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As Chairman of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners, it is a privilege to be able to report on the state of Richmond County.
The week of April 6 through 12 is National County Government Week all across the United States. This week is the time when counties call attention to the services and programs they offer and administer. During this important week, members of the County staff and this Board will have the opportunity to raise public awareness about the roles and responsibilities the County and its representatives have to provide essential services and effective programs. As part of the week’s activities, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has asked each county to issue a “State of the County”. Because we believe it is important to communicate with the citizens we serve, I am pleased to make this report on the past year’s activities of your county government.
First, let me begin by saying that the financial status of the County is good. We received an unqualified audit report for the past fiscal year. Even though we are facing some expenses that we resisted as long as we could, we continue to work to make sure that we have the funds we need to compete in the area for new economic development.
One of this Board’s major goals has been to promote economic development. During the past year, we have seen success in this role. Six months ago, Progress Energy announced it would expand its power plant and transmission lines in Richmond County. This project will increase property tax income by around $3 million per year, and provide as many as 500 temporary jobs. Just last month, SRB Holdings, LLC announced it would locate in The Richmond County Industrial Park. The company’s plan to build a 300,000 square-foot building represents more than a 10 million dollar investment in the county. This year the NC Electric Membership Corporation Peaking Generation plant came on line. This plant adds about $150,000,000.00 in value to the Richmond County tax base. At today’s rate, that would bring in about 1.4 million dollars in tax income. I should point out that the development of this NC EMC plant and the recently announced Progress Energy power plant expansion was made possible with very little infrastructure change or improvement since the planning for these possibilities took place almost 10 years ago. Just over a year ago, BST announced a 35 million dollar expansion with 200 jobs. Rexam announced their second 10 million dollar expansion within the past year and Laticrete, a relative newcomer to Richmond County, has just expanded their investment here. Another one of the most significant industrial announcements in Richmond County was made by Trinity Manufacturing a little over a year ago, when the industry announced a $43 million product line expansion. This plant has begun full operation in the past few months. These are prime examples of just how important existing industries have been to the county’s economic stability and how their success is critical to our future. We have recognized that there are fewer and fewer mega industries, hiring a thousand or more employees in one location. We are attempting to position ourselves for the smaller, more diverse, more computerized industries that require fewer, but higher skilled workers
It is because of thoughtful planning and decision making on the part of this board and the County staff that we are able to make these positive announcements. Richmond County is able to compete with other counties in recruiting industries because of the careful planning of future infrastructure needs and a realistic effort towards economic development.
In the past year, the water distribution system has seen major improvements. Close to $3 million was invested in a water project to serve both Trinity Manufacturing and Viking Pools. The project included upgrading a booster pump station, constructing a new 750,000-gallon tank, installing new water lines and constructing a new pump station. In the past year, we’ve also seen the installation of an a second elevated tank, this one a 500,000-gallon tank, raised the elevation of a third tank by about 35 feet, added more than 10 miles of residential water lines, and upgraded other lines in the County in order to better serve our customers. In planning for future needs, we have also had the engineering prepared for the expansion of our water plant. Currently the water plant will make six million, seven hundred fifty thousand gallons of water per day. Our plans are to upgrade the water plant to an 11 million gallon per day plant. It is because of such careful planning that Richmond County has NOT been forced to implement severe controls over the residential use of water during the drought. Many cities and counties are much less fortunate during periods of less rainfall. Our good fortune is the direct result of a board and staff that has planned for times such as these. This kind of “good luck” does not come to us without planning.
As part of the project to update the Richmond County Airport, we are in the process of constructing 10 new nested-T Hangars for rental. We have improved the runway facilities as well as the ramp in previous years and now we have moved to the airplane storage area that is also in need of improvement. Some may wonder why the County would invest in an airport facility. The answer is simple. Having a modern facility boosts economic development and it may help in attracting businesses to the area. Take our most recent announcement as an example. Officials from SRB Holdings expressed that they were impressed with such a modern airport facility. These are people who fly all the time and who recognized the efforts we had made to make a welcoming facility. Housing business airplanes and jets at the airport also brings in more tax income to the County. This, of course, helps keep the tax rate down for all of us.
The work at the airport and on water projects wouldn’t have been possible without grant funds. The County sought out money to help with these projects, in order to ease the burden of taxpayers. In fact, it has become part of the job of all of our departments to seek out and develop grant applications. We have better luck with grants some years than others but during the past year we have received over ONE MILLION dollars in grants from various sources. As a Tier One county, we qualify for many different grants and awards and commend our staff for applying for and utilizing all the grant programs available to us
Another opportunity Richmond County has been afforded concerns our racing heritage. Andy Hillenburg, who purchased the speedway at public auction last fall, has announced plans for two races this year; one will be held next month, while another will take place in November. A number of people were involved in an effort to bring racing back to Richmond County, including County staff and Commissioners. The “round track” and the dragstrip offer Richmond County the potential to regain top tier status in the auto racing industry.
Richmond County has been fortunate to have had Mr. G.R. Kindley representing this area on the Department of Transportation Board. Over the past few years we have seen the highway dreams and plans of many come to pass. We are now looking forward to the possibilities in the entire northern end of the County with the opening of the I-73 Bypass around Ellerbe. Already we have had contacts with developers who are interested in developing some of the interchanges that were created.
While we enjoy talking about the big projects and looking forward to the future, it’s important to note that during every single day of the year, we are striving to better serve the citizens of this County. Even though the day to day work many times does not get headlines and does not involve grading or moving dirt, many things are routinely being handled. The County staff routinely handles thousands of requests for information, building and septic tank permits, recording of deeds and other official documents, we hauled away approximately 50,000 tons of garbage from our disposal sites (our staff coordinated the removal of 120 TONS of garbage from the sides of Richmond County roads during this past year), repaired water line leaks, and did such things as provide and maintain recreation facilities and did the routine maintenance on our fleet of cars, trucks and heavy equipment. One example of the service numbers is our Veteran’s Service Officer (a one person department). She had about 3,000 office visits and calls with veterans who were in need of some form of assistance during the past year. That is an average of over 12 per day.
During the past year we have continued to upgrade our computer capabilities in almost every department. One example is in our Planning Department where, in addition to the planning work, which included the demolition of 40 dilapidated structures, we coordinated the upgrade to the mapping website, and even held special classes for the public after hours to train people on how to use it. Our new website is up with information and links being constantly added.
Whether it’s helping a working family find quality day care services, keeping our highways clean, or answering a desperate 9-1-1 call, our employees work hard to provide the services you need. Consider the following numbers.
Our Sheriff’s Office responded to 24,052 calls last year alone. Telecommunicators at Emergency Management helped more than 24,000 callers in 2007 as well. And, even though our deputies and telecommunicators’ plates are full, they still take the time to visit with and educate children in Richmond County about safety. Just last week, the staff at 9-1-1 spent an entire morning with a third grade class. Students learned about the importance of knowing their address, and even had the chance to see the staff in action.
The Board of Elections office made sure 3,210 votes were counted last year, and the employees registered close to 1,400 new voters. Employees at the Elections Office not only work to ensure that every vote is counted, but they also strive to ensure each eligible voter is registered. During this week, the staff will register young voters on the campus of Richmond Community College. Just a few weeks back, employees worked to eliminate some of the barriers youth have to the voting process by holding a registration drive on the campus of the high school.
Our Senior Centers take care of some of the needs of those 55-and-older by offering everything from notary services and exercise classes and nutritious meals and recreational activities. The Richmond County Senior Center last year served 569 unduplicated clients in a variety of ways.
The theme of this year’s County Government Week, “Protecting Our Children” is carried out successfully in Richmond County, as many of our departments have special programs designed to protect and assist our children. Not only did we fund Richmond County Schools in the total amount of $6,950,000.00, the Community College in the amount of $1,389,847.00, we also provided for many other departments and workers involved directly with keeping our children safe. A number of employees also work to educate the children about the functions of County Government.
In 2007, the Health Department administered 1,691 immunizations. The Women, Infants and Children Program served close to 1,000 children and almost 600 infants during the past year alone. In addition to keeping our children healthy, educators and staff at the Health Department also reached more than 100 people during the Pregnancy Health Fair last year. Our Dental Clinic also served 1,452 children last year, whether it was by extracting an abscessed tooth or simply screening for early tooth decay.
The Department of Social Services provides Food Stamps to 3,511 young persons under the age of 18. We currently have 35 children in DSS approved Foster Care homes. The Department of Social Services conducted 695 investigations of Abuse and Neglect of children. We arrange and/or provide daycare for approximately 600 children under 12 years old. Last month DSS reported that we have 6,034 under the age of 18 on Medicaid. There are 7500 young persons under the age of 21 who qualify for Medicaid.
The Cooperative Extension Office serves more than 2,000 children in its 4-H program alone each year.
Our libraries are funded in large part by the County, just as our Community College and public school system. This year the County’s appropriation to the Library system is over $200,000.00.
Not only does our tax department calculate and mail all the tax and valuation notices, they also help to keep the tax rate as low as possible by making sure everyone pays their taxes, as delinquent payments hurt everyone. Our Tax Assessor’s Department recently re-evaluated every single property in Richmond County (over 30,000 parcels) to make sure that it is valued at the current market value as North Carolina law REQUIRES. Since property values show an average increase of about 18 percent, the tax rate should fall to between $.80 and $.85 cents per $100.00 after the budget is prepared for the next fiscal year.
This Board is aware of the concern expressed by many taxpayers about the recent revaluation. We have planned a number of meetings during the month of April to listen to each person’s appeal. One thing we would like for people to remember is that when values increase, the tax rate usually decreases. The County does not seek to profit from taxes, only to collect what is needed to provide all the proper and state-mandated services. The County is limited to the property tax and a few other lesser sources of income, but the State of North Carolina requires us to accomplish many programs and activities. One of the most expensive items passed along to the County continues to be Medicaid and other Social Programs, even though we in County government do not have a voice in the rules governing the program.
The County has also been charged with the responsibility of building a new Judicial Center and the work has begun. This construction has caused a tightening of the budget and an increase in this current year’s tax rate. But I want to say again, this Board is working toward bringing the rate down to more manageable levels. AGAIN, we expect the rate to be lowered to between 80 and 85 cents per $100, beginning in July of 2008.
Even though I have spent some time listing many positives here tonight, there are problems remaining to be solved in Richmond County. We find our unemployment rate too high. We still have 30 percent of our population on Medicaid, our dropout and literacy rates need drastic improvement, the cost of our social programs are far greater than the cost of education; we feel this is a trend we must reverse. Our workers deserve to be retrained as the economy is changing. As soon as the new judicial building is completed, we expect to be forced to construct a new jail. We plan to continue to remove dilapidated structures from our landscape and encourage owners to fix up or tear down these buildings. We recognize these problems as opportunities and pledge our best to make them better.
In closing, we have much to look forward to in the coming year. We pledge to you that we will work to make our voices heard as we represent the citizens of Richmond County. Your Board and County staff are always seeking ways to better serve you.
Click on this link to download a ".pdf" version of the 2008 State of the County Report. |