CCTA Issues and Watchdog Report- 18 Dec 2012

Craven County Board of Commissioners Meeting - 3 Dec 2012 & 17 Dec 2012

1) Prayer at the Board Meetings. The Board of Commissioners' meetings this month were both opened with the pledge and a prayer. Jerry Schill, Christian Coalition & Religious Christian Services (RCS) has acknowledged this and thanked the Board members who have lead Christian prayers.

2) North Carolina's Eastern Region-
I petitioned the Board on North Carolina's Eastern Region asking that they work to dissolve that planning board and to stop supporting the Global TransPark. Global TransPark is starting to compete with our regional airport and, even worse, with Cherry Point for military deployment and return of service members. When Commissioner Dacey asked the paid Chef Executive of this group directly if they support the Global TransPark, he did and tap toe dance that sounded something like no. The NC statute that established this group directs them to support the Global TransPark . Either they are not following the statute that established them or the Chief Executive lied. Which way is it? This subject is likely to come up again shortly after the appointments of the new members of the state Legislature.

The county's own staff under the leadership of Jack Veit, County Manager, and Gene Hodges, Interim Economic Development Director, has done an excellent job of managing the county's economic development efforts and NCER can just bow out! Gene made a very good presentation at yesterday's meeting with a screen display of the interactive computer web page that will be placed on the county website so that there can be postings of property for sale or lease that business and industry leaders can search for available properties in Craven County. The so called economic development planners we had before should have done this long ago!

3) Transparency in government matters-
It remains difficult to keep up with the county budget if you are not on the Board of Commissioners. I wish the current status of the FY 2012-13 budget could be found on the county website; however, Rick Hemphill, Assistant County Manage for Finance, has been good about giving me this information on the phone. He told me that that the balance at the end of November was $97,165,894.

4) FY 2012-13 Budget-
You will remember that, after the budget hearings, I objected to the county staff's representing that the FY 2012-13 budget was a reduction when compared with the previous year's budget. I raised this objection because, in order to make it look that way, they had to compare the beginning budget for FY 2012-13 with the ending budget ($97,199,246) for FY 2011-12. It was like comparing apples and oranges, and I predicted that the end budget for FY 2012-13 would eventually exceed the ending budget for FY 2011-12. AT THE END OF NOVEMBER, THEY ARE ONLY $33,352 SHORT OF THAT! THE FY 2012-13 BUDGET DOES NOT END UNTIL 30 JUNE 2013; THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME FOR IT TO CONTINUE GROWING!

At the first meeting I attended this month another $959,553 was approved in added expenditures. Most of it is an increase in the projected cost of the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC). We have no objection to the county getting a new EOC, but it was already in the budget, and these are either add-ons or cost overruns. It wasn't made clear which, and actually generated very little discussion. I wish these additional expenditures had been questioned.

At the meeting held yesterday morning (17 Dec 2012), another mere $66,644 was added that should bring the budget currently to $98,192,091. ALREADY EXCEEDING LAST YEAR'S BUDGET ----TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

IT APPEARS THAT THE BOARD FEELS NO REAL NEED FOR BUDGET TIGHTENING. In fact, at the last budget session, property tax was increased by 3.8% to make it "revenue neutral." Figger that one out! Then the increase was hidden by dropping the tax rate due to the property value re-assessment to 47 cents. I can figure that one out. Our tax rate is still being calculated at the value of the property at the end of 2009 even though the actual value of most property has dropped by around 40%. Why can't they revalue property annually to parallel the percentage drop in actual value by some formula acceptable to the real estate industry? WE ALL KNOW WHY! Then the Board, county manager and finance officer, department heads and the whole bunch would have to really budget year to year like real productive families do and guess at their income, like businesses have to do and budget accordingly. SOUNDS FAIR TO ME!

There was one other very interesting budget matter. At the first meeting, when Rick Hemphill stated that a budget request was being made because, if one were not made, the county would have to send some money back to the State, Commissioner Jeff Taylor objected and said that was the kind of reasoning CCTA objected to. He asked if anyone would fail to receive a county service if that money were sent back (small amount, only $18,300). As to the reasoning, here is a quote that accurately expresses it, "We currently have a reserve that needs to be budgeted and spent in order to not forfeit that funding." Since Rick could not answer Commissioner Taylor's question, the matter was continued until the Director of the County Department of Social Services could be consulted.

Unfortunately, It was just added at the second meeting. DDS found a way to spend it on a contract employee, travel and computers for staff.

5) Craven Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS)-
There was a public hearing on CARTS on 3 Dec 12. They asked that their program be approved and grant requests made for $556,092 with County matching funds of just $60,756 required, and the matching funds are to be raised out of operations. It's a heck of a good deal for the county, but, hey, it's all taxpayer money, and we taxpayers pay taxes to the State and Federal governments in addition to paying taxes to the County, so it's not such a good deal from our prospective.

Apparently NCDOT placed a cap on this CARTS funding which caused it to remain the same. The balance of CARTS' expenses are also covered by operations. Incidentally, a lot of this income from operations is paid by other tax supported counties, boards, commissions, grantees, etc. More tax dollars really. I made our usual objections, but praised the Director, Phyllis Toler, for excellence in executive management of the program. She really squeezes every dollar she gets.

6) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-
A public hearing was held on 17 Dec 2012. The application is for $750,000 for infrastructure projects. I was the only member of the public who spoke. Of course, I did it on behalf of CCTA. As I expect you remember, we decided not to fuss so much about these infrastructure projects. We did want the practice of giving houses to individual people to stop. Infrastructure is a valid concern of local government. It's a shame the federal government has taken it upon itself to provide infrastructure money to local communities, however. It takes a lot more than $750,000 of taxpayers' money sent to the federal government in order to get that amount delivered to Craven County, and when taxpayers' money is channeled that way, it always comes down with all kinds of federal "strings" (read, "control") attached. At any rate, I congratulated the board on it's decision not to build houses for people anymore. REMEMBER THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT GIVE ANYBODY ANYTHING THAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT FIRST TAKE FROM SOMEBODY ELSE.

7) Electronic Offender Monitoring Program (EOMP) - Captain Jessee Pittman and Sgt. Steve Wallace gave an excellent presentation on this program. They say and adequately substantiate that the program will save taxpayers $250,000 this fiscal year. The program allows non-violent offenders to continue at their jobs and continue paying child support, etc. Most of the savings is from not using beds in the jail that can be leased for federal, state and other counties prisoners. Two judges were there to say they support the program.

8) Tall Structure Ordinance and Contract-
This effort shows great initiative on the part of the Board. This ordinance could prevent tall windmills from being constructed by the progressives in existing flight patterns and show support for our aviation community including the military! The board has authorized the expenditure of $7,000. Havelock has agreed to reimburse the county $1,540 of this cost.

9) School Board-
The school board held an all morning meeting on the Accountability Model the school is implementing at at the direction of the US Department of Education and through the North Carolina Superintendent of public instruction TO THE FEDERAL STANDARDS. The meeting was guided by a slide presentation done by Dr. Brown, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum. I have a printed copy I'm sure some of you will be interested in. Whole county school systems, schools, administrators, teachers and students will be held accountable (so they say). I can tell you that student education emphasis is on English, math, and science performance. Literacy standards were also discussed. The meeting was about these accountability requirements and not about the subjects I'm most concerned about- the lack of knowledge of American history on the part of students, and the teaching of globalism in school instead of "American Exceptionalism," and the taking of God out of our schools and letting Satin run rampart instead. One "Educator of the Year" John Taylor Gatto has stated, "turning your children over to total strangers and having those strangers work on your child's mind - it's a mad idea."

TURNING YOUR CHILD OVER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BE INDOCTRINATED IS AN EVEN MADDER IDEA!

Sheriff's Office
I want to thank our member Joe Albanese for his work with the Sheriff's Office. He has been volunteering there (looks good in his uniform). He also met with me at the invitation of Sergeant Steve Wallace to discuss the Electronic Offender Monitoring program. I also got a good tour of the jail. Man, what an eye opener! Sgt. Wallace asked me to invite you all on the tour too. Would you like to form a group visit?

Here are a few facts:
70% of the people wearing ankle bracelet monitors work at a job. Often low paying, but they work.

85% of jail inmates have been declared "indigent" therefore, are not required to pay any of the cost - i.e. jail expense, legal defense expense, medical expense, etc.

No prisoner has cut his ankle bracelet in the 3 years of their use by the Sheriffs office. Other agencies have lost some, though. You might have heard about those.

Most cases where the bracelets are used are "child support cases."


Respectfully Submitted,

Hal James, Watchdog Committee Chairman

Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=b4ovyaiab&v=001SZ1qw1gWteRfwipfHHVJADEa1eU9yQo69iOEWHuaDf0_Qw5hMca7drMMPk1FVbOuzSk5MfoMpoLgQUcJGtxhSRSxmpJGPiIojVD6H9nshjkARVXGZpwjjiFITSJQ7XARthA1ryJRDhzBWF7-pCtzvA%3D%3D

North Carolina Legislative Report November 18, 2011

THANKS TO THE NORTH CAROLINA FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN FOR THIS REPORT!


U.S. Congress

1. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (H.R. 2112) - The $128 billion bill appropriates funds to the select agencies for the remainder of 2012. Conservative Republicans opposed the bill's price tag and other provisions. The funding averts a shutdown of the agencies cited, and has to be signed by midnight Nov 18, 2011. Since President Obama is in Indonesia, "a machine imprint of his signature" will be used. (The Wall Street Journal)

In an article on RedState.com, Daniel Horowitz wrote that the bill ". . . contains record levels of spending for Food Stamps, WIC, and international food aid. It also contains $2.3 billion for disaster spending , which is excluded from the budget caps. Further, the "bill has a provision which was inserted into the conference report to expand the role of Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac."


In the Senate, the vote on Nov 17, 2011 was 70 to 30 with Senator Burr voting against it and Senator Hagan voting for it.

The House also voted on Nov 17, 2011 to pass the bill in a vote of 298 to 121 with 14 not voting.

NC Representatives voting for the bill: G. K. Butterfield (D-1st), Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), David E. Price (D-4th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Heath Shuler (D-11th), Melvin Watt (D-12th), and Brad Miller (D-13th)

NC Representatives voting against the bill: Walter B. Jones (R-3rd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), and Patrick T. McHenry (R-10th).

2. Government Contract Withholding Repeal Act (H.R. 674) - On Nov 10, 2011 the Senate voted to amend the Tax Code "to repeal a requirement that government agencies withhold 3 percent of payments to government contractors," and to "give tax credits to companies that hire unemployed veterans." (Megavote) In addition, the bill "Includes social security benefits that are excluded from gross income in the calculation of modified adjusted gross income for purposes of determining eligibility for the tax credit for coverage under a qualified health plan." (Bill Summary)

The Senate vote was 95 to 0 with 1 voting present and 4 not voting. Senator Burr voted for it and Senator Hagan did not vote.

On Nov 16, 2011 the House voted on the same bill and the vote was 422 to 0 with 11 not voting.  All NC Representatives voted for the bill.

House - Other Recent Votes

National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 (H.R. 822) - The bill "Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a person who is carrying a government-issued photographic identification document and a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state, and who is not prohibited from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm under federal law, to carry a concealed handgun (other than a machinegun or destructive device) in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that state." (Bill Summary)

On Nov 16, 2011 the bill passed in a vote of 272 to 154 with 7 not voting.  NC Representatives voting for the bill: Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), Walter B. Jones (R-3rd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick T. McHenry (R-10th), and Heath Shuler (D-11th).

NC Representatives voting against the bill: G.K. Butterfield (D-1st), David E. Price (D-4th), Melvin Watt (D-12th), and Brad Miller (D-13th).

Defense

1. In September the Obama Administration presented its plan to cut the deficit and identified $27 billion in cuts from the military healthcare program involving changes in TRICARE health and pharmacy benefits, along with changes in the retirement system, and other restructuring ideas. (Military Officer Association of America (MOAA))


2. Super Committee (Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction) - Their report is due on Nov 23, 2011 that will cut the budget deficit by a minimum of $1.2 trillion and if the committee cannot agree, automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion will take place in January 2013 (KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD AGAIN) affecting only Defense and Medicare. The Hill has reported that "Republicans are especially fearful" of cuts to defense. A Democrat aide said, "Members would prefer to live with a stalemate than an unbalanced deal that is surrender to the Republicans, and that attitude is reflected in the leadership."

3. Caring For Camp Lejeune Veterans (S 277) - Senator Burr has sponsored this bill which has two parts:

• It provides hospital care and health benefits to veterans and their families who were stationed at Camp Lejeune while there was a contaminated water problem.

• The bill also "Requires the DOD Secretary to merge and consolidate all commissary and exchange stores into a single system that, by not later than the end of FY2015, operates on a self-sufficient basis without the need for financial support through appropriated funds. Prohibits any DOD funds from being obligated or expended after FY2015 for commissary and exchange stores." (Bill Summary)

The bill has been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, but no date is identified for the vote.

For over 20 years lobbyists from the supermarkets and retail establishments have fought against the commissary and the exchange. (The Ft. Bragg Commissary advertises at the door that the commissary is the number one benefit to the military).


4. Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, Havelock, NC - May be downsized or closed. The Craven County Republican Women's Club has sent letters to Senator Burr and members of the Super Committee asking them to retain Cherry Point as its mission concerns fighter planes and it is essential for preparedness and readiness. For more information, contact Sherry Bradbury, President, at sbradbury@suddenlink.net.

If you are concerned about the defense of our nation, which is the first priority of the federal government, please contact Senator Burr: Email: burr.senate.gov; telephone (202) 224-3154 or by letter: Senator Richard Burr, United States Senate, 217 Russell Senate Officed Building, Washington, DC 20510.

NC General Assembly

1. The General Assembly will convene for a special session Nov 27- 29, 2011. Among the topics may be any vetoed bills such as Voter Photo ID, and other topics including NC's Racial Justice Act," among others. To override the governor's veto, the House requires 72 votes which means that four Democrats must vote with all Republicans to override a veto. The most likely may be:

William D. Brisson (Bladen, Cumerland) 919 733-5772
Jim Crawford (Granville, Vance) 919 733-5824
Dewey Hill (Brunswick, Columbus) 919 733-5830
Timothy Spear (Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Washington) 919 715-3029


For other information go to: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/

2. Another bill receiving much attention is the "Cap Motor Fuel Excise Tax Rate" (House Bill 399). " "North Carolina now has the third-highest gas tax in the United States," according to a report in the Charlotte Business Journal. "North Carolina's tax of 35 cents a gallon ranks only behind Washington (37.5 cents) and California (35.7 cents)" for a gallon for gas. The nation's lowest rate is Georgia at 7.5 cents a gallon. (Charlotte Observer)

The General Assembly to date has not addressed the Democrat sponsored bill that automatically recalculates the gas tax every July 1 and Jan 1.

Representative John Blust (Guilford), one of the cosponsors of the bill, has provided the following Resolution:

"RESOLUTION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY

WHEREAS, North Carolina has a tax on gasoline of 35 cents per gallon, the third highest of any state in America, and


WHEREAS, the Democrats, when they controlled the North Carolina legislature, put in place a formula that enables the gas tax to rise automatically as the wholesale price of gasoline rises on the market without the legislature having to take a vote to raise the gas tax, so that legislators can escape accountability for gas tax increases, and


WHEREAS, these same scheming politicians also put a floor on the gasoline tax so that it cannot fall below a certain level if the wholesale price of gasoline declines, and

WHEREAS, Republicans took control of both the North Carolina House and the North Carolina Senate for the first time since reconstruction in the 2010 elections, due largely to the resources, time, efforts and other contributions of grassroots Republican activists across the state of North Carolina, and

WHEREAS, Republican candidates for the North Carolina House, North Carolina Senate, US House and US Senate campaigned on a similar theme that they would get runaway spending under control and put the state and nation on a sound fiscal footing without raising taxes, and this message of fiscal responsibility resonated with an electorate that believes it is taxed enough already in a very difficult economy, and

WHEREAS, the Obama administration and liberal Democrats in Congress, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid, enacted a wasteful stimulus bill, claiming that spending billions of dollars more money on infrastructure and "shovel-ready projects" would turn the economy around and create millions of new jobs,


WHEREAS, the Obama stimulus and other irresponsible spending has actually choked economic growth, impeded job creation, retarded any economic recovery, and has been an all-around abject failure, and


WHEREAS, Obama, Reid and Pelosi have lately been demanding a second stimulus, again based upon the already failed argument that raising taxes and spending billions more on infrastructure will lead to economic growth and job creation, and

WHEREAS, the price of gasoline has risen considerably over the last two years as the anti-energy policies of the Obama Administration have taken hold, and

WHEREAS, North Carolina's gas tax already rose two cents per gallon under the automatic formula and is projected to raise another four cents a gallon on January 1, 2012 to 39 cents a gallon, which will make North Carolina's the second highest gas tax of any state in America, unless the Republican-controlled General Assembly acts before January 1, to stop the automatic increase, and

WHEREAS, some Republican House members filed House Bill 399 on March__, 2011 to cap the gas tax even before the first gas tax increase took effect on July 1, 2011, and

WHEREAS, House Bill 399 has not been allowed to come up for a vote or even get a committee hearing in the Republican controlled NC House, nor has the Republican-controlled NC Senate taken any action to stop the automatic gas tax increases, and


WHEREAS, in the past several yea[r]s, continuing up to the present time, the Democrats (1) have raided the state's Highway Fund to pay for their reckless spending on things other than roads and bridges, (2) have allowed waste, cronyism and even corruption to run rampant throughout state government but especially within the NCDOT, (3) have refused to allow any adjustment to the highway funding formula to dedicate current revenue from the gas tax to the most critically needed road and bridge projects, and (4) have instead, directed enormous sums of money toward lower-priority projects in the areas represented by their most powerful politicians or their contributors, and

WHEREAS, even on Wednesday, November 16, the Perdue administration told a legislative oversight committee that it intended to divert $5,000,000 of critically-needed highway funds to the Global Transpark,

WHEREAS, the unacceptable misuse, waste, cronyism and corruption in the area of transportation as set forth above has not yet been fixed - primarily because the current Democratic governor has not cooperated or provided any leadership in this effort, and

WHEREAS, the people of North Carolina are continuing to suffer in a down economy due to the counter-productive policies and actions of the Obama and the Perdue administrations, and tens of thousands remain unemployed or underemployed and simply cannot afford to pay more for a critically needed commodity every time they pull up to a gas pump to refuel, and


WHEREAS, the government of the state of North Carolina has no business asking economically struggling people to pony up more in gas taxes until it starts using the revenue from the already third highest gas tax in a much more responsible fashion, and


WHEREAS, we expect our Republican-led legislature live up to the promises of the last campaign and to take action to fix state government and be wise stewards of the taxes the state of North Carolina is taking from its hard-pressed people;

NOW, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the North Carolina Republican Party, through its duly constituted and acting Executive Committee, do formally call upon the North Carolina General Assembly to act with alacrity to cap the gas tax in effect in the state of North Carolina to prevent another 11% increase in this tax from going into effect on January 1, 2012 and to take all actions possible to use the current revenue from the third-highest gas tax in the United States as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Respectfully Adopted, this the 19th day of November, 2011." [Rep John Blust]

Please call your elected officials.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, "Legislation Is Passed That Averts Shutdown," by Corey Boles, Nov 18, 2011; RedState.com, "Republicans Throw Their 'Pledge To America' Under the OmniBus," by Daniel Horowitz, Nov 17, 2011; senate.gov; house.gov; MegaVote: NC 6th, 11/14/2011; The Hill, "Deal-breaker election looms over supercommittee negotiations," by Alexander Bolton and Russell Berman, Nov 14, 2011; Letter to Sen. Burr from Craven County Republican Women's Club, dated Nov 3, 2011; MOAA, "Misguided Attack," Nov 2011; News & Observer, "District attorneys aim to overhaul Racial Justice Act," by Anne Blythe, Nov 17, 2011; WRAL.com, "Round Two for the Racial Justice Act?" Nov 16, 2011; AP, "N.C's Racial Justice Act gets support," by Martha Waggoner AP, Nov 16, 2011; Charlotte Observer, "N.C. gas tax 3rd-highest in U.S," Sep 1, 2011; ncga; Resolution from Rep. John Blust, Nov 17, 2011.