Like most liberals in the government, the Elizabeth City government was debating not whether to increase our property taxes but by how much to increase them.
According to DATAUSA, the number of Elizabeth City residents who own a home and pay property taxes fell from 2018 to 2019, and now we have only 37.6% of our residents who own a home here. The national average for property ownership is 64.1%.
Property taxes finance the majority of the budget. A clear majority of the electorate, who is responsible for the Elizabeth City Council, are renters and do not pay property taxes. Not bad people, of course; many are wonderful members of the community. But their view of the budget and the property tax hike is very likely to be influenced by the fact that they don’t pay property taxes here.
So we have a huge hike in property tax to fund a bloated budget, an overpriced, underperforming city manager, city council members – the majority of whom have decided they need a huge raise in the middle of a pandemic – and have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on that Law enforcement to protect a small number of protesters who could have been admitted in a single location subject to legal restrictions on time, place and type. But our city manager decided they should have daily parade permits instead.
Now we have one of the highest city tax rates in the state. Our eight-year property revaluation is also coming up. Property owners are then hit right in this hot real estate market.
Take a look around and ask yourself if our top tax rate is reflected in the quality of the services provided here. How are your city streets, infrastructure like sidewalks? What about all the weeds hanging on the curbs, the trash on the streets? Enforcement of the code?
This is not about raising wages. The recent strike has shown that our employees have not had leadership priority for too long.
However, services are largely funded by the clear minority of landowners in Elizabeth City, and in some areas services are very selectively supplied, not supplied, or completely ignored.
For example, there is a house on 501 Cedar Street. It’s empty and has had break-ins and drug activity issues. The property is filthy and full of rubbish that rots in the weather and the elements. The grass is over 2 meters long. There is a rat infestation and there is a raccoon and snake problem.
The previous occupant left dogs alone in the house for days, and the dogs would go out a broken roof window to relieve themselves and look for food and water. In the house the children lived in, there is literally dog poop on almost every square inch of floor in every room.
People in this neighborhood, who literally had to live with it for well over a year, have repeatedly contacted the city to get code enforcement and the health department to take action. Many times. The answer? Nothing. Lip service.
But it was no problem at all to find a law enforcement officer who came to my house with a tape measure in hand during the election last November to quote my family for an “oversized sign,” when that was accurate large sign in the houses located around other places in the urban area.
A review of the law enforcement records found no other household was cited with an oversized sign. I’ll let you guess what the only difference was between the characters.
The size was the same, the message wasn’t. Signs throughout the city were ignored, even though they were placed where the code forbade it – but not in a select few locations, depending on the sign’s message.
Then there was a certified letter threatening me with a daily fine of $ 500, complete with a color photo and a ruler that told me that a single rose branch protruded half an inch above the sidewalk. Lots of time and money to enforce the code!
Forget the city complies or acknowledges public records. I sent one on May 25 to ask for a breakdown of working days in the city affected by the pandemic and protests and increased law enforcement costs. I haven’t heard a word.
It is a legal requirement to provide residents with the public records of the community they fund upon request. But months have passed, and that compliance with the law appears as selective and inconsistent as code enforcement.
The city government spends money, taxes and arrogantly ignores its path into oblivion. The tax rate affects people to go elsewhere. The lack and selectivity of services is also there.
Most of us don’t get our money’s worth. Not even close. The ruling arrogance and incompetence will continue to cost us all dearly.
Holly Audette is a small business owner who is politically and civically involved.