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SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
106 W WATER ST
EDENTONNC 27932-1854
482-4418
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
50*
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Steamers try to continue
success this year— 6A
Town-county partnership faces Walmart question
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Edenton-Chowan
Partnership Board could de
cide as early as its meeting
next week whether it will
actively recruit a Walmart
store.
A Walmart spokesman
earlier this year confirmed
that the company was con
sidering Edenton as a future
store location. Things have
been mostly quiet on that
Officials
slash
budget
spending
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
last week identified nearly
half a million dollars in
spending cuts in an effort to
stave off an increase in the
property tax rate.
T^e board is expected to
discuss the 2014-2015 coun
ty budget further at its June
2 meeting.
The board at the bud
get workshop identified
$489,250 in spending cuts
from the 2014-2015 county
budget that was recom
mended by Coimty Manager
Kevin Howard.
All budget decisions to
this point are tentative. The
budget is not official until
the board has held a public
hearing on the budget and
has voted to adopt it
The board under state
law must adopt a balanced
budget by June 30 for the
new fiscal year that begins
July 1.
Howard presented to the
county commissioners last
week a 2014-2015 recom
mended county budget that
would raise the property tax
rate by five cents. The new
rate still would mean lower
taxes for many taxpayers
because of sharply reduced
tax values on their property.
The overall reduction
in assessed value of prop-,
erty in the 2014 revaluation
means the current tax rate
of 68.5 cents per $100 valu
ation would generate more
than $1 million less on the
new values than it did in the
current fiscal year.
To close that gap' How
ard has recommended an
increase in the property
tax rate to 73.5 cents per
$100 valuation, along with a
nearly $40,000 reduction in
General Fund spending and
an infusion of more than
$450,000 into the 2014-2015
budget from the fund bal
ance in the General Fund.
The Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education has
requested $188,000 in ad
ditional local funding for
operating expenses in the
coming year’s budget — a
6.5 percent increase that
school officials have termed
a “modest request” — but
See BUDGET, 4A
6
0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
Ail Rights Reserved
1?
'if
front since then.
In the meantime, the
question of how local eco
nomic development officials
should approach the retail
giant has arisen during dis
cussions of the partnership
board, according to reports
from some board members.
Frank Miglorie, executive
director of the Edenton
Chowan Partnership, said
the board has been open to
further exploration of the is
sue.
REMEMBERING THE FALLEN
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
■V
Those attending Monday morning’s annual Memorial D'ay ceremony place their hands over their hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance. The
ceremony, sponsored by American Legion Post 40, took place at the Chowan County Veterans Memorial. See story and more photos from
the event on Page IB. f
Budget proposal raises tax rate
■ Plan funds additional police
officers, closes revenue gaps
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town manager’s recommend
ed budget for next year includes a
10-cent increase in the ad valorem
tax rate — with roughly half the in
crease serving to reach the “revenue
neutral” point in the wake of sharply
reduced valuations of real property.
That will raise Edenton’s property
tax rate from the current 29 cents per
$100 valuation to 39. cents per $100.
According to Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton, the revenue-neutral
tax rate for the town is 33.29 cents.
So the proposed increase in the
tax rate is, 5.71 cents more than the
revenue-neutral rate.
“Revenue-neutral” is a term used
to describe the tax rate that is re
quired to generate the same amount
of property tax revenue as in the cur
rent fiscal year — no more revenue,
and no less.
In a typical revaluation year, the
total value of real property in a town
or county increases over the previ
ous figure. That means that the local
Local teen injured in Sunday shooting
From staff reports
A local teenager was
shot in town Sunday night
and local police are work
ing to get to the bottom of
the case.
Iyanna Roulac, 16, of
Edenton, suffered a single
gunshot wound to the ab
domen from a small-cali
ber firearm shortly before
10:30 p.m. and was trans
b
MUSIC AND WATER FESTIVAL
' There’s some support on
the board for Walmart but
also some concern about
the effect a big box store
could have on the down
town business district
But Miglorie said the one
thing all the board members
have in common is a con
cern for the economic well
being of the community.
“Not one single person on
that board wants to do one
thing to harm this county or
this town,” Miglorie said.
1 . .
FIVE SERVICE AREAS:
■ Two additional police officers - $90,780;
■ Expiration of State Transitional Sales Tax Reimbursement - $55,000;
■ Reduction in funding and lack of growth in Powell Bill Revenue (funds used to maintain
streets, sidewalks and storm water systems) - $45,600;
■ Reductions in Revenue from COPS Grant and Electric Fund Transfer - $30,000;
■ Increases in operations; nsurance maintenance, utilities, personnel costs - $38,600.
government is able
to reduce the tax
rate and still bring
in the same amount
of property tax rev
enue.
But Chowan
County — like Pas
quotank and other
counties with a re
valuation this year — actually saw
its total or “aggregate” property val
ues decrease since the previous re
valuation.
Hie county’s property valuations
for properties located within the
town are also used by town officials,
so Edenton also is facing a sharp
decline in property valuation for tax
purposes.
For that reason, the revenue-neu
ported to Vidant Chowan
Medical Center in Eden
ton, according to the Eden
ton Police Department
The shooting occurred
at the intersection of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.
and TVviddy Ave, according
to police.
Roulac was airlifted to
Vidant Medical Center in
Greenville and was report
ed in stable condition, ac
Miglorie has been gather
ing data for a report he will
present to the board at its
next meeting.
“The decision will re
ally be up to them,” Miglorie
said.
Chowan County Commis
sioner Emmett Winbome
has made it clear in recent
weeks that he believes the
partnership should aggres
sively pursue a Walmart
store for the county.
Commissioner Jeff Smith,
cording to police
Responding officers en
countered a large crowd
at the scene. Investigators
are seeking assistance and
information from the wit
nesses to this crime.
Anyone with informa
tion about this case is urged
to call Sgt Laura Wilkins
of the Edenton Police De
partment at 482-9884 or
482-5144. Information will
who serves on the Edenton
Chowan Partnership Board,
during discussion last week
at a county budget work
shop said that he had talk*
ed to Miglorie about the
Walmart study and that Mi
glorie had told him it would
be discussed again at the
board’s next meeting.
Winbome then asked
Smith if there was any rea
son why the Partnership
Board was slow to commit
tb recruiting Walmart
tral tax rate for the 2014-2015 fiscal
year is actually higher than the cur
rent tax rate — rather than lower, as
is typical.
Knighton said the decision to rec
ommend a tax increase — the first
the town has implemented in 8 years
— was not an easy one.
“This recommendation to raise
taxes is put forth after much serious
thought and consideration,” she said.
“Managers must weigh the needs
of the community — what levels of
services are needed and balance the
needs with the increase (in) costs
and the impacts these additional
costs will have on taxpayers.”
Knighton said that since fiscal
year 2006-2007 the town had been
See TAKE HIKE, 3A
be kept confidential.
Police Chief Jay Forten
beiy said Monday after
noon he was not sure
what might have led to the
shooting.
Fortenbery said there
had been several large
groups of juveniles in town
Sunday night, but there had
not been any problems out
of any of the groups prior
to the shooting.
Smith said some mem
bers of the board had said
they didn’t believe Chowan
County needed a big box
store.
Then maybe the Partner
ship doesn’t need $40,000
from the county — not if
it’s going to pick and choose
which businesses it will try
to recruit, Winbome said.
Winbome said during
the commissioners’ May 5
See WALMART, 4A
Hopeline
funding
to come
from DSS
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
appears to have found a
way to provide $2,000 for
Albemarle Hopeline with
out creating a “snowball” of
so-called special appropria
tions for nonprofits.
At its budget workshop
last week, the board asked
Chowan Social Services Di
rector Clifton Hardison to
find $2,000 for Albemarle
Hopeline within a line item
in die Department of Social
Services budget
There has been a great
deal of discussion about
funding for Hopeline since
the commissioners received
a request from the domestic
violence agency earlier this
year for a $2,000 contribu
tion in the upcoming county
budget
Much of the discussion
has focused on some com
missioners’ reluctance to
return to a previously dis
carded practice of funding
nonprofits through “special
appropriations” in the bud
get
Commissioner Emmett
Winbome said Albemarle
Hopeline was a nonprofit
and could function without
See FUNDING, 3A
m
Scotch Hall
PRESERVE