Chowan County supplemental bills surprise some

By Connie Sage

EDENTON

Some Chowan County residents said they were surprised to receive a new tax bill only a week after the county raised the property tax rate by an additional 9 cents.

Initial tax bills for the current fiscal year were sent out at the end of July. An amended budget was approved by commissioners the night of Aug. 14, and about 12,500 supplemental bills were mailed Friday, county officials said.

"We didn't know it was coming and thought it would be after the first of the year," Edenton resident Vonna O'Neill said Wednesday.

Local taxpayer Marcia Herr said she hadn't looked at her initial tax bill because it wasn't due until January.

"I opened the supplemental bill, and it blew me away," she said.

The new tax levy, which boosts the property tax rate to 65 cents for every $100 of assessed property value, was aimed at resolving a budget crisis that came to light last month and threatened to put day-to-day operation of the county government under state control.

The Local Government Commission said in July that the county was in violation of state law because projected revenues did not match anticipated expenses. The state's fiscal watchdog told the county it had to come up with a new, balanced budget.

The supplemental tax bill for the 1850 Wessington House on West King Street was $2,000, said owner Anne Rowe.

"I've reached a point where I've done the best I can do" to maintain Wessington, said Rowe, who inherited the house and other properties. She said she works three jobs and had put Wessington on the market before the tax increase.

Carl and Kay Evely moved from Ashland, Pa., to Edenton less than a year ago, in part because taxes were lower here.

"We weren't looking for a higher tax rate right away," Kay Evely said. "I was just surprised the tax bills came out as fast as they did."

County Manager Peter Rascoe on Wednesday said he had received only two or three calls from local property owners who live out of town "wanting to know what's going on and why they're getting a supplemental bill."

The county continues to juggle accounts to make ends meet.

"That doesn't mean we have a lot of money being dumped into the county's accounts," Rascoe said. "It's just a dance right now to take on the cash-flow devil."

The county barely met its financial obligations in June, was in the hole by more than $200,000 in August, and will have a hard time making ends meet in September, Rascoe said.

"Two or three" of its largest account holders agreed to wait a week for their money so the county would have the approximately $200,000 it needs to pay 157 full-time employees on Friday, he said.

The state also reimbursed the county about $100,000 from lottery funds for repairs made to the high school last quarter, he said, and that money was added to the county's bank account.

"We're still in a very tight situation right now," he said, adding that he doesn't see the situation easing until at least October.

Rascoe said he continues to seek financial counseling daily from the Local Government Commission.

"We analyze the cash flow situation to make sure we can meet the bills without having to use any of the remaining $723,000 in reserves," Rascoe said. "That's the challenge."

Jack Blaisdel, who moved here from Atlanta three and a half years ago, said at a local restaurant Wednesday morning that everyone is "reacting like there's a hole in the ship."

"You have to do what you have to do to make sure the ship doesn't sink," he said.