EC’s vanity, ineptitude costing us dearly | Editorial Columnists

Like most liberals in government, the city of Elizabeth City’s government debated not whether to raise our property taxes, but by how much to raise them.

According to DATAUSA, the number of Elizabeth City residents owning a home and paying property taxes decreased from 2018 to 2019, and now we have only 37.6% of our residents who own a home here. The national average for property ownership is 64.1%.

Property taxes fund the vast majority of the budget. A significant majority of constituents Elizabeth City Council Council answers to are renters and not paying property taxes. Not bad people of course; many are wonderful contributing members of the community. But their perspective about the budget and raising property taxes is very likely influenced by the fact they do not pay property taxes here.

So we have a substantial property tax increase to foot a bloated budget, an overpriced, underperforming city manager, City Council members — a majority of whom decided they needed a huge pay increase in the middle of a pandemic — and expended hundreds of thousands of dollars on law enforcement to protect a small number of protesters who could have been allowed in a single location under legal time, place and manner restrictions. But our city manager decided they should have daily parade permits instead.

Now we have one of the highest city tax rates in the state. Our eight-year property reappraisal is coming up, too. Property owners will really get hit then in this hot real estate market.

Look around and ask yourself if you feel our top tax rate shows in the quality of the services provided here. How are your city roads, infrastructure like sidewalks? How about all the weeds hanging all over the curbs, the trash in the streets? Code enforcement?

This is not a debate about pay raises. The recent strike demonstrated our employees were not the priority for leadership for too long.

Services, however, are being largely funded by the distinct minority of property owners in Elizabeth City, and in some areas services are very selectively provided, not provided or completely ignored.

For example, there is a house located at 501 Cedar Street. It is vacant and has had break-in and drug activity problems. The property is filthy and full of junk rotting in the weather and elements. The grass is over 2 feet long. There is a rat infestation and there is a racoon and snake issue.

The previous inhabitant left dogs in the home alone for days on end, and the dogs would walk out a broken window on the roof to relieve themselves and search for food and water. Inside the home where children lived, there is dog feces literally on almost every square inch of floor in every room.

People in this neighborhood who literally have had to live with this for well over a year have repeatedly contacted the city for code enforcement and the health department to take action. Many times. The response? Nothing. Lip service.

But there was no problem at all finding a code enforcement officer available to come to my home last November during the election with tape measure in hand to cite my family for an “oversized sign,” despite the location of the exact sized sign in homes at other locations in the city limits.

A review of code enforcement records showed not one other household with an oversized sign was cited. I will let you guess what the only difference was between the signs.

The size was the same, the message was not. Signs were ignored all over the city despite them being placed where prohibited by code — but not in a few select places, depending on the sign’s message.

Then there was a certified letter threatening me with a daily $500 fine, complete with a color photo and a ruler telling me I had a single rose branch encroaching a half-inch over the sidewalk. Plenty of time and funding for that code enforcement!

Forget about having the city comply or acknowledge public record requests. I sent one on May 25th asking for a breakdown on city work days affected by the pandemic and the protests and the increased law enforcement costs. I haven’t heard a word.

It’s the law to provide residents, upon request, the public records of the community they fund. But months have passed and this compliance with the law appears as selective and inconsistent as code enforcement.

The city management is spending, taxing and arrogantly ignoring its way to oblivion. The tax rate is influencing people to choose to go elsewhere. The lack and selectivity of services is too.

Most of us aren’t getting our money’s worth. Not even close. The governing arrogance and ineptitude will continue to cost us all plenty.

Holly Audette is a small-business owner active in political and civic causes.