Henderson is running against the wind, and it is time that the City Council got us out of the hurricane.
There is an easy fix to ending this whirlwind. It is way past time for the council to put, first and foremost, the interests and needs of the city taxpayer and of this city. Only when the city severs the jointly funded projects with the county can it truly concentrate on the critical needs of the city.
The City Council needs to act immediately and decisively and send the message to the County Commissioners that the city is going to end the contracts that govern the financing of the library, recreation and aquatics, and the 911 center. This decision must be made by the city because the county will never address these issues.
And why should they? The county has a free ride at the expense of the city taxpayer. If you had such a lucrative deal going, you would not want to upset the apple cart either. The city must do something immediately before we fall even further behind. Giving the county six month’s notice before budget time is quite sufficient. A swift, clean cut is what is needed.
The message from the city should be short and simple. We are getting out of the business of 911, the library, and recreation and aquatics. And that will be the end of it. The decision will be left entirely to the County Commissioners as to how they are going to fund these ventures for all of us. Should they decide to put a line item on all our tax bills for the costs, so be it. Should they decide to play “spoil sport” and limit the operations, so be it. We can then hold them accountable for that reduction in services at election time. Should they decide to call foul and cancel the contract for collecting the city taxes in retaliation, then we will have to deal with that.
The tax collection job that the county is doing for the city is no prize winner anyway. One reason, I believe, that the county is not more aggressive in collecting back taxes, other than politics, is that the county is flush with money. If you had a $24,714,556 reserve, it might not be so urgent to collect the back taxes owed. But since the city had less than a one-tenth of that in their reserve in June, it is essential for us to have these taxes and back taxes collected. It may be that the city can do a better job.
The time for diplomacy, negotiation, and mediation has long since passed. The county did not want to go this route, so the city government must do the responsible thing and look after the needs of the city, and they need to do it now. The commissioners may position themselves to make it a miserable end, but a miserable end is far better than the endless misery that the city is going through.
Ending these contracts can be done is a professional and business-like manner. The city should exercise the clauses in all these contracts for ending the terms. Dragging this out for five years is a bad idea.
Threats and intimidation of upping water prices for the county should not enter into this business matter. Water should not be the bargaining chip. Water contracts should be separate, deliberate, and fair. That would be a new precedent for relations with the county as the city takes the high road.
Sure there are details to be worked out, but this can be easily accomplished, and it will not take six months. The county would take possession of the properties and the debt that goes with the properties. Consequently, the debt and those properties would belong to all of us equally. Since the school board owns the land upon which the Aycock Recreation Building sits, that should be a no-brainer.
All of the tax money collected on cell phones and land lines goes to the county for 911 now, and that would not change.
The city could consider the $1.8 million that the city invested in the library their contribution for the next fifteen years. The ownership of the library can be worked out by the county with the Embassy Foundation.
The personnel at the Recreation Department would become county employees for at least six months during the transition until the county decides on its workforce. That would cause very little upset, since they are in the same local government retirement system and could transfer vacation and sick leave. The city would maintain ownership of the parks within the city limits and lease them to the county for a dollar a year. Alternatively, the city could even keep them and maintain them. And as far as the equipment and vehicles for recreation are concerned, the county could exchange the debt the city owes on the municipal building as their half of ownership and call it even if the figures jibe.
It could be as simple as that. This decision does not need to be put off, studied, or analyzed any more. Contracts are ended every day. We could argue forever about why these contracts were written as they were, and why the city ever got into such unfair contracts in the first place, but that was then and this is now. Now tells us that Henderson needs a little wind at her back. The only way to do this is to get out of the whirlwind of joint ventures. Call on your council people to act. Delaying this decision only allows the hurricane to gain strength, and that is a storm that could sink Henderson.