Tacks in the Road
(Continued from page 4)
restoring the tax. Some argued that a one-cent temporary reduction wouldn’t
materially affect our preparedness to deal with storm damage to the beach in the
immediate future, as our beach reserve fund is in excess of $4 million. Money
cannot be diverted from the beach reserve fund to the general fund to help
balance the budget because of the disproportionate contributions of the beach-
and non-beach-front property owners.
Use of reserves. There was a general discussion about the adequacy of our
reserves, currently about 37% of our current year’s budget, below our financial
target of 50%, and how much is enough. Some commissioners felt our reserves
were more than adequate and that it made sense to use reserves to offset some
of the proposed tax increase. This, in effect, would allow the taxpayers to hold
their money in reserve rather than having the town hold it for them. The use
of reserves issue is tied to the expected purchase of a new fire truck using
FEMA money that has not yet been obligated to us for that purpose. There is an
expectation that an increase in the price of the new truck will require us to use
some reserves to make up the difference between what we get from FEMA and
the cost of the truck. After some discussion, the commissioners seemed to agree
that we had other options available to us to cover a possible increase in price and
that it made sense to use some reserves now to lower the tax hike.
Mortgaging our future. This gave rise to a general discussion about the
likely need for an eventual tax increase and the wisdom (or lack thereof) of
minimizing this year’s increase at the expense of greater rises in the coming
years. If we use all the offsets available to us now, what will we do next year? All
the commissioners were striving for a balance between minimizing this year’s
tax hike and the risk of mortgaging our future in a way that damages our fiscal
flexibility.
At the end of the meeting, there was general agreement that we would use
ARP funds ($200K) and $100K from reserves to bring the proposed tax rate
increase down to about three cents from an initial rise of six cents with no
offsets. Please be aware that there may be some further adjustment to these
figures and that the budget isn’t final until the BOC votes its approval. This rate
increase, coupled with the water rate increase, yields an additional payment of
$206 per year for a property with an assessed value of $400K usiiig less than
5,000 gallons of water per rnonth. This was sufficient to allow the town manager
to proceed with drafting a budget message for review by the BOC at their
May 25 meeting. At the same time, the BOC will call for a public hearing on the
proposed budget during the upcoming BOC meeting on June 8, 2022. The BOC
then has until June 30,2022, to vote to approve the budget.
Revaluation and revenue neutral. As a final note, there seems to be a lot of
misinformation floating around about our next revaluation of property values
for ad valorem tax assessments. The new values will not go into effect until
January 2024. The town manager is under no obligation to produce a budget
based on a revenue neutral tax rate, which is the tax rate that would have to
be applied to the new values to produce revenue equal to that of the previous
fiscal year. The manager is obligated to publish and inform our public of what a
revenue neutral tax rate would be, but doesn’t have to actually use it in budget
preparations.
Please contact me by cell at 252-622-2338 or at mayor@townofpks.com if you
have questions.
What’s Up With PARC?
By Jean McDanal
We are planning on the return of the Fourth of July parade; however, it will be
on Saturday, July 2, starting at Garner Park at 9 a.m. Lemonade and cookies will
be served. Be sure to get decked out in your red, white and blue and bring your
friends and neighbors to celebrate the USA.
The 14th Annual Post-Fourth of July Beach Cleanup, conducted in conjunc
tion with our Pine Knoll Shores Police Department and the NC Aquarium at
Pine Knoll Shores, will take place on Tuesday, July 5. Here are the particulars:
• Where and When: Meet at the Iron Steamer beach access parking lot on
Tuesday, July 5, at 8 a.m. for sign in.
« What to bring: Work gloves, comfortable shoes, sunscreen and appropriate
protective clothing. Plastic garbage bags and ice water will be provided.
• Who should come: Residents and visitors, young and old, can participate.
Do what you can without overdoing.
• Program: Working at their own pace, participants will pick a section of
beach (for example a half-mile segment between public accesses) and
pick up any trash they find. When the trash bag is full or too heavy to
comfortably carry, place the bag on the dry sand on the beach close to the
sand fence/vegetation line. Large items (lawn chairs, umbrellas, awning
frame’s, coolers, lumber, etc.) should also be placed near the fence line
in plain sight. Town staff will cruise the beach on an ATV later in the
morning and pick up the trash collected by participants. Special mention
will be awarded to those who find the strangest items ... and strange items
there are in abundance.
If you have questions, please contact Linda Pearson at rpear9356@yahoo.com.
Your Parks and Recreation Committee welcomes any suggestions for activities
that will get people out, moving and involved. If you have suggestions for PARC,
we want to hear from you. Please email PARCPR@ec.rr.com or come to one of
our meetings on the first Tuesday of the month. The next meeting is June 7 at
town hall.
Pouf Decisions
(Continued from, page 12)
The uniqueness imparted by the terroir of the climats is the basis for the
region’s intimidating AOC hierarchy. Burgundy’s wines, made from only two
grapes, account for only six percent of all the wine produced in Prance. However,
Burgundy’s 84 AOCs make up 23 percent of the country’s 363 AOCs. Here, vive
la difference is taken to the nth degree.
Brett Chappell is a French Wine Scholar, Certified Sommelier and Wine
Educator. He and his wife, Jen, a Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level Two, own
ME Chappell Wine Merchant in Atlantic Beach. Their website is MEChappellWine.
com, and the phone number is 252-773-4016.
18 The Shoreline I June 2022