Before the adjournment of the Henderson City Council’s work session, member Garry Daeke spoke to fellow members on thinking about jointly funded projects.
Former council member Bobby Gupton has maintained during his tenure on the council and afterwards that the manner in which joint projects are funded is inherently unfair to city taxpayers. According to Gupton, those in the city are essentially taxed by two government entities for the same services for which the county resident is only taxed once.
Joint ventures include the Aycock Recreation Complex, Aycock Aquatics, Emergency 911, and the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library.
Noting that revenue is an issue, Daeke said that the city would need “quite a bit of money” for the next fiscal year. He gave the example of the city having a hard time hiring police because of competitive pay in surrounding areas. He noted that a salary study was in progress on this and other pay issues in the city.
The second term council member expressed a need to look at projects with the county about “projects of mutual interest”. Daeke went on to opine that the county is interested in talking about it.
Member Mike Rainey agreed with Daeke, noting that during a retreat the council set a goal of establishing a better relationship with the county.
“We haven’t pushed it to a point we need to push it,” Rainey said.
Daeke asked the council for consensus on letting City Manager Ray Griffin talk to Vance County Manager Jerry Ayscue about coming up with ways to engage [the county] in this process.
The council gave unanimous consent to the idea.