Board approves $59 M budget

Commissioner Margaret Stinnett wanted to discuss again the money from the downtown tax district the town is spending for advertising on Time Warner Cable. “I still have a problem with downtown money used for advertising.” The current contract with Time Warner is $27,000 with an increase in 2015-2016 to $30,000.

Then Commissioner Zachary Donahue had, he said, “a problem with levying that tax.” Instead, he suggested, it might be better to “incentivize people to develop downtown without the burden of the tax.” Down town property in the special tax district pay an additional 14 cents per $100. The tax began as a way of paying to develop the downtown parking lots. Now it pays for façade improvements, downtown projects and the interest on the South White Streetscape.

Acting Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said the questions and concerns could be addressed during the board’s annual summer retreat, and Commissioner Jim Thompson said they could amend the budget and the tax rate afterward. “No,” O’Donnell said. “The tax rate is set once a year.”

Then Stinnett said she was opposed to providing $98,500 to the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce for economic development, and Donahue said he objects to paying Time Warner instead of supporting local businesses like The Wake Forest Weekly. The money for the chamber’s economic development (in place of the town staff doing it) comes from general fund monies, not the special downtown tax.

In the end all five commissioners voted for the $59-million general fund and electric fund budget. The $38-million general fund is paid through property taxes, which remain at 52 cents, with 11 cents paying the Wake Forest Fire Department contract and 41 cents covering general town expenses. The $21-million electric fund is operated entirely from electric revenues.

The board did split when it came to the question of the proposed Bobby Murray dealership on Capital Boulevard next to the Shearon Farms subdivision. There was a large number of subdivision residents in the audience, who applauded when Thompson suggested waiting to make a further connection because “there are two road connections.”

The commissioners’ discussion was all about the streets which could or may connect the dealership to Burlington Mills Road, Meadstone Way and Urial Drive. All other questions had been answered, it appeared, by the several conditions the applicant had agreed to. Stinnett was concerned the town would accept the streets and connect the dealership without the streets begin complete to a 36-foot width with curb and gutter and streets.

Planning Director Chip Russell revisited the 2005 revision of the master plan, agreed to by the then-town board, which spells out when streets will be completed. The original plan called for commercial development first along Burlington Mills Road followed by residential development later, but time and changes in ownership have meant the residential portion is almost complete and the commercial section, with a different owner, stands vacant.

O’Donnell pointed out that the “acceptance of the streets has nothing to do with this project (the dealership). It’s tied to the Shearon Farms projects.” And he said the two streets can handle the anticipated traffic “with the two lanes as long as the pavement is adequate.”

In the end, the vote was three to two to approve the rezoning and master plan for the Bobby Murray dealership with Stinnett and Thompson voting no.

(Because of a computer problem that lasted five hours, the remainder of Tuesday’s meeting will be reported next week.)