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ASHEBORO —
Get out your wallets. The Guide reported last week, the Randolph County Board of Commissioners is planning to raise property taxes from 55.5 cents to 64.6 cents per $100 valuation.
The proposed increase will put Randolph County’s property tax rate above the state average for the first time. The 9.1 cent increase will yield a projected $8.9 million additional revenue to the county.
A hypothetical property owner with a house and land valued at $100,000 could expect to see their property tax bill increase almost $100 per year, from $555 to $646.
Randolph County’s unemployment rate is 11.8%, well above the state and national average.
Just how exactly are the unemployed supposed to pay up? Heck, you don’t even have to be out of a job for a tax hike like that to sting. What about those who are already struggling to pay their taxes or their mortgages?
The commissioners raised the property tax rate twice already in the past five years, once in 2006 and again in 2008. Now they don’t want to dip into their own $33 million reserve balance, but they appear to be prepared to dip into your wallet.
There are good reasons for maintaining an emergency fund. But what are we saving it for if not a situation such as this? If you ask me it’s borderline immoral to burden people with additional taxes in an economy like this.
You know, it seems like I remember a while back the commissioners were saying we voters should pass the quarter-cent sales tax.
The proceeds were supposed to “reduce the pressure on our property tax rate,” according to the commissioners’ own “Fact Sheet” they put out to promote the sales tax.
The fact sheet argued that a sales tax was “fair” as opposed to a property tax. The commissioners wrote, “it is important to keep the property tax as low as possible to make Randolph County more attractive to industries wanting to expand.”
“On the other hand,” the commissioners added, “sales taxes are only generated from cash transactions, reflecting an ability to pay.” Man, the commissioners really made property taxes sound pretty awful then.
Less than 90 days after voters, albeit less than 5% of us, approved the sales tax that was supposed to save us from a property tax increase, those very same commissioners are ready to turn around and raise the property tax rate.
But wait! There’s more! According to the fact sheet, “(s)tudies show that every $1.00 invested in the community college returns $6.00 back to the community.”
The sales tax was projected to bring in $2 million into Randolph Community College per year. With a 600% return on the dollar, we ought to be flush with new tax revenues from this investment.
Certainly the poor economy is a factor in the county’s financial woes. But that would only be half of the story. The real financial problem is the county’s $137 million debt.
To put that in perspective, the county projects only $63.4 million in revenue next year.
It’s a debt on which we pay $15 million annually in interest. The combined revenue from the sales tax and the proposed property tax increase won’t even come close to paying the interest on the debt each year, much less the principle.
I know all these numbers are a bit cumbersome. But I guess that goes with the territory when you’re dealing with a 282 page budget. That ought to be a clue that something is amiss.
The poor economy didn’t create the enormous debt. Politicians with the inability to say “No” are what created that debt.
I’m not saying new schools aren’t worthy projects. I’m not even saying they aren’t needed. But at some point even necessities have to be prioritized according to the ability to pay for them.
There will always be a “need” for more tax revenue. We all have unlimited wants and needs. But resources are limited. Government bureaucrats and politicians don’t seem to realize this fact.
An individual must live within his means or risk financial ruin. A government, whether national or county level, merely taxes its citizens more to fund its own largess. To them, people can just be shaken down for more money whenever it becomes expedient.
We live in a predominantly Republican county. We have a Republican board of county commissioners. But they tax and spend like Democrats. And we continue return those same Republicrats to office.
I’ll be interested to see if any of the commissioners will demonstrate some restraint. Will any of them have the courage to say no? Will anyone have a backbone?
Maybe one will. Perhaps two. But my money says this tax hike passes. I hope I’m wrong. But according to Commissioner Phil Kemp, “It’s time to pay the piper.”
Wouldn’t be interesting if those responsible for incurring astronomical debts were actually the ones who did the paying of the piper?
Until we decide we’ve had enough, the politicians will continue to make reckless decisions and the people will continue to pay for them through the nose.
Tar Heel Dispatch is written by Tyler Younts, a second-year law student at Campbell University. Younts, who grew up in Farmer, has a passion for writing and for politics and for writing about politics. E-mail comments to news@randolphguide.com or directly to Younts at tlyounts0209@email.campbell.edu
