Deatherage attempts to preempt tax increase | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Beaufort County Commissioner Stan Deatherage tried to preempt a foregone property-tax increase at last night's board meeting by making a motion to set a "reasonable" tax rate and "back into it" during the upcoming budgetary workshops.

    "Let's argue about the tax rate, and then let's argue about what we cut to get to that tax rate," Deatherage proposed.

    This fiscal year, Beaufort County had to dip into its savings, to the tune of $2,191,701, to be able to balance the current $52.5 million budget--virtually guaranteeing a tax increase in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The continuing deficiency in sales-tax revenues, a symptom of the economic recession, also threaten the upcoming budget.

    Even so, Deatherage's motion failed, with only Commissioner Hood Richardson voting with him in its favor; and Commissioners Jay McRoy, Al Klemm, Robert Cayton, Ed Booth and Jerry Langley voting against.

Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson schools the board and its audience on the worrisome discrepancy between Beaufort County's fund balance and expenditures at last night's board meeting in Washington.

    Beaufort County Manager Paul Spruill will present his 2011-2012 Recommended Budget to the commissioners during May's regularly scheduled board meeting. The new tax rate and budget will take effect July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

    The commissioners are charged with, as they see fit, fattening or trimming the Recommended Budget and recommended tax rate during budget workshops, which may last up until June 30.

    Republican Commissioners Klemm and McRoy voted against setting a "reasonable" tax rate and "backing into it" because they had not yet seen the county manager's Recommended Budget. They argued that, as of last night, there was no way to know where to begin.

    "Why don't we make the tax rate 10 cents?" McRoy facetiously offered.

    Richardson explained, to no avail, that the motion did not require the commissioners to set the rate before seeing the Recommended Budget; but premised the idea of setting a rate, at some point, that would not raise taxes, then whittling away spending until the budget is balanced.

    McRoy argued that $30-$35 million of the county budget are "pass-throughs from the federal and state government that we can't cut."

    Richardson said that some programs within, for example, the Department of Social Services and Medicaid, are not mandated, and can, in fact, be dropped from the county budget.

    "Don't let anybody tell you that an elected official can't cut taxes. Surely if you can raise them, you can cut them," said Richardson, to cheers and applause from the audience.

    The impact of a 2011-2012 property-tax increase would be extraordinarily staggering for Beaufort County property owners, who are already contending with higher tax bills resulting from the 2010 property revaluation. Despite the fact that the revaluation came during an economic downturn, most Beaufort County real estate increased in value over what was recorded in 2002 when property was last revalued.

    To keep tax revenue neutral following the revaluation, Beaufort County would have had to set the 2010-2011 tax rate at 48.2 cents. Instead, Beaufort County set the rate at 50 cents per $100 valuation, partly to cover the $543,200 interest on the loan to buy Beaufort Regional Health System property.

    "If we raise taxes this year, by God, it will not be revenue neutral," remarked Deatherage at last night's meeting.

    Last June, Republican Commissioners Deatherage and Richardson, along with Democrat Commissioner Cayton, voted against the current budget and tax rate; Republican Commissioners Klemm and McRoy, along with Democrat Commissioners Booth and Langley, voted to pass the current budget and tax rate.