County Commisioner's Meeting Tax Increase Is Discussed

The County Commissioner's meeting started at 7:00 PM last night and after public comments concluded (covered in detail in the article below about C.G. White) Rick Harrell was sworn in by Belinda White as a member of the Board of Equalization and Review.

Immediately thereafter the entire County Commission went into session as the Board of Equalization and Review to arrange for a legal auction of real estate and property that the county needs to dispose of. It was authorized for Mr. Bill Forbes to conduct the auction, and a meeting was set up on 7/2 to review the successful sales that are possible with adequate bids on the properties being sold.




Later in the meeting, the two people below, who are members of the local Humane Society, were appointed as Animal Cruely Investigators by vote of the County Commission under the state law that permits their function.





These two people, Donnie Taylor and May Paspas, are two of the many Humane Society people who work at no charge as volunteers to help with the adoption of animals that wind up in the Bertie County animal shelter. They work many hours to help take care of the animals and I thank them and the Humane Society for their hard work. It is much appreciated.

Almost the final agenda item of this night was certainly one of the most important items that was discussed. There is great concern, as expressed by Rick Harrell, that unless the State Legislature does something to reduce the Medicaid burden on our county, that a tax increase will be necessary.

The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald article about the possiblity to avoid the tax increase can be found here. The problem is that the Legislature has not acted yet, and there is no guarantee they will. Everyone is waiting patiently in hopes that the talked about savings if the state provides some relief will become actuality. If it doesn't, then a tax increase is a real possibility.