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Whiteville staff outlines costs and timeline to resume in-house property tax collection after Columbus County moves to percentage fee
Summary
City staff presented a comparative analysis after Columbus County shifted municipal tax collection from a flat fee to a percentage (reported as 3%). Staff concluded in-house collection would cost less over five years and asked council for direction before the county's 120-day termination window expires in July.
City Manager Kevin (first name only in the transcript) and finance staff presented a comparative analysis on whether Whiteville should continue having Columbus County collect municipal property taxes under the county's newly adopted percentage fee or resume in-house collection.
Kevin summarized the county's January decision to switch from a flat-fee arrangement to a percentage-based collection and said the county set the new rate at 3 percent; staff reported the county figures estimate the change would cost Whiteville about $75,001.58 annually for collection services and about $85,000 when combined with stormwater and downtown tax collections. "They voted on 3%." the city manager said, referring to the county vote.
Finance staff presented two options. Option 1…
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