Up The Creek If Your Well Goes Dry

Thank goodness we had some rain. It has given a temporary reprieve to Lee County families who had depended on wells that went dry at the height of the drought. Because of Lee Counties position in the river basin, we are fortunate that our water system had, as we were told, "plenty of water."

But not everyone in Lee County is on the county water system which is provided water and operated by the City of Sanford. Some folks in the county are not in areas served by the system and had to depend on wells. Their wells went dry. When they went to the county/city water system, they left with their buckets empty. It seems neither county or city government had done any planning to accommodate their needs.

It is a complicated system. To extend city water lines to an unserved area of the county, the city assesses (charges) its future customers for the cost of running the water lines to the area. Since the area is in the county, such an assessment would have to come from the county and be approved by the county commissioners. The Dispatch has learned that despite all the overage of the drought, the city and county had not worked out a procedure for extending water lines to new areas where families had their wells go dry.

So if your well went dry, and you went for help, you were up the creek because needed contingency planning wasn't done. So much for emergency preparedness.

Police Chief Behind Scenes in 911 Issue

Sanford Police Chief Ronnie Yarborough has tried to weigh in behind the scenes in the issue of use of surplus county 911 funds by having one of his officers contact a county commissioner and ask him to put a "hold" on the 911 money issue. This despite comments in the Sanford Herald "that the matter would be decided by the 'boards and managers' and [Yarborough] declined comment on it."

This is not the first time the publicity-shy Chief Yarborough has locked horns behind the scenes with county officials over funds relative to law enforcement.

When Sheriff Tracy Carter began enforcing state tax liens on drug dealers by seizing property, Chief Yarborough objected to any of the funds from the seized assets being distributed to the Sheriff's Office.

The tax liens in question were created by arrests of the now disbanded City-County Drug Task Force and total over $10 million over the 20 years the task force was in existence. The task force consisted of five officers from the police department and three deputies from the sheriff's office. Chief Yarborough wanted 100% of the local share of tax proceeds (75% under state law) to returned to the Police Department after Sheriff Carter had disbanded the task force when he took office.

Citing a 1991 letter Chief Yarborough pressured then Sheriff Billy A. Bryant to write, Chief Yarborough claimed that all the money should go to the Sanford Police Department from more than 270 assessments with possession dates ranging from 12/15/98 to 11/30/06. Sheriff Tracy Carter strongly disagreed arguing that a portion of the proceeds should go to the Sheriff's Office.

Despite intensive lobbying efforts, Chief Yarborough lost this argument. On April 14, 2007 the NC Department of Revenue ruled that under legal requirements for "equitable distribution", the Sheriff's Office was entitled to three-eights (37.5%) of the funds--the same proportion as Sheriff's Deputies that had made up the task force. Since 11/30/06 the proceeds go to the jurisdiction making the original arrest.

There is no clear answer on what Chief Yarborough sought to gain in his out-of-channels attempt to influence the 911 funds.

County Manager Seeks New Administrative Facility

Lee County would invest in a $2,000,000 Lee County Administration Facility in 2010 if recommendations by County Manager John Compton are followed. The recommendation is included in the county's Capital Improvement Plan for the period 2009-2013 that totals some $43,000,000. The plan assumes the passage of the 1/4 sales tax increase which would increase the ability of the county of borrow money to fund the capital projects.

The plan calls for renovation of an undetermined existing building to accommodate 20 offices with total space needs of 4600 sq. gt. Administration, Finance, and Human Resources would move to this facility and will free up space for the Department of Social Services and the Health Department. The justification for the building is increasing staff.

[note picture may not be representative of yet undetermined building plans.]

LSHS Needs Bailing Buckets Not Buckets of Tar

Today's Sanford Herald's feature story on what happens when it rains at Lee Senior High School leaked out probably the biggest problem for which nay sayers toward the renovations have no easy answer.

Leaks, leaks, leaks. Apparently there are plenty of leaks, but many critics have asked why they just didn't patch the roof with more tar. Let's forget the roof and the leaks. It is the leaks from the tsunamis of running surface water that make the most compelling case for building replacements.

the out-of-date drainage system creates a sea of puddles that crawl together and seep under doors and through tennis shoes as students walk to class. . . . The swamped side­walks are due to the size of the outdoor drainpipes, still the original six-inch­ers when the current standard is between 24 and 36 inches.

The most perplexing problem at LSHS is this outdated system for handling surface water because the pipes run under buildings--the buildings have to come down to give access to the pipes. More than any other factor that tips the scales in favor of the School Board's Plans.
Given enough rain, the grounds turn into a pond with waters rising like a flood to cover walkways and creep under doors into buildings.

But, under current commissioners, there is no guarantee the quarter tax sales tax increase will stop the flood either. That is the signal the commissioners sent when they pulled the renovations for LSHS out of a resolution listing their plans for using the proceeds of the tax. (See the blog!)

More Dispatches on this subject are coming soon.--editior

Lee County Budget to Get Relief From Medicaid

Lee County should benefit at least $500,000 annually from the recently enacted state plan to phase out the requirement that counties foot 15 percent of the state’s Medicaid services bill. Once fully implemented, the plan eliminates an uncontrollable expense increasing at roughly 10 percent or more per year in exchange for a revenue source growing at about 5 percent.

Specifically, counties statewide relinquish a half-cent of sales tax revenue, which is projected at $592.6 million in 2012, in exchange for the state assuming the entire non-federal Medicaid share, which is projected at $744.5 million in 2012.

Lee County's "savings" could be substantial, averaging perhaps as much as $900,000 a year over the next five years according to estimates by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. But as County Manager John Crumpton pointed out, this is only an estimate based on Medicaid costs--something historically hard to estimate accurately. Moreover, this financial relief does not come in the form of new money but simply "costs avoided." It doesn't "free up money in the county budget" directly because the money for future years hasn't been budgeted. Nevertheless, the bottom line is good news. It is a financial pressure that will be lifted from the county budget and, hopefully, off the tax payer's back.

Source: North Carolina Association of County Commissioners

No Duh! City Wants Focus Off Golf Course Finances

With the local chapter of Americans For Prosperity collecting petitions to repeal the business privilege tax in Sanford (click here to learn more or sign petitions) , the city-owned golf club professional, David Von Canon, told city leaders at their annual retreat that that he hopes to shift attention from the finan­cial aspects of the golf course to its role in the community. By financial aspects, he means the $250,000 a year the city loses operating the course--more than the new business privilege tax brings in. No duh! (See article at Sanford Herald)

Strain on Schools May Snag Business Growth After All

According the Sanford Herald's headline for its story on BRAC impact's boost biz, put a strain on schools". (Learn about BRAC).

According to BRAC Regional Task Force Executive Director Paul Dordal, Lee County could have 1,600 new residents by 2013 directly resulting from the military’s planned expansion of Fort Bragg. The real question, however, is how well will the county capitalize on the expected influx of high paying jobs. Sanford alone, he said, could see an influx of 1,000 to 3,000 high-paying jobs if the proper measures are taken to coax contractors and other support businesses to the area. “Lee County is ideally situ­ated between the Triangle and Fort Bragg to bring in not only new residents, but business,” Dordal said.“But it is some­thing we have to work on.”

And what did he say we needed to work on most? Schools, specifically planning for the capital investment in schools. Oddly enough, as reported previously, planning for capital improvement is the one thing that the Lee County Commissioners does not want to discuss with the Lee County Board of Education at their upcoming meeting. See the update on this meeting.

So, to borrow a phrase from Ross Perot, the faint sucking sound is the potential BRAC-induced jobs slowing being sucked out of the county by the deadlock between the Commissioners and the Board of Education.