June 20, 2007

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            The additional cent is to be added to the Wake Forest Fire Department’s share of the tax rate, going from 10 to 11 cents, and yielding an additional estimated $202,000.

            The increase will mean an additional $15 on the tax bill for a house valued at $150,000, an additional $20 annually for a house valued at $200,000.

            Commissioner Frank Drake, the board liaison to the independent fire department, made the motion, saying, “My goal is to afford the underserved portions of our coverage area greater access to fire service.” Fire Chief Jerry Swift has pointed out the response time from the two existing fire stations can be as long as seven or nine minutes for some outlying parts of the town.

            During the June 12 joint meeting of the town board and the fire department’s board of directors, Swift said $200,000 would allow the department to man an existing truck that would “float” along Forestville Road or Wake Union Church Road during daylight hours, providing quicker response to the western and eastern reaches of the town. The truck would return to Station #1 at night when more volunteers, many of whom work out of town, are available.

            Commissioner David Camacho voted no. “I feel like it is premature to say its one cent. We didn’t really get our arms around what the needs are.” The department has great needs, he said, but he objected to raising the tax rate “willy-nilly without a specific spending plan.”

            Camacho also said one of the results of the joint meeting was to demonstrate there could be better locations for the three fire stations Swift plans.

            And, he said, in past years “We heard over and over again they needed a ladder truck. At the meeting the other week they said re really needed a Quint [a combination pumper and short ladder] or a couple of Quints.” By asking the right questions, Camacho said, the two boards might be better able to find out what is needed.

            Drake said that as an independent body, the fire department may spend the money as it wishes. However, “I’m satisfied if we afford the department the additional coverage that is how they will spend it.”

            “They can spend it however they want,” Mayor Vivian Jones said.

            “I thought that what we were working toward” was to change the fire department’s funding after the county-wide property revaluation next year, Camacho said.

            Commissioner Margaret Stinnett wanted to amend Drake’s motion to delete the $32,000 budgeted for the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce for economic development, add $600 of that to Kids Voting and hold the rest for the end-of-life center Hospice of Wake County is planning, the Wake Forest Centennial Committee or a request she said is coming soon from the DuBois alumni.

            Drake considered this, then said, “Margaret, I love you but I don’t love you that much.”

            “Damn. I seconded your motion,” she said.

            Drake’s successful motion also was to take $30,000 from fund balance (savings account) for the centennial committee (see story in this week’s edition) and increase the second-offense electric meter tampering fee from $500 to $600.

            The full board agreed to a change in the town’s fee schedule. There will be a new $8,500 fee for the examination of applications from wireless telecommunications companies who want to install new towers, a new $20 fee for the use of the courtroom in the Wake Forest Police Department, a change from $5 to $2.50 for people who pay their sanitation bills late, and a new fee of $3.50 for the Guide to Wake Forest which was recently published.

            Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said the town considers meter tampering to be a serious matter and it happens quite often. The town can and does prosecute. “On the third offense we take them to court. We still have the option to do so on the second offense.”

            “There’s one second offense being prosecuted right now,” Finance Director Aileen Staples said.

            “After the third time, the meter will not be returned,” O’Donnell said. “If the meter’s been removed from the socket, we’re going to know that just by looking at the daily report. More often, the seal is cut and the meter has been taken out and put back.”

            The budget also includes a widened area for the municipal service district to cover all of the downtown Renaissance Plan except for residences, apartments and Jim Adams’ South White Street property, which has never been annexed. The tax on the district property now will be 17 cents per $100 valuation; it was 10 cents.