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TownTalk: County Budget Deliberations

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In a budget work session last week, the Vance County Board of Commissioners worked to reach consensus to raise the tax rate by 10 cents – to 71 cents per $100 property valuation – a move that will provide cost-of-living increases for staff and have funds for capital projects and a possible salary study.

The consensus, though not an official vote, was reached with four commissioners in favor.

It’s estimated that the additional 10 cents will generate $4.3 million in additional revenue.

According to County Manager C. Renee Perry, the revenue-neutral rate of 61.3 cents per $100 valuation would not be enough to support any capital projects that are needed in the county, including work on a new jail, 911 call center, a northern end EMS station and more.

Perry broke it down this way: 1 cent will be for an additional 3 percent COLA increase (for a total of 7 percent), and the other 9 cents would be for addressing capital needs and the salary study.

Commissioner Sean Alston said the county must pay attention to salaries that would be more competitive with surrounding counties.

“We have to move for the future,” Alston said.

Commissioner Leo Kelly concurred. “If we don’t grow the budget, we don’t grow the county.” Kelly said it is critical to take advantage of the revaluation to keep the county moving forward. “This is the time to do it,” he said of increasing the tax rate.

Chair Dan Brummitt said he is willing to entertain ideas about the budget but said he does not support a tax increase.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said, adding that the county should not grow the government; rather, “leave the money in people’s pockets” and let them invest in the county to grow the economy.

Commissioner Archie Taylor said he is in favor of raising salaries to help the staffing shortages across county agencies, including the Department of Social Services, sheriff’s office and the jail – which has had almost two dozen vacancies for the past two years, according to Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame.

In addition to salary increases, Commissioner Yolanda Feimster said the county has to keep an eye on quality of services. “We can’t keep prolonging the situation – we’ve got to get people hired” so county residents can have the quality of services they desire and deserve.

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Fire Departments Could See Additional Funding

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The county’s volunteer fire departments stand to gain an additional $30,000 annually as commissioners and County Manager C. Renee Perry hammer out details of the FY 2024-25 budget.

Commissioners held a budget work session last week, with sights set on June 24 as a possible date to adopt the $57 million budget.

Each department, as well as the rescue squad and the Vance County Fire Department, would see $130,000 in county funding and the new hourly pay rate for part-time firefighters would increase to $17 an hour, up from $15 an hour.

To achieve these goals, the county’s fire tax would be bumped from a revenue-neutral rate of 5.9 cents per $100 valuation to 7 cents per hundred, as recommended by Perry.

This increase will generate and additional $300,000 in revenues.

That amount, matched with a one-time disbursement of about $300,000 from the fire tax general fund, would provide for the additional funding. The current total fire tax fund balance is about $625,000.

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Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland – House Ants

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Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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STEM Early High School Gets Solar+ Schools Grant

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-information courtesy of Vance County Schools Chief Communication Officer Aarika Sandlin

STEM Early High School in Vance County is one of nine schools across the state to receive a grant from NC GreenPower to install a rooftop solar array as part of a solar education package.

With backing from the State Employees Credit Union, the Solar+ Schools Award will pay for all of the project’s construction costs, expected to be between $55,000 and $75,000.

The educational package includes a 20-kilowatt solar array, STEM curriculum, teacher training and more.

Schools should raise $3,500 to cover any future operations and maintenance expenses. The included weather station and data monitoring equipment will incorporate live  information from the arrays into classrooms, and teachers will be able to compare weather  scenarios and involve students in reading and interpreting the energy data.

Northern Granville Middle School in Granville County also is a recipient of the Solar+ School Award.

In 2024, the Solar+ Schools program accepted applications from public K-12 schools in Tier 1 and 2 counties in North Carolina. For the awarded schools, the installed 20-kW photovoltaic systems will serve as educational tools and will provide an energy impact depending on each school’s arrangement with its local electric utility. Since Solar+ Schools’ introduction in 2015, program recipients have saved about $100,000 cumulatively in electricity expenses, and the STEM and solar curriculum training has benefited more than 280 teachers and 62,000 students  throughout the state.

The member-funded State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) Foundation has been a long-time advocate of NC GreenPower and continues to generously back the Solar+ Schools program. In  2022, the SECU Foundation contributed a grant of up to $600,000 extending through 2024 to  provide additional funding and assist with installation costs for awarded schools.

“NC GreenPower’s Solar+ Schools initiative is a unique and innovative project that continues to  produce energy savings and educational benefits for our schools and our state,” said SECU  Foundation Executive Director Jama Campbell. “We couldn’t be more pleased to help outfit nine schools with a working solar array system for students and our communities to learn more  about solar power’s impact as an alternative energy source for today and years to come.”

Warren County Public Hearing July 1 On CDBG Funding

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The Warren County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a public hearing for July 1, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Armory Civic Center in Warrenton to get input from the community about the county’s application for Community Development Block Grant funding.

Warren County plans to submit a Neighborhood Revitalization application in the fall of 2024. This meeting will provide information about the available funding, including requirements and eligible activities. Citizens are encouraged to participate and provide feedback on the County’s potential use of CDBG funds.

This hearing will explain the funding available under the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Small Cities Community Development Block Grant – Neighborhood Revitalization Program (CDBG-NR). These funds benefit low- and moderate-income residents, and eligible activities include housing rehabilitation, relocation, reconstruction, emergency repairs, public facilities, and administration of these activities. Projects must benefit at least 51 percent low- and moderate-income persons for area-wide benefits and 100 percent for direct benefits.

All interested citizens are encouraged to attend to voice their views, respond to proposed funding plans, and ask questions. Another public hearing will be scheduled before the application is submitted to discuss specific project activities.

Community & Economic Development Director Charla Duncan said “Pursuing CDBG funding for housing rehab is the next step in growing the scope of work of the county’s community and economic development department.”

“The county’s 2022 comprehensive development plan addresses several goals around housing, particularly around workforce and affordable housing needs in the community,” stated Rose Ponton, Warren County Community Development Division Manager. “Homeowner assistance programs like the CDBG funding can fund critical and urgent repairs for some of our more vulnerable populations,” Ponton said.

For more information about the public hearing, the CDBG program, or to submit written comments; please contact Rose Ponton with the Warren County Community & Economic Development Office by email at roseponton@warrencountync.gov or by calling 252.257.3115.

Solar+ Schools Award Provides Solar Educational Program At NGMS

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Northern Granville Middle School is one of nine schools across the state that will install a solar array, thanks to NC GreenPower with backing from the State Employees Credit Union.

The Oxford middle school is a recipient of the Solar+ Schools Award for 2024 – valued between $55,000 and $75,000to create a solar educational package including a fully-funded 20-kilowatt solar array, STEM curriculum, teacher training and more, according to information from Courtney Currin, GCPS public information officer.

The solar array will provide educational opportunities for students through an included weather station and data monitoring equipment. Additionally, the solar arrays will have an energy impact on Granville County Public Schools and, possibly, the community.

Superintendent Dr. Stan WInborne said he is excited about the opportunity for the district and students. “In GCPS, we are doing all we can to increase efficiency and effectively use taxpayer dollars to provide a sound education for our students. The Solar+ Schools Award at NGMS is just another way that we can make this happen.”

STEM Early High School in Vance County also received a 2024 Solar+ Schools Award.

Warren County Revaluation Underway

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The Warren County Tax Administration is currently conducting a revaluation review as required by state law. The county has contracted with Pearson Appraisers Inc., to visit each parcel in the county to measure and list any changes to the property and determine current market value.

Each appraiser has been issued Warren County ID and their vehicles are marked “Warren County Revaluation.” The parcel reviews will run through the end of the year.

New assessed values will be mailed out in early 2025 to each property owner.

 

TownTalk: Around Old Granville: Architects

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Lovers of historical architecture could come up with the analogy that if Old Granville County – what is now the four-county area that includes Vance, Warren, Franklin and Granville counties – were an art museum, then all the lovely homes that dot the towns, cities and countryside certainly are works of art to be admired and enjoyed.

Continuing that analogy, it was architects and craftsmen like Jacob Holt and Thomas Bragg and James Burgess who are just a few of the state’s premier artists whose creations still stand -and are still admired – today.

“They were able to express their aesthetic and the community’s idea of the aesthetic,” said Mark Pace, local historian and North Carolina Room Specialist at the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford.

Pace and WIZS’s Bill Harris talked about a number of homes, some standing and some long gone, that can be attributed to Holt, Bragg and Burgess in Thursday’s TownTalk segment of Around Old Granville.

Holt moved to Warren County in the 1840s, having worked with William Howard, an acolyte of Thomas Jefferson, in Prince Edward County, Va. He estimates that as many as 80 Holt houses still stand, a tribute to the craftsmanship Holt and his team of artisans poured into each build.

“If you’ve got a Holt house, it’s not a ramshackle mess,” Pace said.

He set up shop in Warren County and soon laid claim to having the second-largest non-agricultural work force around, Pace said.

Among his workers were enslaved persons as well as freedmen. “He had the talent and he had the crew,” he said.

And although it wasn’t his first build, the William Eaton House is what put Holt on the map.

With motifs of Greek Revival, complete with columns, cornices, elaborate mantelpieces and sidelights, the Eaton house remains “one of the showplaces of Warrenton,” Pace said.

Montmorenci is another well-known home in Warren County, and was built by James Burgess in 1822.

Much of the interior of Montmorenci was dismantled and sent to be part of the DuPont estate called Winterthur in Delaware, Pace said, including incredibly engineered spiral staircases and intricate mantelpieces.

Thomas Bragg was also a contractor and architect who worked in the area in the 1820’s through the 1840’s, Pace said. He did significant work in Wake County and designed the William Polk House there.

The home Bragg built for his family still stands in Warrenton. Some of Bragg’s children went on to achieve fame in their own right: Thomas, Jr. became a governor of North Carolina and Braxton was a general in the Civil War – it’s for him that Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, was named.

 

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