DATE: Monday, May 19, 1997                  TAG: 9705190040

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:   39 lines

MUST KEEP SENIOR CITIZENS, COST IN MIND

Recently, there has been a topic of discussion that has greatly troubled me. It relates to the school bond issue for $59 million.

These funds will come out of the taxpayers' budget, many of them senior citizens. Some of these elderly people will sell their lands and homes to pay the taxes.

It seems to me, the situation of a school on the beach is not necessary when we have one here in Manteo. I sincerely feel that we ought to be thinking of the school at Buxton, which went through a flood some time back. I was there with the Red Cross and saw the damage.

The folks living south of the Oregon Inlet Bridge have always gotten the end of the chicken, while the folks living on this side of the bridge get the choicest parts of the bird. Yet they pay taxes just like us.

I mention this so that we may take the time to think and discuss what is most needful for all citizens of Dare County. I don't think the elderly need a tax increase at this time - school or no school. Come to think of it, many people of DareCounty live in the lap of luxury. They don't know what it was like to sit in a freezing-cold school, with only a pot-bellied stove for heat. Worse yet, as children, we had to walk three miles to school in all types of whether and didn't miss a single day. Today, our young people at the age of 16 drive to school. We spend much of the taxpayers' money on recreation, which is really unnecessary when the need for health care is far greater. It's time our citizens took stock of the whole situation with the school bond issue and think of where we want our money spent.

I have to stand up for the elderly who might lose their lands and homes due to increased taxes. I feel that they have pioneered this land, working hard by the sweat of their brow, to create something good for their children and future citizens of this county. It appears to me that we ought to think about them for a change and how we can make their lives a little bit easier.

Emma M. Cannady

Manteo

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