Page 2 The Shoreline March 2005
Life at Town Hall — Tax Time and Tax Issues
Editorial Board
Managing Editor
Bill White 240-1599
Feature Editor
Sue Christman 240-2556
Production Editors
Diane Donovan 247-6409
Carolyn Rife 727-5034
Editors at Large
Dick Reeves 247-2947
Bob Ruggiero 247-7208
Circulation Manager
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Contributing Reporters
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Marge Green 726-9966
Beth LaBrie 240-2966
Barbara Milhaven 240-0678
Sigrid Schneider 247-9495
E-mail: shoreline@townofpks.com
Published by
IShopper
3200 Wellons Blvd., New Bern,
633-1153
It’s getting close to tax time and although
some of you have finished filing and may
have already received your tax refund (if you
get one,) others of us are still pulling numbers
together and frantically looking for this record
or that record, calculating contributions and
so forth. Anxiety prevails, it seems, at this
time of year.
You may have heard on TV or read in the
newspaper that the Town of Pine Knoll Shores
recently supported the Carteret County
Commissioners in their move to reschedule
property revaluation from every eight years
to every four years. It is required that counties
revalue property at least every eight years
and no more frequently than every four. The
prior board of county commissioners had
changed the schedule two years ago from
four to eight. The current board ordered a
revaluation to take place in January, 2007
(the earliest practical date) which makes this
cycle one of six years. Thereafter, the
revaluation will take place every four
One challenge in bringing back The
Shoreline has been to develop a distribution
system that would be cost-effective and produce
thorough circulation coverage beneficial to the
town and its citizens and to the advertisers
whose participation makes the publication
possible.
For the first few months the publisher and
the town have shared responsibility for
distribution; the publisher handling door-to-
door delivery in Pine Knoll Shores itself while
the town mailed copies to property owners who
receive their tax bills at out-of-town addresses.
To help defray the cost of mailing, the town
receives a percentage of advertising revenue
developed by the publisher.
It was quickly apparent that door-to-door
delivery had its drawbacks, with uncollected
copies on driveways and lawns causing concern
By Joan Lamson, Mayor
years.. .until the board changes it again. The
towns were asked to support the county
commissioners in regard to this issue by the
Mayor’s Association. In times of rapid
increases in market values of property, some
feel that a four-year revaluation cycle eases
the sticker shock brought about every eight
years. The four-year revaluation cycle also
“levels the playing field,” allowing for a
more fair and equal distribution of taxes on
all communities.
Because of the timing of meetings, we
asked for a voice vote from our commissioners
for a letter of support to the county. The voice
vote was affirmative four to one. Voice votes
are rarely used but are very helpful in
emergencies or in situations where timing
does not allow for the issue to wait until the
next regular meeting and where it would not
seem to be of such magnitude to require a
special meeting. Voice votes are also not
binding until ratified by the board of
commissioners at a regular or specially called
for a number of reasons. To alleviate the
situation, distribution resources have been
realigned so that all copies of The Shoreline are
now being mailed, both in-town and out.
To accomplish this, the publisher has agreed
to double the percentage of advertising revenue
accruing to the town to help defray the increased
cost of mailing. In turn, the town will oversee
the mailings and distribution to a few locations
in PKS where the public may pick up copies,
thereby relieving the publisher of distribution
responsibilities.
The new distribution system went into effect
last month. Any property owner who is not
receiving a copy of The Shoreline, or is receiving
it at the wrong address or at multiple addresses,
is urged to bring the situation to our attention by
writing to The Shoreline at 100 Municipal Circle,
Pine Knoll Shores, N.C. 28512
Farmers Market
Sets Springfest
The New Bern Farmers Market will usher
in the new season with a Springfest 2005
celebration from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday,
Mar. 19. More than 40 venders will be on hand,
offering local produce, food stuffs, arts and crafts,
handsewn items, woodwork, jewelry, pottery,
tractor and yard equipment, and lots more.
The festivities will also be spiced by a
demonstration of buttermaking, a petting zoo,
pony rides and clowns for the children, and a
barbecue plate lunch. Anyone wishing to
participate may contact Ted Mays at 249-2431.
meeting. Well, as you might have guessed by
now, when it came time to ratify the voice
vote some of our commissioners changed
their minds. The motion was made to ratify,
the second was made, discussion held, and
sure enough, it was voted down. What this
means is that the Town of Pine Knoll Shores
did not support the position of the majority of
the county commissioners to reschedule the
revaluation cycle.
It is important to note that the valuation
of property and the taxes you pay, although
related, are two separate things. The link
between the two is the tax rate. The board of
commissioners sets the tax rate every year as
part of the budgeting process and will do so
late this spring as we prepare the budget for
approval in June. The question is does it take
more money or less money to provide services
to the citizens of the town this year versus last
year? What do you think? Are you getting the
services you need and want? Let us know
what you think.
Police
Report
By Chief Joey Culpepper
The Pine Knoll Shores Police
Department responded to 108 calls for
service during January. These included one
accident, six Fire/EMS assists, five motorist
assists, four town ordinance violations and
18 well-being checks. Residence checks
found four open doors.
Also reported were 20 citations
involving charges for driving while
impaired, speeding, seatbelt, drug, and
alcohol violations.
One instance of breaking and entering
was reported.
Seek
Volunteers For
CERT Team
The town will be starting a Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT) in the
near future. Police Chief Joey Culpepper is
interested in finding residents who are willing
to serve. He is seeking 15 volunteers to launch
the program. Anyone interested should contact
the chief at 247-2474. There will be certain
limitations which Chief Culpepper will outline
for applicants.
Fire & EMS
Report
By Acting Emergency Services
Director Bruce Flynt
The department responded to nine calls
this month. Four required emergency medical
response.
Training for the month of January was
on Rehab For Fire Scene Operations, taught
by Paramedic Randy Shaffer, it included
monitoring blood pressures and pulses. We
are starting training classes on Pump
Operations and Emergency Driver Training,
and Mutual Aid Training with Atlantic Beach.
We welcome two volunteers: Clyde
(Buddy) Tweed, a Firefighter II and EMT
who was with Reynolds Fire near Asheville,
NC, and Eamon Kromka, who lives in Pine
Knoll Shores and has joined as a trainee.
In Memoriam
February, 2005
Roberta Coker
William MacDonough
Editors' Note
(