction.”

“Bank deregulation can also lead to a race to the bottom,” Barr said. “If the goal is greater overall safety, it is perverse to relax safeguards. Deregulating banks so that they can better compete with nonbanks may lead to even more risk-taking by nonbanks. The answer is thus not to regulate banks less, but to regulate unsafe practices at nonbanks more.”

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Exclusive: U.S. bank regulators ramp up scrutiny of AI use at financial companies

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Exclusive: U.S. bank regulators ramp up scrutiny of AI use at financial companies
U.S. banking regulators are stepping up scrutiny of how lenders deploy artificial intelligence as the developing technology sweeps through the industry, pressing firms on everything from data access and governance controls ​to risks posed by third-party vendors, according to people familiar with the situation.
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Finance

Crime Stoppers of Michigan could shut down while in dire financial straits

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Crime Stoppers of Michigan could shut down while in dire financial straits

Crime Stoppers of Michigan is in jeopardy. The anonymous crime tipline, responsible for helping solve countless cases, needs a financial fix and fast.

Big picture view:

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FOX 2 got a pretty frantic call from Detroit police brass Thursday morning to explain what was going on with Crime Stoppers, and essentially they told us the nonprofit is in dire financial straits.

Since then, we have learned that if Crime Stoppers of Michigan doesn’t raise upwards of $250,000 by July 1, they’re going to cut almost all of their services, specifically, 90% of their services.

The only thing that would remain is the anonymous tip line you know it: 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

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By the numbers:

They generate 5,000 anonymous tips a year, but a bulk of their work is elsewhere. This cut would mean no additional services for victims of crimes.

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No press conferences. No posters. No community events.

“Sometimes I think people see the press conferences, the posters or the social media, and they forget there’s a mother, there’s a father, there’s a child. They have no clue what’s going on, and they’re seeking help from us, saying, ‘Please help us, please do something,’” said Dan DiBardino, President & CEO of Crime Stoppers.

A huge chunk of those 5,000 tips goes to Detroit police. They could be seriously affected by this if Crime Stoppers folds.

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