News

Mills River leaders set to quadruple town tax rate

By Bill Moss, Published: June 22, 2016

Mills River Town Council members say they’re resigned to quadrupling the town’s tax rate on Thursday night, calling a three-year contract for law enforcement coverage the best option available for meeting state law.

Under state law, Mills River must provide core services from a menu of possible services. Mills River had satisfied the requirement of “enhanced law enforcement” coverage by paying for one deputy per year. After negotiations for the service broke down and Henderson County pulled out, the two sides resumed talks. The result was the county’s offer to provide coverage by sheriff’s deputies at what Sheriff Charlie McDonald
describes as the true cost. In the third year of a three-year agreement, Mills River would pay $775,506 for six deputies — seven times the amount it’s paying now.
“The higher tax rate always
concerns me,” Mayor Larry Freeman said this week. “Any time you raise taxes that’s never easy. There’s
always the possibility that it will have a negative effect. We were not left with a whole lot of choice. We were given the county’s proposal and it was
more or less a take or leave it. We’re making the best out of it. We can use this three-year period to see what we need and where we want to go in the future.”
Mills River will join Hendersonville, Fletcher and Laurel Park in paying a substantial fraction of the town budget on law enforcement. An analysis by the Hendersonville Lightning of town budgets shows that Henderson County devotes 14 percent of its budget to law enforcement (sheriff’s office and jail). Hendersonville’s police budget is 33 percent of its general fund, Fletcher’s is 20 percent and Laurel Park’s is 21 percent. [See chart on above. s]
When Mills River incorporated in 2003, state law required towns to offer four municipal services from a menu of eight: police, fire, garbage collection, water, street maintenance, street construction, street lighting and zoning. Mills River provides streetlights, fire protection, zoning and, with its new contract, police protection. Those same requirements were not in effect in 1995, the year Flat Rock incorporated. The village has a budget of $1.9 million but spends nothing on law enforcement. Under state law, it’s not required to.
In the new fiscal year, Mills River’s law enforcement appropriation will be $387,753, or 16 percent of the general fund. In year 3, if the general fund stayed the same, the portion would rise to 29.6 percent. In year 2, the contract will cost $646,300 and in year 3 the cost is $775,506 for six deputies. Sheriff’s office administrators evaluated the cost based on calls and labor and came up with the numbers.

12-cent tax increase
Mills River taxpayers are facing a whopping increase of 12 cents per $100 valuation — an extra $360 a year for a home valued at $300,000. If the council adopts the budget as currently drafted, the town tax rate will spike from 2.24 cents to 9 cents per $100 valuation. The fire tax rate is also 9 cents.
“No, I ain’t a bit happy about it,” Councilman Shanon Gonce said.
Gonce said he is hearing a growing chorus of unrest from Mills River
residents complaining about double taxation — especially considering that Henderson County raised taxes by 5 cents and that Flat Rock residents pay no municipal tax for law enforcement.
“Personally I don’t like it,” said Councilman Roger Snyder. “But I don’t see a whole lot of any way around it. Taxes are necessary but sometimes things go the wrong way. The thing about taxes is they always go up. They never come down.”
Snyder said he was initially in favor of the town adding garbage collection to meet the state law requirement. But the process of choosing one hauler while paying off the others to cover their business loss was too complicated, he said. A survey of town residents showed that taxpayers overwhelmingly preferred law enforcement coverage to garbage service.
After a closed session to talk about the contract, the Town Council announced that it had agreed to the county’s offer. It also said it would go ahead and impose the full 6.75-cent tax increase.
“We’ll only have to raise taxes this one time,” said Town Manager Jeff Wells. “We think it’s a better way to do it as opposed to trying to do something incrementally.”
Mayor Freeman said he expects the contract will mean more coverage.
“The difference is I think these are three deputies that will be specially assigned to nothing but Mills River,” Mayor Freeman said. “Their shift will be spent entirely inside the town of Mills River. That’s been my understanding from what the commissioners said. They will be on patrol, they’ll be answering calls and I assume performing the full function of law enforcement.”
No one seems to know how much more visible the deputies would be starting July 1.
“For the money we’re paying I hope that’s what we get,” Gonce said. “But I’ll believe it when I see it.”