The recently passed state budget was more than two years in the making. There seems to be something for everyone. Almost everyone, that is. Vance County is among only three counties in the state that received no funding.
Nothing.
The big question is: Why?
Finding that answer may not be so simple. But one thing seems clear: Vance County did not receive any funding for projects earmarked for counties from the $3.1 billion appropriations bill that Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law last month.
Currituck and Chatham counties are the other two counties that didn’t receive funding, according to a recent analysis of the budget by the News & Observer.
Granville County got more than $45 million – the bulk of which is slated for South Granville Water and Sewer Authority in southern Granville County. Warren County got $300,000 and Franklin got a total of $1.8 million for three projects.
There are 628 pages that comprise the Senate Bill 105, which outlines details of the budget. And nothing in those 628 pages is earmarked for Vance County. According to the budget bill, Vance-Granville Community College was awarded more than $7.3 million, so perhaps some of that money will find its way to Vance County.
Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told John C. Rose in an email today (Thursday) that he was among a contingent of city and county officials that paid a visit to House Speaker Tim Moore. Ellington said he, along with City Manager Terrell Blackmon and county commissioners Tommy Hester and Archie Taylor went to Raleigh and were told that “no money was requested from our representatives in the House or the Senate.”
Terry Garrison represents Vance County in the state legislature, as does Sen. Ernestine Bazemore. Vance County Manager Jordan McMillen suggested that Garrison or Bazemore may have more information about what McMillen called “political maneuvering” in Raleigh.
“Sadly it comes down to the ugly side of politics,” Ellington said in an email Thursday to WIZS News. Ellington said the group asked Moore to “overlook that and make an exception for us, being that we were sitting in his office and had made the special trip.”
According to Ellington, Moore said he would look at the request again but that the budget had already been determined.
“Upon returning to Henderson, I spoke with Rep. Terry Garrison and he said he had been trying but being from the opposite party it came with strings attached and he couldn’t answer the quid pro quo. Our state Senator Ernestine Bazemore has been very sick and has basically not able to participate at all. This went on for another month before the 2021 budget was actually signed so something could have been done,” Ellington continued. Despite a couple of visits by Sen. Phil Berger to the Henderson/Vance County area, “it wasn’t enough to help us.”
He said the overdue budget, the ongoing power struggle between the Speaker of the House, the Senate Pro tem and the governor have put Henderson in a “tough spot.”
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