Are You Ready for the Tax Hike?

For those who have not heard about the proposed tax increase that the Town Council is currently considering, I urge you to read this article, the minutes of the last few meetings for the Town Council (http://tiny.cc/p66Wc), the budget (http://tiny.cc/lWhwY) and call one or more of your Town Council members:

Rick Owen: 387-2466
Gil Adams: 387-2892
Randy Corn: 387-9468
Alan Holcombe: Days 387-4748, Evenings 387-4794
Pete Chamberlin: 387-2674

The issue first came up when I received a forwarded email which shows to have been authored by Vivien Howard and contained the following language:

"...We went to the town meeting last night. They voted to increase town taxes by 9 cents per $100. This means that per $100,000 it goes up $900.00. I am fuming. Chamberlin, Holcomb and Corn voted for it as opposed to a 5 cent proposal by Owen and Adams (which is a gracious plenty). This was all due to Corn stating that there is a piece of road equipment that needs to be replaced. Apparently this piece of equipment could actually be refurbished or we could purchase a refurbished one. Apparently they had several budget meetings and could never come to agreement so they went ahead and took the vote last night to get it over with. Anyway, something has to be done. This is way out of control and I want to pass this info on. Maybe a show of force could help..."

Please note that one error in this email is that a 9 cent tax increase will NOT be $900 per $100,000 - it will be $90 per $100,000.

I wish I have time to go to all Town Council, TDA and other meetings that go on at the town because they are very informative. However, I do not have time to do so, so I try to stay informed by checking the agendas, MountainEar and minutes which are available online at http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/announcements.html and http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/townhall/TownCouncilMinutes_000.html. However, after the past two days I am finding that the minutes are far from complete and even with talking to several key people I still do not have all the information needed to come to an informed opinion. What I have found out is spelled out throughout this article. I invite everyone to try to get more information and attend the meeting next week.

There will be a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, June 17th at 2:00 p.m. at Town Hall to continue the discussion of the budget, including the tax increase. This will be at least the third meeting to try to arrive at the exact millage amount to be assessed. In the meeting of May 29th the tax increase was voted to be 5 cents per each $100 of assessed property value. In the meeting this week it was voted to be increased to 9 cents per $100. Yet there is still at least one council member who would like it to be 11 cents per $100. It is most important to have your voices and opinions heard. If you cannot be at the meeting on the 17th, please email the Town Manager, Michael Boaz, prior to that date with your opinions: manager@townofbeechmountain.com.

I spoke with Mayor Rick Owen this morning. He suggests that anyone with concerns about the tax issue (or any other town issue) contact the individual council members. Rick advised that Randy Corn, Pete Chamberlain and Alan Holcombe were those members who voted for the 9 cent increase. Rick and Gil Adams wanted to keep it down to 5 cents and Rick advised me that Randy actually wanted to increase it 11.5 cents (all per $100 of assessed property value; 5 cents would result in less than a 10% increase in the tax bill from last year, 9 cents would result in more than 16% increase and 11.5 cents would result in more than 20% increase). The current Beech Mountain town tax rate is 55 cents per $100 of assessed value. If your home is in Watauga County you also are assessed an additional 31.3 cents per $100 value and if your home is in Avery County you are assessed an additional 38 cents per $100 value. The increase in taxes are to support 4 new full time positions and change one part-time person to full time as well as purchasing a new motor grader (which is to replace the newer of two motor graders currently owned by the town, which has incurred numerous maintenance problems). I asked Rick about the possibillity of leasing the equipment, since they are having the maintenance problems. He said they have researched it but did not have the figures in front of him. Randy wants to to pay for a grader in full and freeze the tax millage rate for future years. However, that decision could be subject to change next year when the budget issue comes up again and who's to say that the new grader won't have some of the same problems.

Finally, I received a letter from Jim Brooks who provided the following information:

"...Thanks for asking for participation at Tuesday’s meeting. These people should have participated in the previous budget meetings. I hope you can warn them not to gripe about the tax increase until they review the reasons for the tax increase:

Lake C(o)ffey Dam – Repair – Safety
Buckeye Dam - Repair - Safety
Water System Upgrades - 3-4 million now 22 million total
Fire Protection - Staffing
Equal protection for all water system
Sewer Pump Station Replacement – Safety- Could flow into reserves
Paving Greenbrier & Lakeledge Road
Planning and Engineering for Projects
Cash Purchase versus Increased Debt Load
& Higher Taxes for a Motograder

Obviously our town has never planned for the future. All of these project should have been on the drawing board years ago and our taxes should have been increased gradually instead of all at once!! Most of us know the town engineer should have been replaced during the sewer moratorium and that should have been a wake up call.

Our taxes are still low- I pay $1.18 per hundred in Greensboro down from $1.30 before. 95.3cents doesn’t sound bad to me (64 cents + 31.3 cents).

Real estate will sell much easier when we get our town looking and living better.

Call Randy Corn if you want to be informed for the meeting..."

There are many statements in this letter that have I have never heard of or read anywhere before, not the least of which is the paving of Greenbriar and Lakeledge Roads. If that is, indeed, where part of the tax increase is to be used I do not understand why it was not specifically mentioned in either the minutes nor the budget. The budget does contain a requested $600,000 on the 'Road Maintenance' page, of which $425,000 was recommended and approved for the '08-'09 budget. Perhaps this is the anticipated cost of those projects.

Please make sure your voices are heard! Call your Town Council members, research the budget, meeting minutes and ask questions. If you wait to get that information on Tuesday it may be too late.