WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018
Volunteer honored, 6
"News from Next Door”
75 cents
PCHS graduates honored
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Chief Marshal Samantha Emily Midgett (left) leads Valedictorian Reagan Tylar Workman, Salutatorian McKenzie Faith
Twine and honors graduate Megan Diane Trueblood to the stage Friday night.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The full
text of the valedictorian and
salutatorian speeches ap
pears in this issue. More pho-
tographs will be published
next week.)
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County High
school seniors honored their
accomplishments Friday
night but they also honored
two classmates who died
much too soon.
A part of the graduation cer
emony paid tribute to Miles
Shipman and Mustafa Holley.
Both would have been a part
of the 2018 graduating class.
Shipman was just 10 and a
student at Hertford Grammar
School when he died in June
2011.
Holley was a 14-year-old
ninth grade student when he
died in January 2014 in a mo
ped accident. His mother, Ly
nette Bond, attended Friday’s
ceremony and was presented
with her son’s honorary de
gree.
Both Shipman and Holley
were included in the address
Salutatorian McKenzie Twine
gave Friday night.
She talked about their
freshman year.
“This first year was also the
year in which we lost our fel
low classmate Mustafa Holley,
he was actually preceded in
death by Miles Shipman. Both
of these classmates should
have been sitting here with
us today and they are greatly
missed.”
She congratulated her
classmates for their achieve
ments but told them there is
so much more.
“Everything that you have
done these past four years
should fill you with pride as
you have now accomplished
one of the lengthiest goals
STAFF PHOTO
BY PETER
WILLIAMS
Graduates
march
onto the
field Friday
night for
graduation.
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Lynette Bond,
mother of the
late Mustafa
Holley,
attended
Friday’s
graduation
and accepted
on an
honorary
degree on
behalf of her
son.
of your life, and there is still
more to come.” She quoted
Theodore Roosevelt.
“The credit belongs to the
man who is actually in the are
na; whose face is marred by
sweat and blood; who strives
valiantly; who errs and comes
short again and again because
there is no effort without err5r
and shortcoming; who knows
the great enthusiasms, the
great devotion, spends himself
in a worthy cause; who at best
knows in the end the triumph
of high achievement; and who
at worst, if he fails, at least
fails while daring greatly.”
Raegan Tylar Workman said
as the daughter of a teacher
she had a taste for PCHS at a
very early age, well before she
was a freshman.
“I being a teacher’s kid
walked these halls since be
fore I knew how to walk so
I was already familiar with
the whereabouts of classes
and who the
teachers were.
“Finally, we made it to senior
year. We made it through four
years of memories. We made
it through both the good times
and the bad times. We made it
through four years of testing.
We made it through the Se-
nioritis. We made it together.
We all got here by being our
unique selves, but we couldn’t
See GRADUATION, 2
Budget hearing
coming Monday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County plans to hold the line
on property taxes next fiscal year as well as
the charges for sanitation services and water
sales.
The county has released the budget message
and plans a public hearing on Monday at 7 p.m.
in the Perquimans County Courthouse Annex.
County Manager Frank Heath does the jug
gling act each year. This year department heads
asked for what amounts to $18.8 million, or $4
million more than the anticipated revenues. To
fund all of it would have required raising the
property tax rate from the current 57 cents per
$100 in value to 88 cents. The general fund bud
get is $15.6 million.
The county has basically held the effec
tive tax rate the same since 2010. There have
been increases but those were during property
revaluation years, when the tax rate went up
because the property values dropped. The idea
was to be “revenue neutral” and generate .the
same amount of tax revenue as the year be
fore.
While no tax rate hike is being proposed, the
fiscal plan requires dipping into the reserve ac
count for $990,000 to balance the budget.
Heath said he doesn’t expect he’ll need the
full $990,000. The current budget proposed the
need for $972,103 from the reserve account
and Heath estimates he’ll just need $164,584 of
that.
“This is due to better than projected revenues
and controlling spending vs. budget amounts,”
Heath said of the 2017-18 figure.
Even if the county did need all of the $990,000
for next year, it would still leave the fund bal
ance account in the 25 percent range. Heath
said that’s far more than the 8 percent recom
mend by the Local Government Commission.
At 57 cents, the Perquimans rate is 15 cents
lower than Camden’s current rate, 17 cents
lower than Chowan, 19 cents lower than Gates
and 20 cents lower than Pasquotank.
Camden is proposing raising their rate by
three cents next year.
Camden Commission Chairman Clayton
Riggs defended the hike as needed. One of the
| new expenses is for a second School Resource
Officer. Camden currently has one that covers
five schools. Perquimans currently has .three
SROs for four schools, but a fourth SRO is in
the new budget.
In defending the hike, Riggs told The Daily
See BUDGET, 6
Speaker to talk
about restoration
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A speaker from the N.C. State Historic Pres
ervation Office will be in Hertford today to
talk about the tax benefits of restoring older
homes.
Reid Thomas will be hold
ing two public meetings in the
county commission’s meeting
room in the courthouse an
nex. The first will be from 3-
5 p.m. A second one starts at
6:30 p.m.
There are both state and
federal tax incentives avail ¬
able for preservation. To be THOMAS
eligible for the federal and
state credits, buildings listed in the National
Register of Historic Places are candidates, ei
ther individually or as a contributing building
in a National Historic District.
Reid said a number of Perquimans County-
properties can qualify.
Reid said his presentation will include sev-
See SPEAKER, 6
Sheriff poised to get new SRO, narcotics deputy
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The proposed Perqui
mans County budget in
cludes a fourth School Re
source Officer as well as a
new position for a narcotics
officer.
School officials sought
two new SRO positions last
year, but
the county
commis-
sioners
approved
just one
new posi
tion. That
means
there is a
full-time
WHITE
officer dedicated to the high
school and the other two
positions to cover the three
other schools in the district.
Sheriff Shelby White said
he’s excited about having
the fourth SRO.
“It’s important and in my
opinion, it’s great,” he said
last week.
“It’s hard to put into
words on that one.”
At the time White spoke,
deputies were planning for
a live shooter drill for June
12 at Perquimans County
Middle School.
“In the drill, we’re actual
ly having a deputy respond
as we would have to do
right now, from Perquimans
Central.”
When the department
only had two SRO’s one -
covered the high school and
Hertford Grammar School |
and the other handled the
two schools on the other
side of the river, Central and
the middle school.
Having a dedicated SRO
for each school puts Per
quimans in a rather unique
club. Earlier this month the
Outer Banks Voice reported
that Dare County was one
of only four districts out of
115 in North Carolina with
See SHERIFF, 2
Hertford budget
addresses pay raises
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The proposed new
budget for the Town of
Hertford doesn’t require a
property tax increase but
it will require tapping, the
reserve fund for $131,000
to balance it.
The town board will
hold a public hearing at
town hall Monday at 5:30
p.m. to present the budget.
The budget includes a 5
percent cost of living raise
for every town employee
and an increase in salaries
for those in the police de
partment “mainly to be
competitive in wages with
other police, department
of our size and the recruit
ing process of employing
police officers,” according
to the town’s budget mes-
See HERTFORD, 6
6
39076 47144
2