INSIDE
Volume 62/ Number 19
Southport, N.C.
December 30,1992 / 50 cents
Zoning, solid waste, jobs
Important issues face Brunswick in '93
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
Although Brunswick County com
missioners are predicting that the next
two years will be rocky and discor
dant ones for board members, all seem
to agree on the most weighty issues
currently facing the county — zoning,
solid waste disposal and job growth.
The former board passed a
countywide zoning ordinance last
month, but new commissioners chair
man Don Warren said he is certain
that zoning will be discussed repeat
edly by the new board.
He said the definition of "farm"
was not adequately explained by the
previous board, and that many county
residents do not understand that a
state statute exempts all farms from
zoning requirements.
"We didn't do a good job clarifying
to the public the farm exemption,"
Warren said. "That will be clarified at
our next meeting."
‘This county has a lot of things going
against it in terms of siting a landfill. So
much land is either wetlands or swamps.
About one-third of the county is chopped
out at the start.’
Robert Tucker
County engineer
Commissioner Donald Shaw said
zoning will be the "hot topic" for the
next two years.
"I don't know if (the new commis
sioners) are happy with it or not," said
Shaw, who is serving the second half
of a four-year term. "But I'll continue
to support keeping it intact."
1
Newly elected commissioner
Wayland Vereen has several times
said that he belie ves the county should
repeal the entire ordinance and start
over, but commissioners Tom Rabon,
Sr., and Warren both agree the ordi
nance simply needs to be reviewed.
Commissioner Jerry Jones, who
Property listing
changes this year
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
About 18,000 personal property tax listing forms will be mailed from
the Brunswick County tax office Thursday, and property owners will
have until January 31 to list their mobile homes, boats, motors, farm
equipment, airplanes, mopeds and untagged motor vehicles.
Tax deadline
next Tuesday
The Brunswick County tax
office will be accepting per
sonal and real estate property
taxes through Tuesday, Janu
ary 5, at 5 p.m., tax collector
Nancy Moore announced this
week.
Ihnperty owners who are
paying by mail must have their
payments postmarked on or
before January 5.
After January 5. Moore said,
a two-percent penalty will be
added to all late payments,
and a three-fourths of one
percent penalty will be added
for each additional month the
tax remains unpaid.
Second notices for unpaid
taxes will be mailed during
the last week of January, and
the tax office will have the
i authority to garnish the wages
and attach the bank accounts
I of delinquent taxpayers.
Many addresses throughout
the county have been changed
with the initiation of the 911
system, Moore said, and it is
important for property own
ers to send the address correc
tion form enclosed with their
tax bill in order to receive
proper credit.
Moore estimated that 89
percent of the county's prop
erty owners will pay their
taxes on time, and by year's
end about 95 percent of the
current year’s taxes will be
: collected.Lastyearthecounty
took in about $27.3 million In
personal and real estate prop*
erty taxes.
Since registered motor ve
hicles will now be taxed sepa
rately, those who have previ
ously listed only a registered
motor vehicle will not re
ceive a form this year, and
should notify the tax office if
they have acquired other tax
able personal property, said
tax supervisor Boyd
Williamson.
The penalty for late listing
will be ten percent of the
total taxes due.
Personal property will be
taxed at a rate of 68 cents for
every $ 100 of assessed prop
erty value, which is down
from this year’s rate of 68.5
cents per $100 of value.
Tax bills for real estate
property will be mailed in
August and will be payable
through January 5,1994.
While mailing out thou
sands of tax bills may sound
like a daunting task,
Williamson said it is a small
part of the entire process.
"Ninety percent of the
problem is enforcement," he
said. "We will be enforcing
the listing of mobile homes
through building permits,
boats through the Depart
ment of Natural Resources
and rental propeity through
information relative to the
room occupancy tax."
County residents over age
65 and residents who are per
manently or totally disabled
may qualify for tax relief on
their real estate or mobile
homes if they earn less than
$11,000 annually. Those
who belie ve they may qualify
should apply for relief by
April 15.
The first $12,000 will be
subtracted from the total
property value listed for
qualified persons, which
amounts to a savings of
See Listing, page 6
also serves on the county planning
board, indicated a willingness to lis
ten to "legitimate complaints" about
the zoning ordinance, and said he
would not object to making changes
in it for "legitimate reasons."
While zoning has been the most
publicized issue facing the county,
commissioners Vereen, Rabon and
Jones agreed that a more pressing
concern is solid waste disposal. The
state will require the county to have
another landfill in operation by 1998,
and the county engineering depart
ment has already begun to look for
possible locations — not an easy task
in coastal regions like Brunswick
County.
"This county has a lot of things
going against it in terms of siting a
landfill," said county engineer Robert
Tucker. "So much land is either wet
lands or swamps. About one-third of
the county is chopped out at the start."
Landfillsarealsoexpensive. Tucker
See Issues, page 6
N.C. Attorney General
Easley swearing-in
ceremony is Friday
EASLEY
Mike Easley will be sworn in as
state attorney general at 11 a.m. Fri
day in the board of aldermen’s cham
ber at Southport City Hall.
Easley, who resigned from his dis
trict attorney's post two years ago to
run for the U. S. Senate, was elected to
the top state law enforcement post in
November and normally would have
taken his oath of office in Raleigh, but
instead chose the venue of the board
chamber where — when it was the
county courtroom - he prosecuted
his first case.
The oath will be administered by
SuperiorCourt judge William Gore.a
law school associate of Easley who
also served alongside him as assistant
district attorney.
Friends have been urged to attend
the ceremony by general invitation.
Harrelson is honored
by U.S. 17 dedication
Transportation Secretary Tommy Harrelson will be honored January 6 when
the segment of U. S. 17 from Winnabow to the South Carolina line will be
dedicated in his name.
Gov. James G. Martin will participate in the 9:30 a.m. ceremony at Town
Creek Township District Park at Winnabow. In case of rain the dedication will
be held at Brunswick Community College.
Harrelson, a Southport native, is an appointee of Martin. He was named
deputy secretary in 1987 and secretary of transportation in 1989.
Forecast
The extended forecast
Thursday through Satur
day calls for mostly
cloudy sides with
showers likely. Highs
generally will be in the
50s and 60s, with lows in
the 40s.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31
12:17 a.m. 6:30 a.m.
12:33 pm. 6:57 pm.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 1
1:12 a.m. 7:29 a.m.
1:29 p.m. 7:53 p.m.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 2
2:07 am. 8:29 am.
2:25 p.m. ’ 8:49 p.m.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 3
3:06 a.m. 9:32 a.m.
3:22 p.m. 9:43 pm.
MONDAY, JANUARY 4
4:02 a.m. 10:30 am.
4:21p.m. 11:39 p.m.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5
4:57 a.m. 11:25 a.m.
5:17 p.m. 11:30pm.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6
5:50 a.m. 12:16 a.m.
6:11p.m. —pm.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, Ugh -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +15, Yaupon Beach, high -32, low -45;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.
Sitting on a dolphin, watching his ship steam away, this Coast Guard
line-handler is hopeful that a small boat is on its way back for him
after he helped cast off during a recent visit to the Southport city pier.
Hospital audit
says operation
is in the black
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
"Life is a relative animal, but the
folks in Smithville Township don't
know how lucky they are to have a
first-rate facility like Dosher hospi
tal," hospital administrator Edgar
Haywood, III, declared Monday night
after reviewing the facility's financial
audit.
The audit, prepared by Brock,
Padgett and Chandler, showed the
hospital had a $93,000 income from
operations last year and a fund bal
ance of over $9 million.
However, assistant hospital admin
istrator Jim Shoemaker stressed that
the fund balance does not reflect the
amount of money the hospital has to
spend, but the total net assets of the
facility, which includes over $7 mil
lion in property, plant and equipment.
The audit also showed the hospital
had a working capital ratio, or assets
to liabilities ratio, of 3.7 to 1. A busi
ness is considered to be in excellent
financial shape if it has a working
capital ratio of 2 to 1, said Wayne
Berry, a certified public accountant
See Audit, page 6
’Pilot’closed
The State PanPUotvttil he I
closed this week on New •
Year’s Day only.
The office will reopen for<i
business Monday at 8:30a.m.
observed: Real estate, nodall
^Monday; classifieds, 3 p.m. |
noon Tuesday.
The staff ofthcPtfor wishes