FAIR Committee member Bobby Gupton presented Vance County’s Intergovernmental Committee with a spreadsheet that he claimed showed an excessive tax burden on Henderson city residents in jointly funded city/county projects.
The county’s Intergovernmental Committee consists of Commissiioners Terry Garrison, Tommy Hester, and Tim Pegram. They met with Henderson’s FAIR Committee yesterday afternoon. The FAIR Committee is composed of council members Lynn Harper and Ranger Wilkerson in addition to Gupton.
Council members Mary Emma Evans, Lonnie Davis, and Elissa Yount were also present.
Harper introducted Gupton’s chart to the county officials, stating that the chart showed the city versus the county contributions to projects from a “taxpayer standpoint”.
She added that it seems as if the taxpayer contribution is greater from a city resident. She claimed that Gupton’s chart supported this conclusion.
Gupton stated that the chart illustrates that city residents paid 75% of library funding, even though the dollar contribution from the county was greater than that of the city.
The city contributed $277,000 to the library this fiscal year. This means that each property owner in the city contributed $41.34 in city tax and $20.55 in county tax for a total of $61.89, or 75.07% of the total contribution.
The non-city resident county property owner, on the other hand, paid $20.55 into the county’s total contribution of $411,000 to the library, for a 24.93% share of library maintenance.
When presented with the spreadsheet, Garrison echoed a sentiment that had been expressed by Pegram earlier in the meeting: Henderson’s incorporation as a city was voluntary, and its residents had voluntarily assumed the additional tax burden.
Gupton fired back that a similar imbalance exists in the funding of the Aycock Recreation Complex. The implication was that the project is supposed to be a 50/50 funding venture.
The discussion became heated as Garrison continued to argue that the basis upon which Henderson exists is voluntary.
Henderson was incorporated in 1841.
Hester commented that his committee would take the information back [to the county government].