Well, Bladen County sent a nice little surprise in the mail. Our property is worth 117% more now than it was four years ago. That’s based on the Notice of Assessed Value received last week.
That’s great if we were trying to sell our house. We’re not … unless you make us an offer that we can’t refuse. Everything has a price.
It’s awful news for property tax bills … or is it?
While you may want to “gag yourself with a spoon and barf yourself back to the Stone Age” — a cool saying we had back in the day for something we didn’t like — at the increased value of your property, only time will tell how that relates to your property tax bill in August.
That will be determined by the Bladen County Board of Commissioners who will set the property tax rate and pass the budget by the end of June.
The current tax rate is 78½ cents per $100 valuation. If the tax rate remains the same, then our property tax will rise 117% and your property tax will rise by the percentage of your increase. And none of us will be happy campers. In fact, we would be irate campers ready to camp out in the courthouse parking lot to have our say at the next commissioners’ meeting.
Surely, the commissioners will not leave the tax rate at 78½ cents. No way. I’m not a political junkie and may be naive about the inner workings of government, but even I realize that would be the equivalent of political suicide.
By my figuring, a tax rate in the mid 50-cent range would leave my property tax basically unchanged, presuming the landfill tax, solid waste tax and fire department tax remain the same. You can do the math for yours.
The ball is in the court of commissioners Ray Britt, Arthur Bullock, Danny Ellis, Mark Gillespie, David Gooden, Rodney Hester, Cameron McGill, Dr. Ophelia Munn-Goins and Charles Ray Peterson along with County Manager Sam Croom.
We’ll see how it plays out over the next three months.
• Welcome to early springtime in Bladen County. One day you’re wearing shorts and a T-shirt with pollen all around. The next morning the pollen is frozen to the ground and you’re bundled up.
• By the way, the spring equinox officially is March 20. Pollen sufferers beware.
• Hope you will check out our photos of some of the decorated parking spaces at East Bladen and West Bladen high schools. Seniors are allowed to paint their parking spaces. They’re quite good and often clever. Among my favorites:
“180 days til freedom” — If they only knew the truth. High school truly is the best of times.
“A Bad Day Fishing Is Better Than A Good Day At School!” — No argument for that.
“I will not be late. I will not be late. I will not be late. I will not be late. Nevermind … I’m late.” — Clock management is the key to success.
• What do you think about the grooved pavement in the center of the lanes along U.S. 701? It’s designed to let you know that your vehicle is drifting into oncoming traffic. It’s a good idea. How many times have you been distracted just for an instance and heard that loud thump-thump-thump, then adjusted the wheel a bit.
• Roundabouts have become the new intersection safety measure over the past few years. At first I wasn’t a fan, but it keeps traffic moving and it’s much better than having a four-way stop. However, the double roundabout coming from Clarkton heading into Whiteville is not a favorite. Too much turning too quickly. A few weeks ago a driver was going the wrong way in one of those roundabouts. Fortunately, we both stopped in time.
• Are you a NASCAR fan and excited about the circuit’s return to The Rock on April 4? NCDOT and Amtrak are offering the Rockingham Special for race day between Raleigh Union Station and the speedway with stops in Cary and Southern Pines. Tickets are $25 each way. If you’ve ever been in race day traffic along U.S. 1 between Rockingham and Southern Pines, then this might be the way to go. I worked at the Richmond Daily Journal in the mid-1980s and lived about five miles from the track. Took forever to get to the track and back home on race day.
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