Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Calculating Your Property Tax Bill

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Whether you reach for a sharpened No. 2 pencil and a piece of paper or choose to tap numbers into your phone’s calculator, it’s time to do a little math to at least have an idea of what your tax bill may look like.

Although neither the city nor the county has adopted the new budgets, the recommended budgets have been received. The City Council got a 158-page budget document earlier this month and the Vance County Board of Commissioners got a 138-page budget document on Monday, May 28.

Now comes the time when each body of elected officials has budget work sessions and holds public hearings to hear citizens’ comments about the budget particulars; budgets must be approved before July 1.

The city’s budget includes a property tax rate of 55 cents per $100 valuation; the county’s budget includes a property tax rate of 61.3 cents per $100 valuation.

As both the city council and county commissioners review the budget, it’s possible that some changes will be made before the final budget is adopted.

However, if you’re itching to see what your tax bill could be, you can play around with the current tax rates that are contained in the proposed budgets.

Now here’s where some basic math comes in to play. Consider this scenario:

Let’s say your property is valued at $100,000.

  • If your property is in the county, you will need to use the 61.3 cents per $100 valuation PLUS the fire tax rate, which is 5.9 cents per $100 valuation to get a total of 67.2 cents per $100.
  • If your property is located within the city of Henderson, guess what – you will add the city’s rate of 55 cents per $100 PLUS the county’s rate of 61.3 cents for a total of 1.163 per $100.

But there’s one more important step: You must divide your property value ($100,000 in this example) by 100 because the tax rate is per $100.

$100,000 divided by 100 = $1,000

Using this scenario, county residents would multiply $1,000 by .672 to get $672; city residents would multiply $1,000 by 1.163 to get $1,163.

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Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover Bedtime Problems, Pt. 1

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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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TownTalk: Proposed County and City Tax Rates

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Now that city and county elected officials have gotten recommended budgets from the city and county managers, it’s time for budget work sessions and public hearings to hear citizens’ comments before the final budgets are adopted.

State law requires that local governments must adopt their budgets before July 1, when the new fiscal year begins. June 1 is Saturday and July 1 is on a Sunday, giving leaders 20 business days to complete the difficult work of making any adjustments to the budget documents before the budgets are adopted.

The Vance County Board of Commissioners officially received the $57 million-plus budget just Monday from Manager C. Renee Perry.

This is Perry’s first budget presentation to this board of commissioners, and she told WIZS News said it was her decision to go with a revenue-neutral budget. The proposed property tax valuation is 61.3 cents per $100 valuation. The current valuation is 89 cents per $100, but the most recent reappraisal process has boosted the total property value by $2 Billion – to $4.9 billion from $2.9 billion.

The Henderson City Council received a $45 million budget from City Manager Terrell Blackmon earlier this month. The budget includes a 55-cent per $100 valuation – 10 cents higher than the revenue-neutral rate of 45 cents per $100 valuation.

The recommended city budget does not include any funding for McGregor Hall, which had requested $75,000. At Monday’s public hearing, there was a suggestion that was floated to give McGregor Hall a one-time $75,000 grant, provided other stipulations are in place – including having a current Council member on the voting board of the entertainment venue.

Numerous McGregor Hall proponents spoke at the Monday public hearing to voice their support of providing funds to the performing arts venue.

Like the city budget, Perry’s budget to county commissioners does not include any funding for McGregor Hall. It also doesn’t include funding for capital projects like jail renovations or a new EMS station.

“I’m not sure if they will change it, but I don’t plan on recommending an increase … I will be clear about items that can’t be funded without a tax increase,” Perry said to WIZS.

The 2024-25 county budget is less than 1 percent higher than last year’s budget – it’s larger by about $347,000. In her presentation, Perry stated that the budget was a conservative one.

The county will hold a public hearing as part of its Monday, June 3 meeting and budget work sessions on Monday, June 10 and Thursday, June 13 – all beginning at 6 p.m.

The city’s next budget work session, previously scheduled for Thursday, May 30, has been cancelled.

The next city meeting is set for Monday, June 3.

The 158-page recommended city budget document can be found at https://henderson.nc.gov/. Under the Departments heading, click on Finance to go directly to the dropdown box where the document is located.

The 138-page recommended county budget can be found at https://www.vancecounty.org/. Under the Departments heading, click on Board of Commissioners and locate the file in the dropdown box on the right side of the page.

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TownTalk: Author Rosetta Canada-Hargrove Publishes Two Books

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It was when she first moved to the Henderson area, some 40 years ago, that Rosetta Canada-Hargrove started writing her first book. But, as with so many people, “life” intervened and papers and notes got put away in boxes for later.

As it turns out, “later” was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her husband and daughter encouraged her to pull out those boxes of paper and give it a whirl.

Now living in the Triad area, Canada-Hargrove has published not one, but two works of fiction. And they are part of a trilogy, so she’s gathering steam to create the third – and final – installment.

The first book, “Urban Beginnings,” is a short novel – only about 50 pages, she said on Tuesday’s TownTalk.

“After Urban Beginnings,” published just last month, weighs in at 170 pages.

Inspired to leave a legacy for her grandson, Canada-Hargrove said she started putting the pieces of the first book together. Both books are works of fiction, but they both contain messages that resonate with many people who find themselves in difficult relationships.

The story line has Kingston, a woman in her mid-20’s married to the love of her life, Giovanni, who Canada-Hargrove describes as a “womanizer.”

But Giovanni’s family was mixed up in the Mafia and Kingston decides to move South where things should be better.

Only they weren’t.

The message in the second novel is simple: “A person does not have to stay in a situation,” she explained. Kingston stays with her first husband “because he has some issues, but she is just an enabler,” Canada-Hargrove said.

Book Number Three, as yet untitled, has been in the works for a few weeks now. “It’s going to bring everything together,” its author promises. “I wanted to do it in three parts to keep people in suspense,” she said.

People have sent her messages thanking her for writing on the topic. And while she said the topic isn’t explicitly domestic violence or abuse, she wants readers to have a takeaway that they don’t have to stay in a relationship that is unhealthy.

It’s a dramedy, she says of the trilogy. “There’s comedy in there, there’s tears in there,” she said.

The books are available on Amazon.com.

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The Local Skinny! 100 Deadliest Days

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Sandwiched in between two national holidays – Memorial Day and Labor Day – is a period of about 100 days that parents of teen drivers never want to commemorate: During those three or so months have proven to be the deadliest for teen drivers.

During the summer months, teen drivers find themselves with more time on their hands – school is out, and they may be driving to summer jobs or be a taxi service for younger siblings.

In 2021, NCDOT statistics show almost 14,000 car crashes involving teens during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, resulting in 36 fatalities.

The state’s graduated driver license program includes measures that can help new drivers, including restricted nighttime driving and non-family passenger limits.

Of course, experienced drivers of a particular age may have had those same restrictions placed on them by their parents before the graduated driver license system began, and parents today can still be a positive influence on their children when they get behind the wheel.

The top factors for crashes are speeding, lane departure and distracted driving.

Be a good role model for your children and follow all the safety tips: don’t text and drive, even if you’re using the phone to navigate or change the music you’re playing.

Read more at https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/safety/driving-safety/Pages/teen-driver-safety.aspx

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Cooperative Extension with Wayne Rowland: Vegetable Systems

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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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Vance County High School

SportsTalk: It’s Football Season

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It might be a strange think to say a week before June but it’s football season!  At least at Vance County High School.  Head football coach Aaron Elliott was a guest on Thursday’s SportsTalk to explain why football is happening.

“Our spring game was last Friday,” Elliott said.  After practicing for ten straight days the Vipers took the field in an offense versus defense match up that saw the game end with the very baseball like score of 5-0.  “What I took away from the game was competitiveness,”  Elliott said.

The team now prepares for summer workouts and a trip to the FCA football camp at NC Wesleyan in Rocky Mount.  At $185 per player, it was expensive but Coach Elliott had help.  “Clearview Church helped out tremendously by paying for the entire camp,” Elliott said.

While the boys are preparing for next fall, the girls are taking the field tonight against Southern Durham for the first ever girl’s flag football team.  “We have lots of female athletes who can get it done,” Elliott said of the lady Vipers.  Next week the Vipers will take on Louisburg.   Elliott thinks by next season the sport will be fully sanctioned and they will have a full season.

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