County tax increase passes on party lines
By Scott Nicholson

A party-line tug-of-war preceeded the Watauga County commissioners decision to increase property taxes in its 2005-’06 fiscal year budget at its Monday meeting.

The resolution sparked an exchange between the commissioners in which they unanimously showed their support for high school improvements, but differed in the methods and time line of reaching that goal. Although the final vote split evenly along party lines, the commissioners also made mention of their respect for each others’ opinions even where they disagreed.

The resolution discussion preceded the budget vote, centering on the most contentious issue in county spending: a four-and-a-half cent tax increase to set aside $5 million over two years for high school renovations and construction.

‘The cheapest way’

After county manager Rocky Nelson read the proposed resolution, commissioner Billy Ralph Winkler opened by saying he was torn between wanting to plow head and hesitating, but said the planning process for the high school had already taken too long.

“A year ago, I would have probably been sitting out there (in the audience) wondering why we have to raise taxes,” he said, then cited the need for maintaining a healthy undesignated fund balance to protect the county’s ability to borrow many at low interest. “In the long run, this is the cheapest way for everybody.”

Winkler said he was in the building during its early years, and said while it was more than adequate for that era, it didn’t meet modern educational needs. He said he had received calls of both support and opposition, but felt the tax increase this year would have the least impact. He also said he didn’t want the county to be responsible for any possible delay in the project.

Commissioner David Blust said he had a tough time raising taxes and “stockpiling money” with no definite plan and no construction timetable in place. “I know there’s an idea,” he said, but said his idea would be at about half the cost of the estimated $20 million for high school improvements.

Commissioner Keith Honeycutt agreed with having a specific designation for the funds so that they could only be used for the high school project. He also questioned why the commissioners couldn’t pursue a bond referendum to allow the public to decide the funding issue.

Commissioner Jim Deal said a bond was a valid issue, and said the county could convince people the project was needed because community groups and school officials had spent a year and a half looking at needs. He pointed out that a study group’s ultimate finding had been to support a new school building. “The vast majority of people believe we need a new facility there,” Deal said.

He said a bond referendum would be wasteful because the conclusion was already determined. “We’ll spend a lot of money on a bond referendum and we still know we need to do the work,” he said.

He said “literally hundreds of people” from all over the county attended meetings to discuss the high school. “The anti-tax people have a valid viewpoint,” he said, but added that the tax increase amounted to $1.05 a week on the average parcel in the county.

“Every year we wait is going to cost us not only in time and money, but in what we offer these kids,” Winkler said.

Honeycutt: A three-year spread

Blust said he knew he would be seen as “against education,” but said he agreed with the need to spend money at the high school. He said he favored spending $8 million to $12 million instead, saying the looming tax revaluation would boost taxes at the current rate by 25 to 35 percent.

Honeycutt said rather than make a referendum motion which he knew would fail, he proposed a compromise he’d introduced in a budget work session. Under his proposal, a lower tax increase would be spread over three years to raise the $5 million. He said while he supported education and had served on several school committees, he was concerned about people living on fixed incomes and Social Security who would be affected by the tax hike.

Deal said the school board couldn’t begin planning without knowing how much money was available and said “the school board asked for a whole lot more money than this.” He said spreading the increase over three years would add top the total project cost. He said school improvements in the 1980’s and early 1990’s would not have occurred if the commissioners had waited to set aside money over the long term. “All we’ve done for 30 years is play catch-up,” he said.

Commissioner Winston Kinsey said the commissioners had already compromised by settling on a renovated facility with a possible additional building instead of building a completely new high school at a different site. He said there was a lot of public support for a new school rather than an upgrade to the 1965-era building. “The $20 million itself is a compromise,” he said, adding that change orders would probably push up that projected cost.

Deal, a Democrat, said there had been talk about “partisan politics,” but said Republicans he’d spoken with supported the tax increase as long as the extra revenues were dedicated tot he high school.

“The overwhelming majority of people in Watauga County are dedicated to education,” Deal said. “It’s not a political issue, it’s a county issue. The time has come to step up to the plate.”

Blust said he agreed it wasn’t a political issue, but that he disagreed with the plan, the time frame, and the amount of money.

The commissioners approved the resolution by a 3-2 vote, with Democrats Winkler, Deal Kinsey voting “yes” and Republicans Blust and Honeycutt opposing it.

The resolution forces the commissioners to keep the $5 million from the tax increase in a separate fund and to commit the county to borrowing $15 million for the total project cost.

Public comment

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Karen Carter said the people were more than “mere resources to be tapped into” and urged the commissioners to stop expansion, land acquisition, and county construction for a few years. She said the commissioners could phase out taxes after that.

Deborah Greene said she wasn’t opposed to a new high school but said the funding could have been delayed until the pending revaluation. She said the tax base would also increase as property moved from farmland into development and questioned the county’s available fund balances. “It’s not fair to accumulate more than you need,” she said.

Deal said, “It’s always easy not to raise taxes. The hard choice is to say the needs are so important that we have to do it.”

On Monday, the commissioners also gave final approval for the $2.5 million purchase of over seven acres of land adjoining the high school property.

•Scott Nicholson can be contacted at nicholson@wataugademocrat.com