Serving All
Of Person County
Since 1881
®f)e Couri£r=®imes
Published In Person County—The Gateway To The Piedmont Carolinas
OUR 87TH YEAR — No. 69
Roxboro N.C., Monday, September 29, 1969
Single Copy 10c
For Delivery
Dial 599-2177
1 Section 8 Pages
f
Personians May Get Stung Either Way
Tax Poses Dilemma
BY NEAL RATTICAN
Courier-Times Editor
Person County citizens ap
pear to be in one of those
“damned if they do, damned
if they don’t” situations with
regard to the local option one
per cent sales tax a.uestion.
At this point at least, the
Person taxpayer’s choice on
referendum day Nov. 4 seems
to be not one of whether he
will or will not get wounded,
but a choice as to the sever
ity of the wound—and that’s
probably worse than no choice
at all.
If the referendum is passed
here, Personians will begin
paying an additional one cent
sales tax on all those items
that now are subject to the state
wide three per cent sales levy.
If the referendum fails, county
citizens will continue with the
three per cent tax. That sounds
simple enough; but, no matter
which way Person votes, the
implications likely will be far
from simple indeed.
The local option sales tax
matter is one of the “iffiest”
animals to come down the pike
in some time. This being the
case Personians stand to be
rather hard-pressed when it
conies to making the “correct”
decision, providing there is a
correct decision. But before
examining the dilemna facing
voters, perhaps it would be
best to review the mechanics
pertaining to the local option
tax has prescribed by the 1969
General Assembly.
All 100 North Carolina coun
ties will vote on the question
Nov. 4. The counties that vote
yes will soon thereafter begin
paying four cents tax on the
dotioT' for most purchasses.
There will be no sales tax
change in the counties that vote
no.
The counties approving the
measure will be able to keep
one-half the income collected
from the ^eKal amount brought
in by the exirapennytax. These
same counties then will place
the other half of their respec
tive total collections from the
total amount brought in by the
tive total collections into a
pool. The pool money then w'ill
be redistributed back to the par
ticipating counties on the basis
New Library Is
Ready For Use
t
Person County’s new public
library on S. Main Street in
Roxboro is now ready for use,
dianivS to some back-straiuiug
effort by the Roxboro Jaycees,
Person County Girl Scouts and
Boy Scouts and their leaders.
The three organizations
joined forces here last Satur
day morning to move several
thousand volumes and other ma
terials from the old library on
Chub Lake Road to the new,
$270,000 facility.
Hyconeechee Regional Libra
rian Lloyd Osterman super
vised the move , which was
somewhat more involved than
one might think.
Books were removed from the
old library shelves in general
subject categories and placed
in the shelve locations that
had been specifically marked
for them ahead of time at the
new library. Jaycees were on
hand with a battery of pick-up
trucks which they loaded with
the cardboard boxes that had
been filled with books by the
librarians and scouts. Boy
Scouts took over upon arrival
of the books at S. Main Street,
carrying them inside to more
Girl Scouts who placed the books
on the proper shelves.
The whole operation lasted
some five and one-half hours--
from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. About
2,000 more books remained be
hind at the :>ld ubrary, but
these are not general circu
lation books, so they will be
moved later.
Otherwise, everything seems
to be go at the new library,
which was some two years in
the making.
The project takes in some
28,503 square feet, of which
11,000 square feet is building
area. It can seat 74 adults,
12 young adults and 30 children,
for a total seating capacity of
116. Book capacity is 50,000
volumes, which includes 33,500
adult volumes, 1,500 for young
adults and 15,000 for children.
The adults reading area takes
in some 5,135 square feet while
460 square feet and 1,7 50 square
feet are devoted to young adult
and children reading areas res
pectively. Remaining space is
devoted to staff and work space.
The library also contains
restroom facilities, a kitchen
ette (furnished through a $1,000
contribution from the Roxboro
Woman’s Club) and a special
meeting room. The Person
County Historical Society will
be the first to utilize the meet-
See LIBRARY Page 8
Girl Scouts, Jaycees & Boy Scouts Help
Person County Girl Scouts, Roxboro
Jaycees and Person Boy Scouts all
joined hands here Saturday morning in
the laborious task of moving books
from the old Person Public Library on
Chub Lake Road to the new library on
S. Main Street here. Girl Scouts (above
left) placed the books on the proper
shelves in the new facility as Jaycees
(above) shuttled the reading matter
from library to library and Boy Scouts
(right) wheeled and carried the deliv
eries to the appointed spots inside.
(Staff Photos by Rattican)
The View From Here
Person Farmers Gross
$19.4 Million In 1968
J.D. TALBERT and brother ED
parading around town in the
pick-up truck late last week
displaying a 125-pound (that’s
what they said) pumpkin that
J. D. had nutured from a mere
seed...Former schools super
intendent R. B. GRIFFIN kib
itzing as library books were
being moved last Saturday and
offering to buy, just for proof,
a photograph of Jaycee and
PSHS Band Director MIKE
CANNON working!... Football
Coach LARRY DDCON trying
desperately, but unsuccess
fully, to fight back a grin on
Friday night with 23 seconds
left on the stadium clock and
a victory over Northern’s
Knights assured...Auxiliarypo
lice officers helping out with
traffic and crowd control at the
ball game Friday night, looking
smart and neat in their uni
forms...High school band sou
nding great in the halftime per
formance...CLAUDE HARRIS,
of Service Dry Cleaners, who
has been pretty good about help
ing out a particular fellow down
on his luck, drawing the line
when the guy last week asked
him for 75 cents to get his
clothes “out of the Martini-
zing!”.
How did the average farmer in Per
son County make out in the past year?
How much progress has he made,
in terms of gross income, in the last
five years ?
Compared With the earnings of far
mers and ranchers in other parts of the
country, his returns have been relatively
good.
The figures for the period are from &
national survey released by the Stan
dard Rate and Data Service. It shows
that farm receipts in the local area
were $3,361,000 larger in 1968' than
they were five years earlier.
The increase was due in part, to bet
ter yields per acre. Farmers were able
to produce more than in former years,
despite the cutback in the amount of
land under cultivation, by pouring on
more fertilizer, by using more mechan
ical equipment and by improved tillage
practices.
At the same time, the demand for
farm products was on the rise and the
prices paid for them somewhat higher.
Even though the farmer received only
a fraction of this additional revenue—
most of it going to the middle man—
it was of some benefit.
In Person County, the figures show,
gross farm income in the past year
came to $19,488,000, as against the
$16,127,000 reported five years ago.
Those were the gross amounts, be
fore any deductions for operating ex
penses.
The increase in the period, 21 per
cent, compares favorably with that in
farm and ranch areas generally
throughout the country.
Locally, the major part of the in
come in the past year consisted of cash
receipts from the sale of farm pro
duce and livestock. Added to this were
government payments and the value
of the home-grown products that were
consumed on the farm.
Of the amount that was realized by
Person County farmers from their mar
ketings, approximately 87 per cent of
it came from the sale of crops and 13
per cent from livestock, dairy products
and poultry.
Although 1968 was a record year for
the American farmer from the stand
point of revenbe, with receipts of $51.1
billion, it was also ■ a record year for
expense's, $36;;3 billion.
of population, the smaller coun
ties receiving proportionately
more than the more heavily
populated counties participa
ting. (This makes it possible
for a county to get more mo
ney back from the pool than it
originally put in.) After the
county receives its pool rebate,
it will split the rebate with
the municipalities within its
boundaries on the basis of pro
perty valuation. For example,
the City of Roxboro would re
ceive about one-sixth of the pool
rebate, the county would take
five-sixths, since the city’s
property valuation is roughly
one-sixth of the total county
valuation.
The allure of the local option
sales tax is this:
(1) it means revenue for the
county;
(2) it means an additional
“source” of revenue;
(3) it is based on the coun
ty’s economy, the purchasing
power of the county’s citizens—
one pays the tax only when
one buys an item, and
(4) as such, it tends to ease
the pressure on county commi
ssioners to increase property
taxes so as to maintain and
expand services.
Traditionally, North Carolina
counties have been forced to
rely on property taxes for the
major portion of their opera
tional finances, although re
ceipts from ABS sales do help
augment the ad valorem coffers.
The state, on the other hand,
has a rather wide range of
revenus sources—income, li
censes, gasoline, sales, etc. and
beginning this coming Wed
nesday soft drinks and ciga
rettes. Thus, the counties are
pretty much limited in so far
as coming up with new sources
for income. Perhaps it is
only natural, then, that most
county governments should look
hopefully to the local option
sales tax prospect. But be
tween the county government
and this additional money
stands—the voting taxpayer.
Earlier it was mentioned that
the local option sales tax is
an “iffy” proposition. Some
of the ifs that Person voters
are considering are these;
IF the additional one-cent
tax is adopted, it won’t hurt
those people who are relatively
well off financially—many of
these would just as soon pay
a whole nickel extra rather than
be bothered with the pennies.
But, low income citizens and
the poor will feel the extra
bite into their pocketbooks. It
is not implausible to suggest
that some poor families here
would have to forego supplying
some of their a longer period
of time what with the addi-
Scholorships Total $650
tional money required to pur
chase various items. In gen
eral, the heaviest burden would
fall on the poor.
County merchants tend to eye
the extra tax askance. They
see it so mething like this:
“IF Person adopts the tax and
IF Durham, Wake, Orange and
other surrounding counties do
not, what will happen to our
business?” Good question. It
is entirely possible that in this
event, local business would suf
fer, at least somewhat. The
reason is elementary. As a
matter of course, people are
going to buy goods and ser
vices where they can get them
cheapest. If they feel the price
is too high in Roxboro, they
may drive to Durham in search
of a better buy. Sometimes
they’ll find it; sometimes they
won’t, but in either case, sel
dom do they consider the ex
pense of the trip to Durham.
If they can save 10 cents on the
asking price, they’ll save 10
cents; if they can save a pen
ny sales tax, they’ll save a
penny sales tax.
But this can work two ways.
IF Person votes the tax down
and IF surrounding counties
adopt it. Person merchants
stand to gain additional trade
from the other counties. For
local merchants, the best odds
appear to be on a no vote,
at least from one viewpoint.
There’s a hitch, however, IF
Person rejects the extra tax,
what will that mean as far as
property taxes are concerned?
Conversations with county
commissioners here seem to
indicate that that question is
simply acado^nic. As the com-
treading on thin ice to hole
the line on the $1.20 tax rate
for the present fiscal year. At
least one of the commissioners
has said, in effect, that should
the local option sales tax go
down in November, county pro
perty taxes will go up next
July.
Property taxes did go up
15 cents in the City of Rox
boro for this year, but even
so, some observers claim the
local budget is almost hope
lessly unrealistic, that it will
have to be overextended. An
nexation could help the city out
of its plight, but that pros
pect still is pretty much up
in the air. The city could use
the revenue from the one per
cent sales tax.
True, the county does have
hope that substantial industrial
expansion and projected expan
sion (CP&L’s addition) will
boost valuation to the point
that the tax rate can be re
duced. However, it will be
some three, maybe four, years
before all this goes on the
tax books, while additional re
venue, reportedly, is needed
See TAX Page 8
Miss Scott Seeks Title
The second annual Roxboro’s
Junior Miss Pageant is now but
two weeks away from this com
ing Saturday, and the sponsoring
Roxboro Jaycees have announc
ed that scholarships to be
awarded will total $650.
The scholarship figure is
$200 more than the $450 pre
sented when the Jaycees ini
tiated the pageant here two
years ago. The money will be
paid directly to the college or
school at which this year’s
Junior Miss plans to continue
her education.
The selection of Roxboro’s
Junior Miss for 1969 will take
place Saturday, Oct. 18, atNor-
thern Junior High School aud
itorium here. Advance pageant
tickets are still on sale and
may be purchased from any
Roxboro Jaycee at reduced pri
ces. Tickets at the door the
night of the pageant will be 50
cents higher.
Among the nine contestants
already introduced to Courier-
Times readers are Sharon Ann
Dickerson, Julie Edens, Rebec
ca O’Briant and Susan Rogers.
Another attractive young lady
who will seek this year’s title
is 17-year-old Vivian Scott,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.C.
Scott of Rt. 1, Semora.
Born in Danvilie, Va., black-
haired, brown-eyed Vivian is
five feet six and one-half inches
tall. She is a senior at Person
Senior High School, where her
favorite subject is public speak-
See MISS SCOTT Page 8
VIVIAN SCOTT