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Public hearing held on proposed $25 million limited-obligation bonds; resident questions school funding
Summary
Craven County held a public hearing on a proposal to issue limited obligation bonds up to $25 million for capital improvements; Craig Warren said the borrowing would not require a tax-rate increase, and resident Kelly Muse criticized the county's historic school funding and raised procurement concerns.
Craig Warren introduced a public hearing on the county's proposal to issue limited-obligation bonds with aggregate principal not to exceed $25,000,000 to finance capital improvements for governmental, judicial, library, maintenance and social-services facilities. "At this time, there is no projected increase to the tax rate to fund this debt service on these," Warren said.
During the public comment period, Kelly Muse of 612 Matamores Lane criticized the county's historical funding of local schools and expressed skepticism about assurances that the bond would not increase taxes. "When you reassessed the citizens property or had that reassessed and everybody's property values went up, everyone paid more in taxes," Muse said, adding that the board had "not funded the school system the way you should" and that she did not trust statements from Craig Warren based on prior experience.
Board members opened the hearing, allowed Muse to speak as the lone registered commenter and then closed the hearing without further public testimony. No formal action to adopt bonds occurred during the meeting; the hearing provided an opportunity for public input on the proposal's scope and the county's financing plan.
