You will decide Tuesday whether property taxes will go up | Eastern North Carolina Now

You will decide Tuesday whether property taxes will go up

    When you go to the polls Tuesday (and if you have already voted) you will be voting on whether to raise property taxes in Beaufort County.

    No, that issue will not be put to you on the ballot so you can vote "yes" or "no" like the sales tax increase is on that same ballot, but the issue will be there in the Board of Commissioners section of the ballot nonetheless. Here's why.

    We have a major problem with our jail in Beaufort County. An expert is now studying how to fix that problem. A committee will review the options and their costs and make a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners who will make the final decision. What happens Tuesday and in November will decide whether fixing the jail problem will require a property tax increase. The decision about what to do about the jail will not likely come before the FY 2013 budget is adopted this summer. So the outcome of this election will determine what is done about the jail.

    We have six people running for four seats in the Democrat Primary. They are: Carolyn Harding, Jerry Langley, Wayne Sawyer, Lloyd Balance, Robert Belcher and Mickey Cochran. On the Republican ballot are: Donald Dixon, Rick Gagliano, Tony (T. J.) Keech, Jr., Jay McRoy, Hood Richardson, Gary L. Brinn and Larry Britt.

    If you vote in the Democrat Primary you will be voting for a tax increase simply because that is the way Democrats think. Notice how much you have heard or read from the Democrat candidates during this campaign about what to do about the jail and whether each of these people is running on a commitment to not raise taxes. They don't even pretend they will not raise taxes. They just do it.

    There are already two votes on the Board of Commissioners who have pledged not to raise taxes. They are Stan Deatherage and myself.

    There will be four seats determined in the November election. If at least three of those elected in November are conservatives, then taxes will not be raised. You can count on that.

    So the issue comes down to who is nominated in the Republican Primary and whether three of us who are conservative are elected in November.

    The choice has never been clearer. If you vote for Donald Dixon, Rick Gagliano, Tony Keech, Hood Richardson or Gary Brinn you will be voting to fix the jail without a tax increase. If you vote for anyone else you can expect to see your property taxes go us.

    Beware of RINO's (Republican In Name Only).

    Beware of the Gang of Five (Booth, Cayton, Klemm, McRoy and Langley). They will raise your taxes. Guaranteed. How can I prove that? Simple. They have done so before. They have refused to cut spending and that means taxes must go up. They can't have it both ways.

    So the issue, again, comes down to who is nominated Tuesday. If Dixon, Gagliano, Keech, Richardson or Brinn are nominated, and then if three of us win in November, you will be voting for no tax increase.

    The jail problem will be fixed, no matter how you vote. But what you will determine with your vote is whether the jail fix will be done by raising taxes or not.

    The choice is your's. The choice has seldom been clearer.