Discussion on the 2008-2009 Town Budget

June 12, 2008

Attn: Residents/Owners of Beech Mountain Properties:





If you have not heard about the proposed tax increase that the Town Council is currently considering, you may want to read the minutes of the last few meetings for the Town Council, the budget and call one or more of your Town Council members:

Rick Owen: 387-2466
Gil Adams: 387-2892
Randy Corn: 387-9468
Alan Holcombe: Days 387-4748, Evenings 387-4794
Pete Chamberlin: 387-2674

At this time it is not clear whether the tax increase will be 5 cents, 9 cents or 11 cents per each $100 of property value. This equates to less than a 10%, more than a 16% or more than a 20% increase in the Beech Mountain portion of the tax bill, respectively, if the appraised value remains the same.

To catch up on the information available online, click on the following links for agendas, budget, MountainEar and minutes which are available online at http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/announcements.html, http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/documents/FY2008-2009budget.pdf and http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/townhall/TownCouncilMinutes_000.html.

There will be a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, June 17th at 2:00 p.m. at Town Hall to continue the discussion of the budget, including the tax increase. If you cannot attend this meeting, please email the Town Manager, Michael Boaz, at manager@townofbeechmountain.com prior to that date with your opinions, questions or thoughts.

I also received a letter from Jim Brooks who provided the following information:

"...Thanks for asking for participation at Tuesday’s meeting. These people should have participated in the previous budget meetings. I hope you can warn them not to gripe about the tax increase until they review the reasons for the tax increase:

Lake C(o)ffey Dam – Repair – Safety
Buckeye Dam - Repair - Safety
Water System Upgrades - 3-4 million now 22 million total
Fire Protection - Staffing
Equal protection for all water system
Sewer Pump Station Replacement – Safety- Could flow into reserves
Paving Greenbrier & Lakeledge Road
Planning and Engineering for Projects
Cash Purchase versus Increased Debt Load& Higher Taxes for a Motograder

Obviously our town has never planned for the future. All of these project should have been on the drawing board years ago and our taxes should have been increased gradually instead of all at once!! Most of us know the town engineer should have been replaced during the sewer moratorium and that should have been a wake up call. Our taxes are still low- I pay $1.18 per hundred in Greensboro down from $1.30 before. 95.3cents doesn’t sound bad to me (64 cents + 31.3 cents). Real estate will sell much easier when we get our town looking and living better. Call Randy Corn if you want to be informed for the meeting..."

Please be a part of our town by making sure your voices are heard! Call your Town Council members, research the budget, meeting minutes and ask questions. If you wait to get that information on Tuesday it may be too late.