GOP Cabarrus commissioner candidates forum focuses on finances

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Republican candidates for Cabarrus County commissioner said one of the toughest challenges facing the county is balancing the budget and finding ways to cut expenses.

Commissioner candidates Troy Barnhardt, Holly Blackwelder, Barbara Burrage, Fred Eudy, Steve Morris and incumbent Liz Poole participated in the Republican Women for Greater Cabarrus County’s commissioner candidate forum Monday at the Vintage Motor Club.

Republican candidates will vie to run for two seats on the county commissioner board during the May 8 primary. Then in the general election on Nov. 6, the remaining candidates will face Democrat LeRoy Deabler of Concord.

Poole, who serves as chairman of the board of commissioners, is seeking re-election. Long-time Commissioner Bob Carruth announced in late 2011 that he would not seek re-election to his seat in 2012. He plans to step down at the end of his term this year.

Commissioner candidates fielded questions from Republican Women of Greater Cabarrus County and then took questions from the audience.

Candidates were asked to explain their position on the property revaluation and what the tax rate should be. Cabarrus County’s 2012 Revaluation lowered the total assessed value of property in Cabarrus County from $18.2 billion to $15.8 billion, about a 13.3 percent decrease over the 2011 values. Most property owners will see a decrease in their overall appraised property value ranging from 5 percent to 30 percent.

That shift means if Cabarrus County maintains its current tax rate of 63 cents per $100 valuation, or a $1,260 tax bill on a $200,000 home, that the county will face a $17.6 million shortfall in tax revenue. Raising the tax rate to 73 cents per $100 valuation would keep the tax revenue at its current level.

“Why are we doing it,” said Barnhardt, the former mayor Mount Pleasant. “It’s not required except every eight years. We should have not started the process knowing the economy we’re in.”

Commissioner Poole said the law states that counties must tax property at its market value.

“The county has determined that four years is enough of a span,” she said. “We should by law tax the property and value the property at its property value. For me personally, this is not the best time to do a reval.”

Morris, who runs the Gem Theatre in Kannapolis and serves on the Cabarrus Ecomonic Development Corporation board, said setting the tax rate following the revaluation will be a “difficult job.”

“In most years, we have a line of people claiming their values are too high. This year we have values that are too low,” he said. “The current commissioners will be tasked with setting that tax rate. It is a very difficult job. I think revenue neutral is an easy way to slide across that. We need to have a decrease if at all possible. I know that’s extremely difficult, but that should be our goal.”

Eudy, a farmer from Mount Pleasant, said he thought the foreclosures near his property should be considered in determining his property’s worth.

“A $320,000 house sold for $115,000. It didn’t change my property tax. Everybody’s tax should come down for what the houses are selling for around them,” he said.

Burrage, who ran unsuccessfully for Concord City Council and is married to Commissioner Vice Chairman Larry Burrage, said called the revaluation “a total disaster.”

“It is not the way to do it,” she said. “We have paid taxes for the last four years on the inflated prices of houses.”

Now, she said, others are struggling because they cannot refinance their homes because of the lower tax value.

Blackwelder, former chairperson of the Cabarrus County Board of Education, said she questioned the timing on the revaluation.

“It is the economy that is driving a lot of this. It’s bad for some and good for others. That’s a really sore subject right now,” she said. “It’s going to be tough for some people and okay for others. I’m not sure what the total answer is there.”

Candidates were also asked if they had examined the county budget and where they believed cuts should be made.

Burraage said, “You’ve got to get down to the bare line item facts. Every department should have to give the line items. I think everything is going to have to be cut -- everything.”

Blackwelder said she would like to see the commissioners create a budget committee like the one she helped form for the school board. “We have been able to examine all of those line items,” she said.

Barnhardt said, “There’s no doubt with the devaluation of property in Cabarrus County that we will need to cut things.

He said the county needs to look at the “little spending and make sure that the items you purchase are necessary and not that you’re just spending it because at the end of the year it’s left in your budget.”

Poole said 12 cents of the 63 cent tax rate goes to debt service for the Cabarrus County Schools. “You can’t touch that,” she said.

Poole said the commissioners have been fiscally conservative.

“We cut 65 positions two years ago,” she said. “This is not a county that has been throwing around money on post-it notes. We’ll continue to find positions we can merge and eliminate.”

Morris said, “We have to elect people who are willing to make the hard choices. I think to say that we make across the board cuts in every area is probably not a wise thing to do.”

Eudy said there are still ways to make cuts. He said he’s seen county workers use multiple vehicles to get to a job.

“You see five people on a job. You see five vehicles on the job. Why in the world can’t you get together and go to a job together,” he said.

Audience member Ric Starnes criticized the forum.

“I wonder if Obama is expected here tonight,” he said. “I have never seen so many softball questions to candidates.”

Starnes questioned the Cabarrus County commissioners’ decision to build a new jail. Then he also questioned why the county gave $350,000 in cash to Celgard, which had already received $50 million from the Obama administration and $20 million from Gov. Bev Perdue to help lure the company to Cabarrus County.

“How can you justify this? How can you justify all of these decisions,” he said. “I want to know how can you justify every one of these incompetent decisions by the county commission.”

Poole said she thought it was unfair for a question to be directed to just one candidate. She also defended her voting record, stating that she was not an elected commissioner when the vote to build a new jail happened.

Burrage jumped in, staying that she appreciated Starnes concerns.

“I appreciate where you are,” she said. “But we can’t undo the past. We must move forward. That’s why we’re sitting here hoping to be elected county commissioner.”

Blackwelder and the other candidates agreed with Burrage.

“We can’t undo the past,” Blackwelder said. “I would love to go back and undo the decisions by the prior Board of Education. But she’s right. We can’t go backwards. We can only go forward.”

WSOC