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The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
VOLUME LXXIV NUMBER 7 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA $8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1982
To The County Commissioners
72? Tax Rate, Higher Budget Recommended
Around
Town
BY SAM C.MORRIS
How the weather has been in
Hoke County for the past week I
do not know. Of course the
weatherman will bring me up to
date as soon as I can get in touch
with him. 1 did hear on the ship
radio that a tropical storm or hur
ricane was going to hit Florida, but
since that time I have come
through Miami and everything
looked normal.
* + *
Last week I stated that Mary
Alice and I along with Harvey and
Pearl Warlick were touring
Florida. We toured the old city of
St. Augustine last Saturday morn
ing and drank from the "Fountain
of Youth" and then proceeded
that afternoon to Cape Canaveral
and the Kennedy Space Center.
We took the guided tour and
also saw the spaceship Columbia
on the launch pad. 1 was amazed at
the number of people that toured
the Center each day. The guide
said as high as 15,000 come some
days. The tour lasted from two to
three hours. It was worth the time.
We proceeded to West Palm
Beach to spend Saturday night. A
Bon Voyage party was given for
the group at the Breakers Hotel in
Palm Beach that night. This hotel
was built for the millionaires of the
horse and buggy days. About
everything in it was brought over
from Europe by the builder. In
other words we saw how the rich
lived and are still living.
Sunday morning it was on to
Miami and we boarded a ship for a
cruise in the Caribbean. The ship
sailed at five o'clock and we ar
rived in Nassau on Monday. Most
of the businesses were closed
because of Memorial Day. We did
take a tour of the Island and then
went to the straw market to
bargain with the natives. I believe
they wouldn't sell you anything if
you didn't argue with them about
the price. The sellers were from
five years of age to 80.
We were at sea all day Tuesday
fe and arrived at San Juan, PR. at 1 1
o'clock Wednesday morning. A
tour of the city was put on our
agenda. This is a larger place than
I expected. The population is one
million or more.
After the tour we shopped in old
San Juan for the remainder of the
day. The city is in two sections, the
old and new. Many things have
been restored in old San Juan and
the Spanish look is there. The new
I section is high risers and con
" dominiums. The overall ap
pearance of the place was
somewhat on the dirty side. Not
like a lot of other islands in the
Caribbean,
Thursday morning the ship
docked at St. Thomas in the U.S.
Virgin Islands. The tour of this
place, with the views of the harbor
and beaches, was worth the cost of
k the entire trip.
* I have during my career in the
Army and at other times been to
many islands, but this is the most
beautiful place I have ever seen.
The light and dark blue water of
the sea and the cleaniness of the
place is a wonder to behold. I wish
we could have stayed at St.
Thomas for the entire voyage.
Of course the duty free linens
and liquors kept everyone shop
^ ping and hoping they wouldn't
f miss the ship.
We were at sea Friday and on
Saturday landed at an uninhabited
island called Little San Salavador
for the day. The crew sat up um
brellas and cooked hamburgers
and hot dogs for lunch. It so hap
pened they opened a bar on the
island too.
On docking in Miami Sunday
morning we had to await the ar
k rival of the Immigration and
Custom people before we could
leave the ship. This took approx
imately two hours.
Our bus arrived soon after we
cleared customs and we proceeded
to Orlando and Disney World.
Disney World is an amazing plate
but not for a 64 year old man at
five o'clock in the afternoon and
with the temperature around 95
degrees. My advice is to take your
) (See AROUND TOWN, page 1 6)
Expected To Be Ready In Mid-November
Shopping Center Work Starts
Construction of the Raeford
Hoke Village shopping center on
the west side of U.S. 401 south
bypass at Cole Avenue Extension in
Raeford is under way.
An earth-moving machine initi
ated the work the afternoon of June
2.
The buildings are expected to be
ready for occupancy by stores
sometime in mid-November.
The start of construction was
confirmed Tuesday morning by Pat
Devaney, construction coordinator
in the Development Department of
Edens & McTeer, Inc., of Colum
bia, S.C., the developer, in a
long-distance telephone conversa
tion.
"The News-Journal" called the
company to get the confirmation
that the earth-moving was the start
of construction and was not being
done for some other purpose.
Devaney said the store area, in
one continuous building which will
be divided for individual tenants.
will cover about S60.000 square
feet. The parking area for prospec
tive customers will be "ample." he
added (specific square footage or
the number of parking spaces
planned was not immediately avail
able).
He said Sky City, Food Town
and Revco have made commit
ments definitely to establish retail
stores in Raeford-Hoke Village.
Sky City is a department-variety
store chain, Revco operates
discount retail drug stores, and
Food Town is a supermarket chain.
He said, that besides are areas
which will be occupied by the chain
stores about 12.000 additional
square feet will be available in
retail space for lease.
The cost of construction of the
center is about $1.5 million, he
said.
Devaney planned to visit the
construction site Tuesday After
noon.
VILLAGE
Iu. it nsfr
h Iter, Inc
8(13-77 9-4420
The earth mover in the background broke the Jlrst ground the afternoon of
June 2 for the planned Raeford-Hoke Village shopping center.
For Lester Building
Heating-Cooling System Bids Sought
The Hoke County commissioners
Monday directed County Manager
James Martin to have specifications
drawn and bids asked for a new
airconditioning ? heating system for
the Lester Building on South
Magnolia Street.
The action was taken during the
commissioners' regular session for
June and after the commissioners
discussed with Jack Ellis, head of
the county maintenance depart
ment and building inspector, and
Mack Sessoms, owner-manager of
Raeford Plumbing & Heating Co.
Ellis said an estimate he received
from a power company energy
services engineer. Vicki Stout, was
that a proposed system of heat
pumps would save $7,523.74 in
energy costs a year from the present
system chiller system. Martin told
the commissioners the new system
would cost about $65,000. The
energy costs per year are estimated
at $9,091, compared with $16,614.
74.
The interest in replacing the
system, installed when the building
was erected about seven years ago,
is reflected in Commissioner Mabel
Riley's statement "made during
Monday's discussion: the county
has had trouble with the present
system chronically ever since it was
installed. The airconditioning
system currently is broken down,
and electric fans are being used to
cool people working in the offices.
Initially, Ellis advised the com
missioners that if more than one
supplier were contacted the county
would have to employ an engineer
to draw up the specifications. He
also said that any engineer men
tions a brand name in the specifi
cations. The commissioners
agreed, however, since Sessom's
company is the Hoke County dealer
for General Electric that if the
engineer mentions General Elec
tric, or any other brand name, he
must add the words "or equal"
after the name.
Advertising for the bids was
scheduled to be done in this week's
edition of The News-Journal, and
Martin said that the bids could be
opened as early as seven calendar
days after the advertisement ap
pears. That would make the bids
opening on June 10. since The
News-Journal is dated Thursday
(though it comes off the press
Wednesday mornings).
In other business, the com
missioners heard proposed sche
dule of improvement work on Hoke
County secondary roads during the
fiscal year 1982-83. Martha C.
Hollers of Candor reported the
proposed priorities schedule and
said also that S130.hhl.28 in all is
available for the secondary roads
work in Hoke. The work is sche
duled under the state's Transports
on Improvement Program. Mrs.
Hollers is the member of the State
Board of Transportation repre
senting highway Division Eight.
The commissioners postponed act
ing on the proposal to allow
themselves time for studying it.
Mrs. Hollers said she and mem
bers of the Hoke County Trans
portation Efficiency Council had
attended a meeting in Raleigh
Monday morning with Gov. James
B. Hunt, Jr. The members who
attended are Lawrence McLaugh
lin, Ellen McNeill, and Ken
McNeill of Raeford. They also
attended the public hearing on the
secondary roads held by the com
missioners, with State highway
Division Eight officials.
The other members of the Hoke
council are County Commissioners
Danny DeVane and James Hunt,
and Sam Morris of Raeford.
In other business, the com
missioners set a special meeting for
Monday night to discuss the pro
posed budget and also, with Rock
fish community people, a new site
for the community building, which
is to be moved from its present
location.
The commissioners at the meet
ing are scheduled to set a tax rate
for each of the county's 10 fire
districts for the 1982-83 fiscal year.
The special meeting will follow
the 8 p.m. Monday public hearing
on the proposed 1 982-83 county
budget. The public hearing will be
held in the courtroom of the
Courthouse. The commissioners'
special meeting will be held in the
commissioners' conference room in
the Annex.
Hearing On Proposed City Budget
A public hearing on the proposed
budget for 1982-83 for Raeford will
be held at 7 p.m. Monday in City
Hall.
The hearing was scheduled by
the City Council at its June meeting
Monday night.
Citv Manager Ron Matthews
advis d the council that it could
adopt a budget any time after the
hearing and by July 1 , the deadline
set by state law.
The council tentatively approved
a tax rate of 54 cents per S100
property evaluation and voted 4-1
to cut what amounted to $77,000 in
recommended specified spending
from the city's federal Revenue
Sharing funds. The action leaves
$10,000 each in recommended
Revenue Sharing funds for Raeford
downtown revitalization and for the
Hoke County Parks and Recreation
Department. The "no" vote was
cast by Bob Gentry, who objected
to omission of funds for the Hoke
County Rescue Squad. Matthews
explained that the Rescue fund was
omitted because the Rescue Squad
did not make its request in writing,
though a verbal request was made.
The recommendations in the
budget were made by Matthews.
He said, replying to a question
from the council, that he proposed
operating budget for the new fiscal
year amounts to about $2,404,000,
while the 1981-82 figure was
$2,344,145. Matthews said the
entire increase would be made up
of a 7Vj per cent pay raise for city
employees, if this is left in the
budget that is finally adopted.
The proposed tax rate amounts
to b cents per $100 less than the
current rate, but the proposed
reduction is based on the change in
the city tax base created by the
countywide property re-evaluation
made during the past year in
compliance with state law. The law
requires that every county have a
re-evaluation done every eight years
by an independent, out-of-county
professional organization.
The taxable value of most of the
property in the county has been
increased by the re-evaluation, and
many property owners have found
their values doubled or nearly
doubled. The result is many will
pay more in property taxes than
they did last year if the proposed
lower tax rate is adopted perma
nently for the new fiscal year.
Mayor John K. McNeill, Jr., told
the council that the city has been
drawing from its fund balance year
by year to avoid the necessity of
raising taxes. He said, however,
that this year's proposed budget
contains no fund balance, though a
properly financed city government
shoula have at least S50.000 in this
fund.
Matthews told the council that
the recommended budget is a "no
growth" budget for the city, mean
ing that it is based on the view that
the city will not grow (during the
next year).
The revenue-sharing motion,
made by Councilman Benny Mc
Leod, was that all proposed reve
nue-sharing allocations but the
$10,000 for P and R and $10,000
for downtown revitalization be
dropped.
During the discussion, the coun
cilman agreed to leave unchanged
the recommended $340,000 for the
Capital Reserve Fund (for use for
emergencies), the Debt Service,
General Fund and Water and
Sewer budget.
The council can make changes
in the proposed budget any time
before it is finally adopted.
In other business, the council
heard a report by Hi Marziano of
Moore. Gardner & Associates of
Asheboro, the engineering firm
serving as consultant to the city, on
the findings of a study of the city
service area's water resources.
The study projected the city's
needs to the year 2000, when the
population is due to be 4,486, while
the 1980 U.S. Census determined
the population was 3.630, Marzi
ano reported. He said the study
projected the city's service area,
beyond the corporate city limits,
would put the total at 7,500 people.
Briefly, he said the study shows:
-? It will take improvements
costing an estimated $1,390,000 in
the water system to meet immedi
ate needs, including for fire protec
tion. Among the improvements
needed is extra storage capacity.
These improvements would be
integrated into future growth, be
sides bringing the system up to
date.
-- The city's raw water supply
and the treatment system are
adequate to the year 2000.
Marziano added, however, that
grant money which would pay half
the cost of the city improvements is
available to go with the city's share
of the bill.
In other business, the council
voted to accept a Planning Board
recommendation to approve preli
minary plans for Section Four
Holly Park Subdivision. Joe Good
win of Freedom Family Homes of
Dunn, the developer, presented the
plans. Gene Rice and Sheldon
Weeks are his partners. The pro
perty is owned by Julian Wright of
(See BUDGET, page 17)
May Rainfall
May in Raeford had drought its
first two weeks, with .2 inch of
rain falling in that tme, reports
Robert Gatlin, Raeford weather
observer for the National Weather
Service, but after that enough rain
fell to give the month a total that is
normal for May -- 4.5 to 5 inches.
A Hoke County General Fund
budget of $3,575,690.04 and a pro
perty tax rate of 72 cents per $100
property evaluation has been
recommended to the county com
missioners for adoption for the
fiscal year 1982-83 by County
Manager James Martin. The
1981-82 General Fund totaled
$3,499,884 and the tax rate is
$1.01.
A public hearing on the propos
ed budget is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Monday in the courtroom of the
Courthouse. The commissioners
probably will adopt a budget near
the end of June. State law requires
adoption by July 1, the first day of
the new fiscal year.
The tax rate of the current fiscal
year is $1.01 per $100; but Martin
in his statement to the commis
sioners accompanying his budget
proposals reports that the
reevaluation of county private pro
perty made the past year has
estimated the value of taxable pro
perty at $307 million, an increase
of about 43 percent from the past
year's base.
The re-evaluation is the one re
quired every eight years by state
law and must be made by an out
of-county, disinterested private
company.
With this increase in the tax
base, and collection of an
estimated 92 percent of the proper
ty taxes due, Martin says the total
revenue which will come from this
source is estimated at $2,033,568,
and this would be about $9,300
more than the $1.01 levy produc
ed.
Besides the General Fund, the
other parts of the total county
budget the totals recommended by
Martin and the figures for 1981-82,
in that order are: Debt Service
$109,263 recommended and
$112,443 in fiscal 1981-82; Reap
praisal (for 1990 property re
evaluation) Reserve - $29,250 and
$33,500; Armory Reserve (the
county's share of the cost of a
septic-tank system for the new Ar
mory) ? $840; Federal Revenue
Sharing - $573,468 and $560,493;
and Facility Fee Fund -- $81,590
and $18,530, but the 1982-83
figure includes $51,399 in a fund
balance. The Facility Fee Fund in
cludes interest on investments, and
state sales tax refunds.
The proposed budget recom
mends a 4 percent raise for most
county employees and a few addi
tional adjustments in salaries,
Martin explained to a reporter
Thursday. No increases, however,
are recommended for the county
commissioners, Martin, or other
key administrative people. The
chairman of the board of county
commissioners is paid $2,100 an
nually at present, and the other
commissioners $1,500 each. Mar
tin's present salary is $26,232.
Besides the property tax, the
other sources of revenue for finan
cing the county budget are the one
percent county sales tax, state
shared revenue, (an increase is ex
pected for the new fiscal year), and
appropriations from the county
fund balance.
in nis statement prefacing the
budget recommendations, Martin
says the following.
Again this year, the departmen
tal requests total far more than can
be funded from the revenues
estimated to be available.
Therefore, in most departments
the amount recommended is less
than the amount requested.
A key example is the school
system. The amount requested for
school - current expense is
SI, 065, 991. (37?7o increase),
however, only $835,41 1 . (7 . 5 ?7o in
crease) is included for funding.
Although the total of all requests
in the General Fund amount to
15.9^o more than the present
budget - the amount included for
funding is 6?7o.
Martin also lists in general terms
what departments are recommend
ed for increases, and what for
decreases from the 1981-82 figures,
and what are recommended for no
significant changes. They are:
Increases: Finance, due to
maintenance on equipment and
capital outlay; Legal, based on
prior year's expense; Register of
deeds, purchase of a 3,000 copy
machine; Sheriff, maintenance and
repairs and vehicle replacements;
Community Based Alternatives,
supplies; Jail, food expense.
Inspections, vehicle for inspec
tion and maintenance department.
Request for half a clerical position
(See TAX. page 16)