CUrn^KIALD, rCAfUK»
JletDg
of orange county
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1959 SECTION TWO, PAGE 1
The real question;
annexation obligation
Pending requests for annexation of three Chapel ■'Hill
public school neighborhoods into corporate Chapel Hill
bring up a serious question that hasn’t been faced yet.
Chapel Hill has for the past decade been proceeding
on an orderly long-range plan of mutually-agreed upon
annexations, carried out jointly with property owners and
municipal officials.
There are several more areas, mainly to the south
of toiun, that are likely in due time to be considered
within the scope of this present and past thinking.
In each of these cases—present and past—the areas to
be annexed are ones that could net the town as much as
tax revenue as they’d cost in additional outlay for regular
municipal services. But in the case of the school areas it’s
obvious that the neighborhods to be annexed would be the
greater gainers in at least two of the three sectors. The
Town will realize far less in taxes than it will have to port
out for a long time to come.
But rather than decide the merits of these annexa
tions purely on the basis of financial feasibility now
the Town of Chapel Hill should ask and answer this
question of itself: Does a municipality have any moral
responsibility to annex an adjoining area which
wouldn’t carry its own financial freight?
Tardy taxpayers
Taxpayers of Orange County ought to be stirred up
over the recent revelation that tax delinquencies are
growing in Orange County. The statement of the County
Accountant is that over n per cent—or $88,500—of the
I958 tax levy is un-collected.
Coincidentally, since one cent on the tax rate
yields about $8,ooo, we might figuratively suggest that
the current tax rate could be 11 cents less if this money
was collected as rightfully owed.
It could go to fill the need for $45,060 in school con
struction money needed in Chapel Hill or elsewhere in
the County. Instead the taxpayer may have to pay an even
higher rate in the future to offset interest charges on bonds.
It’s also reported that most of this delinquency exists
in Chapel Hill Township, where the greatest bulk of tax
able property lies in the Town of Chapel Hill.
But the Town of Chapel Hill has collected over
96 per cent of its taxes for the same year from the
same taxpayers. Thus the delinquency in County taxes
is twice as high as that for the town on the same prop
erty.
There’s something peculiar about this business. Coun
ty officials seem to realize it, too. We trust they won’t be
satisfied or let up in their increased drive for collections
until they find out the reason why and remedy this theft
of one group of taxpayers from another.
IJje JletaKS of ©range Count?
Published Every Thursday By
THE NEWS, INCORPORATED
Hillsboro and Chapel Hill, N. C.
Mail Address, Box 740, Chapel Hill
Telephone: 8-445, Chapel Hill; 4191 Hillsboro
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Hillsboro,
North Carabao, under the Act of March 3, 1379
EDWIN J. HAMLIN . Pt&ttsher
ROLAND 0HXJZ .... . Editor
LAWRENCE J. BROGAN .. Advertising Manager
. A university is established by act of Assembly in
Orange County .. . What can more loudly call for the prayers
of all good people that God’s blessing may reside on our
principal seat of learning — from which fountain are flow
those streams that must poison, or purify and nourish our
country.” —Henry Pattillo, 1795
ffinabmw Qfha* , N Churton st
Chapel Hill Office___;»11 K. Main St, Carrboro
United Nations Week'
October 17-24, 1959
I
. COl£> yvAR
ALWAYS
I OPEN FOR
TALKS
—Walt Partymiller, York Gazette * Daily
Newsman's Notepad ♦..
Schools funds
scarcely top
that for roads'
liquor, guns
A story in last week’s issue of
The News brought out that run
ning the County School System
was a $2 million dollar business
last year.
Chapel Hill Schools Superinten
dent Joe Johnston estimates that
the operation of the schools in
that district would add another
million, giving a $3 million total
for the County as a whole.
Of course you can Juggle the
figures to show many things. We
don’t have any axe to grind with
the school expenditures.
But as big es they are, they
don’t amount to much mere
than the outlay for some things
ant.
For instance—a $2.3 million low
bid was submitted last week Just
for the paving of the second lane
of U. S. Highway 70 from Efland
to the bypass around Durham.
Almost all of these 12-plus miles
lie in Orange. You could easily
double this figure to get the total
cost of this one project alone.
(Of course it’s financed 90 per
cent by the federal highway pro
gram.)
—But that's $5 million in a
little over a year far improving
highway In the County,
to $3 million for
icluoli.
The County’s ABC liquor sales
for the current fiscal year may
hit $1 million — a third of the
complete budget for schools.. (And
if the. ABC take isn’t this much
the schools’ spending will have to
be affected next year!)
Still it sounds better to admit
that school expenditures take up
34 per cent of the County budget,
when military expenditures soak
up 63 per cent of the federal
spending in the same period.
If liquor, road saving, and
(See NOTEPAD, Page 2)
LETTERS WELCOME
This
its
Nona unsigned will
ha considered but a pan name,
if roquocted, will ho used hi
print. Letters should ho short,
on one side of the
written. The right is reserved
to reiect all letters not consid
ered suitable for publication.
Letters should bo addressed to
omUBuuw tdauaa F|>k|u|
m WWIwt| I nV lvEw% vPfBB^PWu
HIIL
The Town of Chape! Hill; with the help of the Uni
versity recently spent over $40,000 on a new 10O - foot
aerial ladder fire truck.
One of the consequences of this purchase will be
greater safety for the property and lives of persons in the
municipality.
Another one will be a saving of money that could |
in many individual cases offset the taxpayer's incfeas
ed pro-rata annual cost for this expensive piece of fire* !
fighting equipment.
This spending can result in a savng only through an
“if.” The “if” will be eliminated when the Town, moves
from a Class Seven fire insurance rating which it noWhMk:
down to Class Six rating. This will lower the fire iiwgt*'
ance premiums within the municipality.
Purchase of the aerial ladder fire truck wot one ].
of the last two requirements to comply with the Class £
Six rating. The other requirement is tfie adoption of
a municipal fire prevention code.
There are standard patterns for this code on record,
and adopted by cities and towns across the country.
The public has made a big financial investment in
the new fire truck. It can realize a dividend on this in
vestment by a saving in fire insurance premiums.
So delay in adopting the fire prevention code is
nothing more,than a delay in declaring a public dhri- \
dend on this municipal investment. j
Simple ABC logic
The County ABC Board has in good time decided to
cany out its required mission of enforcing liquor control
laws by hiring two officers for this purpose several months
hence.
The Board is required to spend up to five per <jent
and a* mud}, as 10 per cent of its profits for this purpose.
If the men hired for these jobs are effective in their posts
they’ll Inore than pay their salaries in additional revalue
that they’ll force away from bootleggers and into ABC cof
fers. " ' ’
Speaking in medical termi this It a kind of cura
tive action. It’s remedying a bad situation, and quite '
properly so.
At the same time Ae ABC commissioners will do well
to consider the preventive medicine recommended recent
ly by one of their number, D. D. Carroll of Chaipel Hill:
State law permits them to spend another five per
cent of their profits for alcoholism rehabilitation, andt
more importantly, alcoholism education.
It will make good sense for the Board to proceed along
this collectively preventive front at Ae same time as Aey
seek to cure Ae problems of liquor law violations.
Orange blossoms..,
-To the Hillsboro Wildcats football team, gridiron
champions of Orange County, in walloping Chapel Hill.
—To Mrs. Marvin Allen's Policy Committee of the
Chapel Hill School Board for a very thorough job of fact
and opinion finding in making the recommendations which
the Board adopted last week regarding commencement bac
calaureates. >'i
—And to Col. Holland Robb and his co-workers in
their efforts to make the public conscious and appreciative
of the United Nations in the forthcoming week set aside
for observance of the UN anniversary.