County Manager Kevin Howard says commissioners wouldn’t put bond on ballot if they ‘weren’t for it’
BY MILES LAYTON
Chowan County Manager Kevin Howard answered questions at a forum about a $15 million recreation bond referendum on the ballot this November on Monday at the Chowan County Public Safety Center.
“We know the commissioners will follow through with the bond,” he said. “I promise you that when they put it on the ballot, they will follow through.
“There is some talk out there that the commissioners don’t support recreation funding and don’t want to do it. They wouldn’t put it on the ballot if they weren’t for it.”
County Commissioners, past and present, attended the meeting, as did State Rep. Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan, and Edenton Mayor Hackney High.
Howard said the bond was not larger because a bigger dollar amount — between $30 million and $45 million — would not have been palatable to citizens and probably wouldn’t gain support at the ballot box. That’s why the commissioners settled on $15 million.
“That’s a number we could live with and that we thought could very well pass,” he said.
Howard called the 6.5 cent tax increase a “worst case scenario” because any tax increase up to 6.5 cents depends on how much is borrowed, meaning that if less is needed, taxes will be less and vice versa. The county has seven to 10 years aside to draw down the bond. There is no set schedule nor planning yet to spend the money, but that will be coming ahead as soon as possible. First phase is talking to the state to get waivers for Red Banks and hire a consultant to do site planning.
“Biggest thing (to planning) is going to be — is $15 million enough,” Howard said. “If that covers everything, we’ll move a whole lot faster. And grants will help offset those monies.”
Howard said the Red Banks sports complex would consolidate the Recreation Department’s facilities and replace aging facilities, reduce costs and save money.
“This gets everything in one location. This is new facilities, adds those facilities, and improves what we have,” he said.
Speaking of Red Banks, Howard said, yes, the property, which was purchased in 2005, can be built on for ball fields, picnic shelters, bathrooms and such. However, if existing covenants restricting construction of a gymnasium or senior center can’t be waived, then there is contiguous property that could be utilized instead.
Howard noted that the county’s senior center is in the basement of an old school, Swain by East Queen/Court streets.
“It’s not an ideal location,” he said.
That facility has seen tremendous growth in the last few years in terms of people utilizing its offerings since the Covid changed the game.
As to a master plan for such a senior center, Howard contends that no one knows the exact cost to construct such a facility — any cost projections are not based on any plan specific to Chowan County. Moreover, if tens of thousands of dollars were spent on formulating such plans to build X, Y or Z, and the bond did not pass, the county would be out of those funds.
“I can tell you that my recommendation to the board is going to be that we spend our own dollars on design and planning phases so that we can reimburse ourselves once we draw the bond money down — there’s no need to draw that money down if we use our money to do the small stuff.”
A general concept drawing indicates there will be baseball fields, walking trails, tennis and pickleball courts, soccer fields, perhaps a kayak launch.
An opponent of the bond, Gil Burroughs’ question to Howard — who will decide what gets built?
“There’s still going to be input from the citizens,” Howard said. “County Commissioners meet twice a month — you can come anytime you want to those meetings or come by my office — ‘this is what we would like to see.’ … We want your input. We don’t want to build something you don’t want that won’t get used. That’s wasting your money — we don’t want to do that. Believe me, we are going to try to spend this money as wisely as possible, so there will be input.”
If the bond passes, the county will conduct a study to determine what recreational offerings the citizens want — the same approach will be taken for planning for a senior center and a gymnasium.
“Can we get it all for $15 million? That is the question,” he said.
Howard spoke of several grants the county can apply for that may help fund the projects.
“I’m not going to say it will reduce the $15 million, but it will help the $15 million go farther,” he said.
Windmills — Howard said the county could perhaps collect between $1 million and $2 million a year when that money starts blowing into county coffers.
“The board has not decided how that money is going to be spent,” he said. “Discuss these things — setting it aside for capital expenses so we can do small projects without having to borrow money for them. And they may decide to set money aside for this project which would reduce tax increase (from the bond).”
Why do the bond now? Howard said state law requires any bond referendum to be done in years with a countywide and statewide election — for example, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Howard explained any tax increases arising from the bond are based on the annual budget process that is discussed in May and approved in June.
Howard said unlike the recreation budget, the county has certain mandates it has to fulfill — funding for jails, law enforcement, courts, social services, schools.
Howard said bond money can only be used for recreational planning, programming and facilities — not for anything else.
Why does a bond more than a sales tax to fund any such recreation offerings? Howard said state law authorizes sales tax rates as to how much a county charges. Chowan County can levy up to a 4 cent sales tax rate — which would perhaps bring in between $300,000 to $400,000 annually, but even if the voters approved that tax increase, it would not be nearly enough to adequately fund recreation programming the same way a $15 million bond would. It is worth noting that bond money is earmarked exclusively toward recreational planning, whereas sales tax dollars can be spent for other purposes.
Taxes — what about how Edenton residents have to pay not only town taxes but may have to pay additional taxes spurred by the bond. Howard explained that according to state law, taxes are levied countywide across the board no matter where you live.
Pool — yes, there is a feasibility study for a swimming pool if the bond is approved. Howard cautioned, though, that maintenance costs for pools tend to be high, and he is concerned about adequate staffing of lifeguards — would the county be able to provide an adequate year after year?