October 4, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            The Wake Forest Town Board heard a lot about the need for more money during its work session Tuesday night.

            Although the commissioners asked questions, they did not hear how to raise all the money needed.

            Commissioner David Camacho questioned Johnna Rogers, standing in for Progress Energy Fred Day who co-chaired the Blue Ribbon Committee, about the returns on a 1-cent sales tax and retaining the same property tax rate after revaluation.

            The 1-cent local sales tax would return $3.4 billion over 30 years, Rogers said, and keeping the same property tax rate would result in $2.1 billion over 30 years. Half of the sales tax would be earmarked for schools, half for transportation. That would still leave a $5.5 million unfunded.

            The committee and an advisory committee it created are looking for ways to close the gap. Possibilities include a land transfer tax and impact fees.

            Commissioner Frank Drake asked why the committee decided on a sales tax, saying “sales taxes are the most regressive and have a tendency to punish the poor disproportionately.” Rogers said some committee members felt it “was not fair to put the whole burden on the property tax.” And, she said, the sales tax was “already out there” and can generate a heavy funding stream.

            Rogers said they did examine how other counties were funding their needs. Wake County was ahead of some in its funding, behind the curve in others. “I’d say schools was one of those areas [where the county is behind the curve].” For the full details about the committee, go to http://www.wakegov.com and type in “blue ribbon” in the search space at the top.

            Chief Swift went through a PowerPoint presentation about the need for the three new fire stations to reduce the average response time to five minutes 80 percent of the time. (See accompanying article for more details.)

            Swift response is essential in the case of heart attacks, he said, and in fighting fires.

            He offered a cheaper, faster stopgap solution to building three new stations: temporary stations such as those used in many other cities, including Charlotte. He showed pictures of the houses with large garages Charlotte is still using. Their station #8 has been operating from a house for 58 years.

            He then showed pictures of two houses in what he called ideal locations for stations #5 and #4. Station #5 could use a four-acre site with a house at 1412 Forestville Road that is for sale at $400,000. Building a garage for the engine would cost $80,000. Station #4 could use a property with a house on Wait Avenue across from the entrance to Shenandoah Farms. The property would cost $157,000 with an $80,000 garage.

            How to pay for this, he was asked, and Swift said he had not examined the question but said it could be done with taxes, bonds and impact fees.

            The town board had been told in the past few years, Commissioner Stephen Barrington said, that providing 10 cents on the property tax rate of 54 cents would “be ample to cover all the expenses for the fire department over three years. Is this just a proposal or are you asking us for money?”

            “I’m just making you aware,” Swift said. “I’m looking at this as a team effort between myself and the town board.” His surveys and investigations since being hired show “we need to construct three firehouses instead of just one.”

            The fire department is an independent corporation with a board of directors. It contracts with the town and with Wake County to provide emergency medical assistance and fire protection.

            The town does have a plan to pay for the $11- to 12-million new town hall that includes savings and borrowing without resorting to a bond issue.

            The town has just purchased the American Legion hut and land and the Green & Wooten insurance office and land.

            Vicki Grant, an architect with Little Diversified, said the four-story town hall will be constructed behind the existing planning department building and across the extension of East Owen Avenue that goes to the police department and the existing town hall.

            With the planning department building to the north, the new town hall to the east and the future police department building to the south, a pedestrian plaza will be created along Brooks Street that will give access to all three buildings. There will also be access at the rear of town hall and the police department from the future parking lots.

            Plans are to raze the existing town hall once the administrative and planning offices are moved into the new town hall. When the new police department building is built, the existing building may be saved for other uses. Grant’s plan calls for the planning department building, the original town hall and courtroom for Recorder’s Court that made way for District Court, to become a museum.

            The strongest element in the plan, Grant said, is the extension of Taylor Street (now the Elm Avenue entrance to town hall) directly north to meet Wait Avenue. It gives the town a tighter urban street grid, she said. All the parking and buildings will be to the west of Taylor, and to the east the plan is for the Centennial Park, an open green space, next to H.L. Miller Park.

            “What is it going to look like?” Drake asked, referring to town hall.

            Grant said the firm will be studying the buildings on the seminary campus and along South White Street in order to relate the new building to existing ones. It will be a “custom, tailor-made” job, she said, not a cookie-cutter design from somewhere else.

            There will be two meetings about the building’s appearance. On Nov. 19, Town Manager Mark Williams said, the commissioners, members of the Downtown Revitalization Corporation and the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce will be invited to look at a number of exteriors. There will also be a public meeting with the opportunity to express opinions in December.