Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / March 18, 1993, edition 1 / Page 36
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Chamber 'Putts' A ' Bounce In Economy BY BILL DEARMAN, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT South Brunswick Islands Chamber Of Commerce As the days grow longer, and as the warmth of the sun's rays Lakes ihe chill out of winter days, spring and the call of the outdoors arrive. This annual passage brings to our part of the world strange but affa ble creatures who ride around the countryside in liidc white carts?some elcctric, some gas-powered?dart ing first in this direction then in that. There must be some rhyme and reason to their wandering, because in the end they all arrive at a common location. Their meandcrings through the quiet countryside seems as effortless as a sea gull in (light. The rhythm of their movement and the solitude of the moment is broken only on ran- occasions by one of their number yelling, "FORE." This word must have some strange effect, be cause when spoken loudly it causes panic among DEARMAN some of their numbers. Their rate of activity increases as they dash in every direction or turn and cover their heads and stand very still. This on ly lasts for a brief moment, then all returns to normal. All of this activity takes place on what wc call a golf course, and that is probably why they call it golf. Thanks lo some hard work by the people at the Department of Parks, Rccrcation and Tourism at Clcmson University wc have some very inter esting information about these annual visitors. Ninety percent are be tween the ages of 25 and 64, about evenly divided between those over 44 and those under 44. Our visitors arc almost all male, with only 19 percent being female. Ninety-five pcrcent have incomes higher than S30.000 and 65 per cent of these have incomes of over 550,000. Seventy-six percent arc mar ried, and a'most 50 percent live in suburban areas. The top three slates wc draw from arc New York. North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In addition to playing golf, 80 to 90 percent of our visitors also ate at a seafood restaurant, went shopping and went to the beach. This is nicc information to know because it shows that when visitors come they enjoy a variety of activities. It also demonstrates how tourism impacts us all. As I have said before, 1 know it takes more than tourism to make a community grow. But it is nicc to know that wc have a solid eco nomic base in tourism on which to build. BUSINESS BRIEFS Two Re-Elected To Board Lylc Ray King and Robert G. Ward have been rc-clccied to serve three-year terms on the board of di rectors of Cape Fear Farm Credit They were elected by fellow members-borrowers of Cape Fear Fa mi Credit as representatives for the entire members. Directors arc re sponsible for approving policies in the best interest of the association and its borrowers. WARD KING King is a lifelong Brunswick County resident and has been in volved in farming all of his adult life. His farming operation includes 180 acres of tobacco and 1,300 acres of grain. He has been a Farm Credit member for 15 years and a director for three years. Ward has lived in Brunswick County for 36 years. He farms 107 acres of tobacco and 1,000 acres of grain'. He has farmed all of his adult life and has been a Farm Credit member for 40 years. He has served as a director for eight years. Cape Fear Farm Credit provides financing for farming operations and homebuyers. It covers 12 counties in southeastern North Carolina. Attends Convention Elsa Jardine of Brunswick Travel & Cruise Headquarters in Shallotte recently attended the 18th annual -Travel Agents of the Carolinas (TAC) Convention in Charlotte. Leading travel suppliers, includ ing air and cruise lines and varioas travel and tourism departments showcased their products during the convention. Keynote speakers in cluded Earlcnc Causey, president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Scth Schofield, presi dent and chief executive officer of US Air. Brunswick Travel & Cruise Head quarters is a member of TAC, the only trade association expressly for agents in North Carolina and South Carolina. TAC is dedicated to ad vancing the professional and eco nomic interests of the Carolinas' travel industry. Attends 'Press Club' Kim B. Hcwett, public relations director of Century 21 Island Realty of Ocean Isle, was among the "Carolinas Press Club" members who attended a reporters' workshop held last week in Charlotte. Hosted by Century 21 Real Estate of the Carolinas, the session is de signed to increase members' aware ness of public relations and to ex plore effective publicity efforts with in the community. Harmon Recognized Tracy Harmon of the conference sales department of Sea Trail Plantation at Sunset Beach was voted 1992 employee of the year at the com pany's sccond annual employ ee of the year luncheon. The event was held at the Sea Trail's harmon Jones/Byrd Clubhouse and Con ference Center. Ms. Harmon has been employed with Sea Trail for two and a half years. She was selected for the hon or because of her exceptional perfor mance, exemplary attitude and her dedication to the job and company, a news release indicated. North Student Is Winner Of Wal-Mart Scholarship Kyung Ih Lee of Leland has been chosen the 1993 recipient of the 51,000 Wal-Mart Foundation Com munity Scholarship, according to Rick Burris, Shallotte store manager. The scholarship is awarded each spring by Wal-Mart to an area col lege-bound student. Kyung Ih Lee is a senior at North Brunswick High School in Leland. She plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall. "It is with great pleasure that we announce Kyung Ih Lee as the win ner," Burris said. "It was a difficult decision for our team of well-quali fied judges who had to select" The scholarship criteria include acadcmic performance, involvement in the community, financial need and interviews. Scholarship alternates are Melissa Love, South Brunswick student planning to attend N.C. State, and Trina Masscy, West Brunswick stu dent planning to attend UNC-Wilm ington. Rccogni/.cd for their effort as judges in the final scholarship selec tion were Donna Baxter, Lewis Harvcll and Linda Mooreficid. The Shallotte Wal-Mart Found ation scholarship is one of more than 1,800 given by the chain throughout its 46-state territory. CONVENIENT TOURS AND TRAVEL FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS March 28-31 Washington, DC April 2-4 ...Atlanta (Passion Play) May 21-23 Dollywood with the Oak Ridge Boys May 24-30 New Orleans June 3-6 New York (Radio City Music Hall, His Name Was Jesus) June 20-26, July 31 -Aug 6 and Oct. 27-Nov. 2 ..Branson Missouri July 11-24 Nova Scotia Aug 15-Sept 7 .. Coast to Coast (deposits needed) Plus many more ? Deposits needed Please call now. All files were destroyed due to fire. CALL 754-4222 FULL SERVICE TRAVEL AGENT DuPont Says $1,9 Million Tax Bill Came From Illegal Audit BY KKIC CARLSON DuPont Company attorneys last week claimed that a recent property lax audit was conducted illegally and warned that Brunswick County could end up owing money to its second-largest taxpayer if courts rule against the county's effort to collect SI.9 in back taxes and penal ties. Regardless of the company's claims about how the audit was con ducted, county officials said the study still indicates that DuPont owes back taxes. They say the only question is how much. The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners will decide within 30 days whether to authorize a nego tiated settlement of the tax bill or to go along with DuPont's request to throw out the audit altogether. DuPont was one of the 493 busi nesses whose property taxes were audited under a county contract with Tax Management Associates Inc. of Charlotte. The county hired TMA in 199! to examine the iccorrfs of com panies whose home offices arc lo cated outside North Carolina. The county billed DuPont for more than SI.7 million in taxes-last year, based on the company's esti mated property value of S256. The TMA audit determined that DuPont underestimated its value last year and every other year since 1987. "It is our contention that DuPont underestimated its value to the tune of S229 million," County Tax Sup ervisor Boyd Williamson told the commissioners, who met Wednes day night (March 10) to hear the company's appeal. Williamson presented figures showing that in the past five years, DuPont has failed to report the prop erty value of about S120 million in machinery and equipment and more than S95 million worth of construc tion in progress. DuPont's Raleigh attorney Will iam Patterson told the board that the STAFF PHOTO BY MIC CAHLSON TAX SUPERVISOR Boyd Wil liamson speaks in defense of a recent audit showing that the DuPont Company owes Bruns wick County $1.9 million in back taxes and penalties. The company's appeal of the find ing was heard by the county commissioners last week. figures developed by TMA don't matter because "the entire adjust ment is void and illegal." He said that state courts have ruled that a private firm cannot be hired to audit companies if payment is to be based on a percentage of the delinquent taxes discovered. He said the county's original con tract with TMA callcd for the firm to collcct 35 percent of collections. He said that after courts stuck down such arrangements, the wording of the agreement was modified. But he said TMA's fee was still based on a percentage and would likely be ruled illegal. "They got to eat part of what they shot," Patterson said. DuPont attorney Jean Carter said that if Brunswick County tried to collcct back taxes and penalties based on the TMA audit, the courts would likely rule in favor of DuPont's contention that it acciden tally underestimated its allowable depreciation and overpaid its taxes. "You arc going to end up owing DuPont money," Carter said. Williamson disputed DuPont's claims, saying the modified contract with TMA said the company could be paid "no more than 35 percent" of back taxes collected, but the fee was based on the number of audits conducted, not the amount discov ered. : Mr. Patterson, being an attorney, knows all about eating part of what you kill," Williamson said. "If i hired Mr. Patterson to sue a hospital for SI million, he'd cat about S330.000 of that. "Don't let anyone scarc you into thinking that we're going to have to give money back. This has all been researched and it is not illegal," he said. Patterson and Carter represented the Philip Morris Companies of Cabarrus County in a court action against a TMA audit. The N.C. Court ol Appeals ruled against TMA bccause of the 35-percent contin gency fee, Patterson said. He said the company had argued that an auditor could not be cxpectcd to act impartially if it stood to col lcct a higher fee for a higher tax bill. He said the ruling, which is under appeal to the supreme court, estab lished the "law of the land" regard ing such contingency arrangements. Noting thai "an appeal is not law," County Attorney David Clegg said after the hearing that he be lieved the new contract with TMA was legal. He also disputed Carter's claim that DuPont had underestimat ed its depreciations. "They would have you believe that DuPont is such a mom-and-pop operation and that it makes so many mistakes," Clcgg said "We're talk ing about a sophisticated multi-na tional corporation with an army of lax attorneys. They don't make mis takes." John White, secretary treasurer of TMA, said none of the 12,(XX) audits performed by the company has been successfully contested "as to the val ues" used to compute delinquent taxes. He said TMA uses a compa ny's own records to establish values. White said the new contract with Brunswick County did not call for a percentage of collections to be paid to the auditors. He said TMA was paid for each audit, regardless of collections, according to the size of the company. "We're motivated to do more au dits, not to make larger discoveries," said White. TMA gets ^6(X) for each audit of a company worth S4(X),(XX) or less, SI,105 for valuations between S400.000 and SI million and S1.625 for firms with a valuation of SI mil lion to S5 million. For companies valued at more than S5 million, such as DuPont, the auditing firm is paid $5,200. The contract says that the total amount paityto TMA^cannot cxcccd 35 percent of delinquent lax collec tions, White said. He estimated that Brunswick County is likely to pay far less than 35 percent. Commissioners Chairman Don Warren said the county is willing to negotiate with DuPoni and may con sider reducing or dropping the $473,000 in penalties included in the company's SI .9 million lax bill. Health Department Inspects 65 Establishments Duri ng February Environmental health specialists with the Brunswick County Health Department inspected and graded food and lodging services at 65 es tablishments during February. Food service grades arc based on a perfect score of 100 percent, with points taken away for infractions of health standards. An "A" is given to scores of 90 percent or better; a "B" to scores from 80 to 89 percent; and a "C" to scores from 70 percent and 79 percent. An establishment that scores less than 70 percent would not be allowed to remain in opera tion. F<mk1 Stands; Corner Store, Ash 84; Handee Hugo, Shallotte bypass 90.5; Jose's Taco Shop, Shallotte 85.5; Long's General Store, Ash 93.5; McGee's Mini Mart, Leland 95; Mr. Frosty's, Leland, 90; Reed': Country Store, Long wood, 91 Scotchman, Shallotte, 91; South bound Snack Shack, Bolivia, 93 Wilson's Deli, Leland, 90. Day Care: Southeastern Mental Health, Bolivia, four demerits. Meat Markets: Food Folks, Shallouc, 93; Food Lion, Southport, 95; Food Lion, Shallouc, 94; Food Lion, Sunscl Beach, 92.5; Wilson's Supermarket, Shallouc, 90.5. Residential Care: Lewis Mor gan, five demerits. Restaurants: Alice T's, Shallouc, 90; Beck's Restaurant, Calabash, 92; Becky's Restaurant, Ash, 93; Big Nell's Pit Slop, Ocean Isle Beach, 96.5; Brill's Grill, Supply, 92; Burg er King, Shallouc, 92; The Chart House Restaurant, Southport, 91.5; Cougar Pit Slop, Boiling Spring Lakes, 92; Crow's Nest Grill, South port, 94.5; The Dawg House, Ocean Isle Beach, 90; Del's Resiaurani & Deli, Long Beach, 92.5; Denny's Cafe, Ocean Isle Beach, 94; Derbs ter's Dining & Sports Lounge, Cala bash, 80.5; Duffers Restaurant & Lounge, 86; Family House Restau rant, Shallouc, 92.5; Famous Subs & Pizzas, Southport, 90.5; Folly's, Supply, 93; Food Folks Deli, Shallouc, 93; Food Service Inc., CP&L, Southport, 74.5; Gin ny's Chickcn House, Holdcn Bcach, 83; Holdcn Bcach Pier & Grill, 90.5; Island Grill, Sunset Bcach, 94; The islander Restaurant, Ocean Isle Bcach, 90; Joyce's Grill & Tavern, Seaside, 94; Kentucky Fried Chic kcn, Shallottc, 91; Lee's Petroleum & Auto Services Inc., Leland, 93.5; Lockwood Folly Halfway House, Supply, 85; Margie's Restaurant & WalllcHouse, Long Beach, 96.5; Market Express, Shallottc, 87.5; Mc Donald's, Shallottc, 90; Mimi's Cafe, Southport, 95.5; Minutcman Food Mart, Seaside, 84.5; Oak Island Restaurant, Yaupon Bcach, 95; Ocean Air Restaurant, Thomas boro, 80.5; Orcc's Fast Food, Boli via, 97; Pizza Hul, Shallotlc, 90; Pizza Hut, Southport, 86; Roberto's Pizza, Ocean Isle Beach, 90; Sam's Place, Sunset Beach, 90; Sandfid dler's, Shalloue, 91; Sandpiper Res taurant, Lcland, 90.5; Sandpiper Restaurant, Calabash, 91.5; Senior Citizen Nutrition Site, Shalloue, 92.5; Sizzlin' Sirloin Steakhousc, Shalloue, 96; Sky Mart, Shalloue, 96; Tamers Restaurant & Lounge, Lion's Paw, Sunset Beach, 96; Wil son's Deli, Shalloue, 90J5. School Lunchrooms: Lcland Middle School, Lcland, 92.5; North Brunswick High, Lcland. 90. BOB JOHNSON BRUNSWICK FURNITUREDOCTOR WOODCRAFTER "Quality Furniture Restoration' Refinish, Repair, Custom Build, Staining, Wicker, Mirror Resilvering Hwy. 17 South ? (919)754-4552 P.O. Box 718 ' Shallotte, NC 23459 . BELL & BELL Pontiac/Oldsmobile/GMC Truck, Inc. OIL & FILTER CHANGE ON ANY 1988 CAR All non-GM owners please call for appointment. Offer expires 5 p.m., April 15, 1993 YOU MUST BRING COUPON. Hwy. 17, Little River, SC | 800-635-1693 (NC) (803)280-2355 |
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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March 18, 1993, edition 1
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