THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609290071
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3A EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILMINGTON LENGTH: 69 lines
Long after Hurricane Fran is committed to history, Pender County expects it will still be paying for the devastating storm.
Officials continue to assess the damage from the hurricane and the flooding it produced along the Northeast Cape Fear River. The county estimates that it stands to lose about $150 million of its property tax base, depending on who rebuilds, said County Manager John Bauer in an interview with the Morning Star of Wilmington.
At the current property tax rate of 61 cents per $100 worth of property, that would mean a $915,000 loss in revenue. It would take a 4.7-cent tax rate increase to make up for that loss, based on the tax base before the storm.
Pricey oceanfront homes that provided a good portion of the tax base have been destroyed and sales tax dollars lost from a devastated beach season. Inland, at least a hundred homes were flooded out.
Until it's known who can rebuild and who can't, the tax base loss can't be calculated precisely.
``We just don't know, and that's what makes it hard,'' said County Commissioner Steve Holland. ``Maybe not this year, but next year's probably going to smack us in the face.''
Tax bills for this year went out in July, said Tax Assessor Harold Triplett. Even if people's homes were destroyed, they must still pay the bill, he said. ``The state taxes you on what you owned Jan. 1,'' he said.
Raising the tax rate next year is something the county commissioners say they want to avoid at all costs, but it may be inevitable, said commission chairman Bob Murray.
The commissioners will try to cut some spending, but most departments in the county are already running on a what Murray termed a shoestring budget.
Bauer said the county is in relatively good financial shape. The commissioners approved dropping the tax rate from 65 cents per $100 property valuation to 61 cents for this current budget year.
It's too early to say how the storm damage will affect next year's budget, Bauer said.
Under current budget proposals, the county should have about $5 million squirreled away at the end of the 1996-97 budget year. It's unclear how much of that may have to be used in Fran's wake.
The county paid for some debris removal, mosquito control, extra staffing during the hurricane, shelter operations and the clearing of roads. Officials are hoping for reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
About 550 homes in the county were destroyed and hundreds more were damaged.
The heaviest damage was done to the two coastal communities of Topsail Beach and Surf City, which accounted for 362 of the homes lost. And town officials are worried about the effects on their budgets.
While Topsail Beach is in pretty good shape financially, said Eric Peterson, town manager, that tax rate might have to rise. The town has $1.2 million in reserve, he said, but property tax revenue makes up 45 percent of the budget.
``We're going to do everything we possibly can to make things as easy on the property owner as we can,'' he said. ``This has been tough on everybody.''
Seven years ago, the Isle of Palms near Charleston was in a similar situation after Hurricane Hugo.
The barrier island town lost about 85 of its 2,700 residential units. As a result, its property tax revenue dropped 15 to 20 percent, said Mark Williams, city administrator. He said it took the town about two years to get back on its feet and four years to return to pre-Hugo conditions.
The town did raise taxes but not in response to the hurricane, Williams said. The town used a tax anticipation note - borrowing against future tax receipts - to help it through the first year after Hugo.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE FRAN COST by CNB