10 Sunday, August 30, 2009
Waxhaw Exchange
County: Unpaid Monroe rejects county’s offer taxes hit budget Commissioners sought parking rights in trade for 6 acres BY JASON deBRUYN
BY JASON deBRUYN
jdebruyn@thej.com MONROE County coffers took another hit as more county residents default on their taxes. The county collected only 96.83 percent of all taxes owed for the budget year ending June 2008 but budgeted for a collection rate of about 97 percent. As all governments do, the county has a contingency fund in the budget to cover unexpected costs or shortfalls, but that account has been taking hits for years as county debts piled up. While the shortfall only accounts for 0.17 percent of anticipated funds, commissioners are concerned. “Union county is running so close to the line that anything is a significant number,” said
Chairman Lanny Openshaw. Openshaw has already requested that figures for the first quarter, due in October, be presented to the board. Last year, the board did not review actual figures until after the second quarter in January. If any adjustments need to be made, commissioners should spread them over nine months instead of six months, Openshaw said. Commissioner Allan Baucom said he anticipates the current budget year to run just as lean as last year; he predicted a 7-cent tax increase in order to keep the same level of service going forward. Commissioners did not raise taxes this past year, even though some requested their taxes be raised in order to maintain school funding.
jdebruyn@theej.com MONROE The Monroe City Council has rejected an offer for Belk-Tonawanda Park. Although the city has been operating the park near downtown Monroe, the county owns a little more than 6 acres, or about one-third of the property. In May, the City Council asked the Union County Board of Commissioners to give its portion of the park to the city. The board initially asked for $85,000, the tax value of the property, but the city rejected that offer. The parties could not reach an agreement during at a joint meeting, and the board then offered the property for free, but wanted to ensure that county employees could continue to park in the city’s lot off Church Street by the rail station. The city rejected that offer, too, and maintained
Monroe Mayor Bobby Kilgore says the city won’t offer anything for the county’s 6 acres.
that it wanted the property free and clear. “We just feel like it’s the right thing for them to do,” Monroe Mayor Bobby Kilgore said. Commissioner Tracy Kuehler said she was “shocked” to hear the offer was rejected, especially because county employees currently park in that lot and the City Council has not indicated it would revoke that privilege. “But for the parking, I thought we had given them exactly what they asked for,” Kuehler said. “We’re asking to maintain the status quo; we
just want it written on a piece of paper.” Kilgore did not see why it was necessary to put that in writing. “They can park there,” he said. “They’ve always been allowed to park there.” Furthermore, Kilgore said the city has been generous to the county in the past, donating land for the hospital, for example, he said, and figured it was time for the commissioners to “step up to the plate,” especially because county residents have used the park freely while the city has maintained it. “Why should we give anything for the property?” Kilgore said. Commissioners have made it clear that they trust the current City Council to continue to allow county employees to park in city lots, but want to make sure the agreement is written down for
future boards and councils. “This is not saying we don’t trust you, but I don’t know who your successors are going to be,” Kuehler said. The Board of Commissioners will meet Monday, but it was unclear if another offer would be made. “I hope there is still room to negotiate this, but I don’t know where else to go,” Kuehler said. “I feel like I have really moved past center on this one.” Commissioners Parker Mills and Allan Baucom have said they want to give the property to Monroe but the majority of commissioners, Kuehler, Lanny Openshaw and Kim Rogers, have tried to work a deal. The commissioners will meet 6 p.m. Monday at the Union County Government Center, 500 N. Main St., Monroe.
Anderson seeks additional retail Anderson from 1 on being a town,” Anderson said last week. “A lot of people take pride in doing nothing. We can’t just do nothing.” She said she’s seeking another two years in the mayor’s seat because “unfinished business” remains for her and the Town Council, including completion of the Providence Road widening, a soon-to-launch study of forging a downtown and bolstering fire protection for the area. “I needed to stay on for two more years and at least get it a little closer to the finish line,” she said. Anderson, a Weddington native with a husband and four children, left a career with the U.S. Air Force in 1992 to work as a nurse. She owns Hunter Farm on Providence Road, where she sells produce like strawberries. Anderson earned the reproach of some local politicos for support a connector road to Providece and WeddingtonMatthews roads, one that her critics say will benefit her nearby farm financially. The mayor dismisses that criticism, arguing her support centers around the town’s need for corridors to ease congestion and improve access to Weddington’s small commercial development. She said the town needs to bolster its parks and athletic space at the youth league Wesley Chapel Weddington Athletic Association to provide recreation area for Weddington’s burgeoning number of young people. Anderson also blasted
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NCDOT helps those who help themselves. We are going to have to be more proactive and be willing to share some of the cost. — Weddington Mayor Nancy Anderson
competitors’ calls to push against additional commercial construction in town. “I know that’s the politically correct thing to say no more commercial,” she said. “But you can’t discount the fact that maybe three or four years ago, the voters of this town voted in liquorby-the-drink so they can have some nice restaurants. I don’t think you can ignore that.” Anderson also reaffirmed her controversial calls this year to lend money to the cashstrapped N.C. Department of Transportation to speed needed roadway improvements in the short-term. “NCDOT helps those who helps themselves,” she said. “We are going to have to be more proactive and be willing to share some of the cost.” Anderson’s grade for the Town Council’s work over the last two years? “I would say maybe a Cplus, maybe a B-minus,” she said. “I think that we could have worked better together and that we could had a little more focus.” Anderson said she will look for that focus if she gets another two years from the voters this fall.
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