Why don't we unincorporate the Town?

I have been amazed the number of times I have been asked that question or heard that desire expressed the last few days. But, I have to admit that I have made that statement before, in both open and closed sessions of the council. At the time I was trying to make a point and was being facetious.

Seriously, though, what circumstances would lead a reasonable person to that conclusion or desire?

In my opinion, if the town's service levels are ever reduced to the same level as provided by the county, it might become a true consideration. If the services offered are no greater than the services that would be provided otherwise, why should the town government exist? The best thing to do at this point would be to explore the effects this would have:

Services.............................Town...........................................County

Zoning : .......................................Yes...............................................Yes

Code Enforcement:.................... Yes............................................. Yes

Building/Repair Permits:......... Yes.............................................. Yes

Fire Inspection ...........................Yes..............................................Yes

Law Enforcement .......................Yes .............................................Yes

Public Works/Beautification .....Yes ..............................................No

Road Maintenance .....................Yes ..............................................No

Emergency Medical Service .....No ...............................................Yes *

Fire/Rescue ................................Yes............................................. Yes

Ocean Rescue/Lifeguards......... Yes .............................................No **

Garbage Collection......................Yes .............................................Yes

Recycling......................................Yes ..............................................No

Chipping/Vegetation Disposal ..Yes.............................................. No

*EMS is provided to all residents of the county, the towns do not participate in this operation

**This service can be arranged but an additional tax would need to be levied.

Most often singled out during town budget discussions, whether for major cuts or outright elimination, are Ocean Rescue/Lifeguards, Recycling, and Chipping. Remove them and the case for dissolution begins to look a little more attractive. After all, beautification issues could be put in the hands of local associations and the individual subdivisions could either take responsibility for their streets or work out something with the county. For example: property owners in Seacrest Village subdivision would not be paying for street repairs through a tax for repairs to a street in Chicahauk. Is this looking like a possibility?

Let's look at the realities involved, such as the ad valorem taxes:

Currently collected in TOSS............................................................. If no TOSS

County: .26 .........................................................................................County: .26

Town: .0975....................................................................................... Sanitation: .0675*

..............................................................................................................Fire Tax: .02**

Total: .3575 ........................................................................................Total: .3475 (This is what Martin's Point pays)

*Charged in all unincorporated areas of Dare County primarily for garbage pickup.

**Current Fire Tax in Martin's Point for service from the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc., at this time there is no Fire Tax in the town it is a contracted service.

So, judging from the above, if Southern Shores were to dissolve town government the savings to the taxpayer would only be .01 per $100 of value.

Now let's look at what we are getting for that penny of tax:

Code Enforcement – this actually would include Zoning, Planning, Permitting, and Fire Inspection. Our town ordinances are customized and enforced based on the desire of the local community. Under the county, these matters would be based on more broad considerations and would not necessarily match our desires. Would you want to see a couple of “big box” stores in our commercial district?

This is the main reason Duck incorporated

Law Enforcement - the town currently provides 24/7 service, with constant community patrols and overlapping shifts to assure constant coverage. Although the county would assign a deputy to our community on each shift, that deputy would most likely be assigned Colington Harbour and Martin's Point as well. Street patrols would be minimal, and dispatch times (to arrival) could take awhile if the officer happened to be in Colington.

Public Works – to include beautification. This department maintains road signs, sight lines at intersections, mowing, maintenance for town buildings and grounds, and has dealt with storm water problems. Of course, the county would provide none of this.

Roads – under the NC General Statutes, counties have no responsibilities in regard to streets or roads. The town was most likely first incorporated so that shared revenues that then became available could be used to finance the repair and replacement of our streets and bridges.

Fire/Rescue – whether under the county or town would actually remain the same. One minor exception, the Fire Tax levied in Martin's Point is .02, while in the town the budgeted amount is currently equivalent to .017. The county will only levy this tax in whole or half points. Another point of interest is that in NC law the town is not required to provide fire service, the county is though.

Ocean Rescue/Lifeguard – details of how this service is structured can be found in a previous post. It is not a required service, but one that has been provided by the town for a number of years and matches the services that are currently provided in both Duck and Kitty Hawk. The county would have to charge for a service like this, as in Duck before they incorporated they would probably boost the Fire Tax .01 to be used for this service.

Garbage – the county is currently our contract for trash pickup, so I wouldn't expect much change with this service. Although, in Martin's Point there is no curbside pickup, they pay a full .0675 for centralized dumpsters.

Recycling – I believe Southern Shores is still the only community with curbside recycling, the county would probably provide a central recycling center somewhere in the vicinity.

Chipping – it is true that no other town here has a program exactly like Southern Shores, but most of the other towns in the county do have a larger Public Works Department that has the resources to haul away and deal with vegetative debris. In the case of Southern Shores, we use a contractor to deal with it. I don't believe the county deals with this problem except possibly through burn permits.

Having completed this exercise, it appears that, for now, the best course of action “for the better good of the whole” would be to maintain our independence and identity as an incorporated town. If you really thoroughly reviewed and digested the above, isn't it a wonder that we can employ the number of people along with providing the equipment and materials necessary to conduct business as a town?

On top of that to also provide customized, unique services to our citizens for little more than what would be paid to the county.

So, what is the problem? Why would anyone even consider the possibility? Obviously, they must be frustrated about the haggling and hullabaloo surrounding the town's budget and services.

What do you think?