BOC meeting & budget

[barbmarz]

FROM THE DAILY ADVANCE

Currituck OKs budget, raises trash fee $15

By Cindy Beamon

The Daily Advance

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Currituck commissioners approved a $66 million budget Monday
that funds several major capital projects without raising property
taxes.
New capital projects include the design for a new aviation technical
training center in Maple, an 800 megahertz communications system, a
water-access upgrade at the Rural Center in Powells Point and new soccer
fields near the YMCA/Community Center in Maple.
The county’s tax rate of 32 cents per $100 valuation will remain the
same as it has since 2004. The rate is the seventh-lowest in the state
but is expected to go up in 2013 after the county revalues property.
Fees for trash collection will go up countywide. Residents will see
the $15 increase on their yearly property tax bills, which includes the
trash collection fee. For residents on the mainland using county
convenience centers, trash services will go up from $99 to $114.
Door-to-door pick-up in Corolla will go from $235 to $250.
Tipping fees at the county landfill will also go up from $68 a ton to $71 a ton for county residents.
A special tax for residents of Whalehead for stormwater drainage and
trash collection will go up from 4 cents to 10.5 cents per $100
valuation. A county poll of residents showed that 80 percent favored the
tax increase to fund improvements to the flood-prone neighborhood’s
drainage system and to provide door-to-door trash pickup.
Property taxes provide $25 million in annual income to the county.
The Outer Banks resort Corolla pays better than half that amount.
Another large funding source for Currituck is occupancy taxes, paid
by vacationers through a 6 percent levy on hotel rooms and beach
rentals. The room tax is mostly used to advertise the resort and fund
beach services but may also be used for “tourism related” activities on
the mainland.
The county expects to collect $8.9 million in occupancy taxes in the
coming year for its tourism budget. The state requires that a third go
toward promoting the Outer Banks. The rest will go toward beach
services, economic development and recreation. On the mainland,
occupancy taxes will fund the Rural Center upgrade and $1 million toward
a new wastewater treatment system to serve the county’s new
YMCA/Community Center in Maple (paid for by occupancy taxes in earlier
budgets). Two historic sites, the Historic Jarvisburg Colored School and
the Old Currituck Jail will also receive funding through occupancy
taxes.
While the occupancy taxes will help fund capital projects, spending
on day-to-day operations will remain close to the same it has been for
the past five years, County Manager Dan Scanlon said during his budget
message earlier this month.
No new positions and no cost-of-living pay increases are planned for the county’s 360 employees.
Among the county’s biggest expenses are schools and public safety.
The county plans to contribute $9.7 million to schools in the coming
year and a combined total of $10.6 million for emergency medical
services and the sheriff’s department.