Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/635424
FEBRUARY 3-9, 2016 UCW 9 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS City & County Settle Tax Differ- ences, for now Individual members of Fayetteville City Council and the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners spent the last few weeks hammer- ing out a local tax agreement. Senior staffers joined in the discussions. Council members agreed with com- missioners to renew the current sales-tax distribution agreement for three more years. "We're just kicking the can down the road again," said Councilman Bobby Hurst. He said commissioners made no attempt in recent years to work out an extension to the agreement that is expiring this year. The inter-local agreement entered into 13 years ago will remain in effect until June 30, 2019. The towns of Spring Lake, Hope Mills, Stedman, Wade, Falcon, Godwin and Eastover are also parties to the arrangement. Part of the deal requires that city and county leaders begin negotiating a new sales tax distribution agreement no later than January of next year. At stake is the future of local sales-tax distribution. County government has the authority to select one of two methods. The method currently in use tends to favor the municipalities. But all parties agreed to it, as well as a 50 percent rebate of city sales taxes to the county in areas annexed by Fayetteville in recent years. The rebate is the heart of the issue. City Council wants to phase it out and retain all sales-tax proceeds received via the population method. The county threatened to adopt the method that distributes revenue by tax district. It would benefit the county and financially hurt the city and towns in Cumberland County. "We owe it to our citizens to come up with a practical solution," said Mayor Pro-Tem Mitch Colvin. He was one of the city's negotiators. "It would be political suicide" for com- missioners to make any changes, he said, noting that most of the county's voters live in Fayetteville and the small towns. "We need to send a clear message to the county, that we won't be caught flat-footed again," he added. Councilman Ted Mohn pointed out that ad valorem property revalua- tion will be done later this year. It could complicate matters for all local governments because, typically, prop- erty tax rates are adjusted depending on the outcome of the appraisals. County Commission Chairman Marshall Faircloth has said for the first time in modern memory, property values are down significantly. His hope is they will rise during the summer, lessening any operating deficit that would possibly result in tax in- creases. Councilman Jim Arp joined Mayor Nat Robertson in voting against the new sales tax agreement. "This open-ended agreement is not fiscally responsible," said Arp. City & County Settle Tax Differences, for now by JEFF THOMPSON JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200. Cities and towns have official seals for authenticating certain documents. Fayetteville has had three different seals over time. The first two were nondescript. The most recent, which has been used for more than 20 years, has the historic Market House as its focal point. The iconic building in the center of downtown has been em- blematic of the city in modern times. And the official seal is everywhere … on the city's website, all kinds of documents and publications as well as public buildings. It hangs on the wall in council chambers in city hall. Because of its history, the Market House in recent decades has be- come controversial. In antebellum Fayetteville, the structure was used as a market for the sale of produce and livestock. Occasionally slaves were sold there, and that's the rub. "The Market House is a symbolic and significant part of our history. However, in my opinion, it should not be used in any official capacities concerning our city," says Mayor Pro-Tem Mitch Colvin. Last year City Council instructed the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Rela- tions Commission to research whether the city should consider changing the seal by removing the likeness of the Market House. Public meetings on the sub- ject have wrapped up, and council soon will tackle the issue, which has become racially divisive. Colvin and others point out the "history of the place is offen- sive." Some members of council declined to comment. Mayor Nat Robertson recognized two years ago that the city seal had no decora- tive place in his office, "…when I took over I had the Fayetteville logo used in place of the seal on all my letterhead, business cards and note pads," he told Up & Coming Weekly. Colvin notes Fayetteville is North Carolina's most racially diverse community, "I feel that it is time we began to look at a city symbol that reflects the diversity of this community. I feel if it offends one citizen that's one too many." City Clerk Pamela McGill out- lined the seal's official uses. "I use the seal on all official docu- ments of the city that require my attention: City Council meeting minutes, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, easements, and procla- mations." And there are a couple of other more obscure uses for the seal, she said. No one really knows when the city began incorporating likenesses of the Market House into what once was an official logo. It's no longer used that way, but in the 1960s and '70s, graphics of the building were even plastered on police cars and fire engines. A more contemporary logo replaced it many years ago. says the emblem could be retired to only its official uses, "Removal in such a way is an option. However, I would prefer having it removed as an official rep- resentation of Fayetteville. It is a symbol not appreciated by the majority of the black community." Since taking office, McDougald has refused to wear the city lapel pin because it is a replica of the seal. Controversy Over City Seal Continues by JEFF THOMPSON