Mayor Vivian Jones had an unusual opportunity to cast a vote Tuesday night, and she did so to approve the $56.4 million budget for 2014-2015 that includes a penny increase in the property tax rate from 51 to 52 cents.
Commissioner Jim Thompson’s absence – he was arriving on a flight that evening – meant Jones got to break the tie between Commissioners Anne Hines Reeve and Margaret Stinnett, who voted for the budget, and Commissioners Greg Harrington and Zachary Donahue, who voted no.
The additional penny and a second penny increase planned for next year will provide for the staffing and equipment for the planned Wake Forest Fire Department’s Station #4 on Jenkins Road, a station that was strongly opposed by a few neighbors.
One of the opponents’ points was that the station would serve a large swath of land outside the town limits. Fire Chief Ron Early says the balance is now about 50-50 between calls to inside and to outside the town limits.
Also, the town commissioners and officials, along with Early, are concerned that Wake County does not provide adequate funding for the department. The town now provides between 80 and 90 percent of the fire department’s budget. The county has hired an outside firm to study the funding for the fire departments in the county that serve rural and unincorporated areas, but the first draft of the study is not yet available.
For the Wake Forest Fire Department, their service district includes all the subdivisions along Jenkins Road, Thompson Mill Road, Purnell Road and Falls of the Neuse Road that are in unincorporated areas.
Harrington said, “I feel like I have a responsibility to the citizens of Wake Forest not to increase their taxes for the benefit of count residents.”
Donahue said, “I believe it is premature to shift the burden from the county to the town’s taxpayers.”
Both men said they support the fire department.
“I respect what the fire department does, and I believe it is inappropriate not to protect the town residents because the county is going to benefit.
Earlier in the meeting, a possible item for some dissent, a vote on the master plan for the Tryon subdivision south of Oak Grove Church Road, was postponed to the July meeting because the developer asked for a delay to make adjustments to the plan based on the comments made during the public hearing earlier this month. A vote on the request for annexation by the people who own the affected land was also postponed.
The commissioners did agree on contracts for two waste disposal firms.
Waste Industries, which collects commercial garbage and recycling, asked for an increase of about a half to one percent because, General Manager Ben Habets said, the East Wake Transfer Station has increased its fees by $3 a ton. The board agreed to the new rate and contract that will last for three years.
The board also approved a three-year extension of the contract with Republic Services, which picks up the residential garbage and recycling in town. There will be a CPI increase of about 1.5 percent, but that will not be seen by town residents. The cost of the garbage and recycling service is included in the property tax rate.
They also agreed for an additional survey on the northwestern portion of Ligon Mill Road. The survey is to discover if the part of the road recently built in conjunction with an apartment project will align properly with the widening project the town is undertaking. The cost is estimated at $3,425.
For another street project, the improvements and paving for Caddell Street between Spring Street and Pearce Street, the board agreed to condemn the acre lot at 330 East Spring Street. The town has found that it cannot properly identify all the heirs of Katie Hargrove, and the staff has determined that a fair market value for the property is $52,000.
“The property owners that were notified were tickled to death,” Stinnett said. “They were pleased with the fact it was going to be done.”
