Beaufort County Commissioners Need to Stick to their Knitting | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Beaufort County Commissioners have much to consider currently, and they would be wise to concentrate on areas where they can effect positive change. This is usually the way it is, and therefore, has long been my first consideration as a county commissioner.

   Having said that, I believe that county commissioners, who speak for those who elected them (their constituents), have the duty to speak out on ideological issues, by way of resolutions, that effect everyone in the community, whether they voted for that commissioner or not. Resolutions tend to speak most loudly to engaged upper level politicians, when resolved by a duly elected governing body. If, per chance, the resolution is disregarded by said politician, and the resolution turned out to be much wiser than any action, or inaction, by the upper level politician, then you have a pattern developing that can be used to weaken that politician, when he / she may seek reelection, by simply telling the truth. This is important, but not the main focus of a weary and wise office holder.

   The absolute paramount duty of any elected leader is to strive to effect policy and practice, within their elected purview that will benefit the greatest number of people, without trampling the North Carolina Constitution, and more importantly, the United States Constitution. While this may appear to be a most difficult proposition to achieve, it actually is not that complex of a challenge, if one understands the necessity of the tenets within the first sentence of this paragraph, and therefore, strives to keep the shrill cry of the "special interests" at bay. Needless to say, this is easier for some of us than it is for the similarly elected others; however, for those politicians who tend to make a living out of representing the differing needs of one "special interest" group, and then another, on rare occasion, one can bring them around to serving the needs of the many, rather than the few. It is rare, but known to occur.

   This is the nature of the dynamic served in this titular phrase, "Beaufort County Commissioners need to stick to their knitting."

   At the Monday, January 9, 2012, general meeting, there will be a number of issues that will serve one group or another - I even saw one that was requesting a "Golf Cart Ordinance." And while I am there to consider all issues of interest to disparate groups of the community, I am primarily in attendance to serve the greater good of the community at large, and to that end at this general meeting, the greatest need is to proceed with a new property revaluation to effect a fairer distribution of the ad valorem tax burden.

   Since the conclusion of the last revaluation on December 31, 2009, I have noticed a great disparity between property values. Is this the mistake of the revaluation group that Beaufort County hired to perform the state mandated revaluation? Probably not.

   The crux of the problem, to my understanding, is the nature of the current Real Estate recession / depression that envelops our community of Beaufort County, which began abruptly after the meteoric rice in property values. The beginning of this drop in real estate prices began before the revaluation was concluded, but it was unrecognized, not so much by the appraisers, but moreover, it was unrecognized by members of the community, who wished, or needed, to sell their property. Hence, we did not have the wealth of comparables of property descending in value over time to make a proper revaluation. These folks, who should have been selling their property for far less money, waited for the market to turn, which it did not, leaving these people to lose even more money. It seems that there is a shortage of "crystal balls" in Beaufort County.

   Qualified appraisers cannot appraise property on a hunch or some economic belief system, they must have a history of comparables of like-properties to shape their qualified knowledge of the value of the property they are charged to value in this mass appraisal.

   I am of the opinion that we now have a greater preponderance of comparables sold, and that number will increase as the real estate market finally bottoms-out, which is finally occurring, but at a very slow rate. From a greater history of data of property sold, we should be able to gain a much greater bases of an equitable distribution of the tax burden here in Beaufort County.

   I know this sounds complicated, but this is the way this works, and it is now the time to move forward to put this ongoing issue to right. Should the Beaufort County Board of County Commissioners move to correct this disparity, this resolved effort will effect everyone, and this is what we, commissioners, are sworn to accomplish - not the dictates of "special interests."