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IT'S BUDGET TIME!
Huge jump in real-estate values makes this season unprecedented

Smithfield town manager's proposal recommends
47-cent property-tax rate: above "revenue neutral"

Town Manager Mike Scott released his proposed 2025-26 budget Wednesday afternoon, sticking with a recommendation he shared with the Town Council last week for a property-tax rate of 47 cents per $100, even though Smithfield's "revenue neutral" rate after this year's real-estate revaluation works out to 42 cents based on guidelines provided by the N.C. Local Government Commission.

Smithfield's tax rate has been 57 cents for several years, but that was before the county's revaluation raised the total taxable value of real estate within the town's borders by 70% (changes for individual properties vary – some significantly higher, some lower than the overall percentage).

There's better news for Smithfield residents in proposed fees for utilities and sanitation services:

• Electricity rates are scheduled to go up 3.5% July 1, but that's less than the 6% increase that had been expected from ElectriCities, the town's power provider, before it revised the new wholesale rate for Smithfield and other municipalities.

• Sewer rates will rise by 3.1% September 1, but that's less than the 10% increase in what the county will begin charging the town for sewage treatment on that date. Manager Scott proposes an appropriation of $300,000 from Water & Sewer Fund reserves to cover most of the extra sewage expense from the county. The town's retail water rates, meanwhile, won't be changed this year.

• Rates for garbage and yard-waste collection also won't go up.

More good news is a stepped-up street-resurfacing program. The town manager is recommending a transfer of $2 million from the town's General Fund Balance to supplement an expected Powell Bill allocation of $440,900 from the state for Smithfield's street maintenance. That comes on top of another $2 million coming out of reserve funds to repave Outlet Center Drive and a portion of South Third Street before the end of the current fiscal year June 30.

The latest audit of the town's finances showed a General Fund Balance exceeding $17.6 million as of last June 30.

The town manager's budget includes funding for seven new full-time positions in the General Fund: four firefighters and an additional inspector in the Fire Department, an additional Public Safety Aid in Police, and two Sanitation collection workers. The Water & Sewer Fund will cover the cost of a new "line locator/inspector position."

Regarding existing town staff, Mr. Scott says "the town will continue to make a concerted effort to provide competitive benefit packages and salary packages to its employees, to maintain retention and improve recruitment efforts." (He told council members during a recent budget workshop that he's budgeting funds for pay raises of either 4% July 1 or 5% September 1.)

Mr. Scott's proposed General Fund budget for fiscal 2025-26, which begins July 1, totals $24,505,567, supported in large part by property-tax revenues.

The Electric Fund totals $18,961,000, dependent on electricity sales to customers for most of that amount. The Water & Sewer Fund totals $18,754,865, which is mostly covered by the town's monthly water and sewer charges. The town no longer transfers any surplus revenues from either of those two "enterprise" funds into the General Fund as was done years ago.

A public hearing on the proposed town budget is scheduled during the Town Council's next regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 3.

VIEW the manager's proposed budget in full posted on the town's website>
 

County manager proposes a modest tax-rate cut;
commissioners inclined to bring it down further

Johnston County Manager Rick Hester presented his proposed 2025-26 budget to the County Commissioners Monday evening that's based on a property-tax rate of 64 cents per $100 valuation – a reduction of just three cents from the past year's 67 cents despite countywide revaluation that raised total real-estate values by 70.6%.

Mr. Hester told the Weekly Sun he estimates a "revenue neutral" tax rate based on this year's revaluation is "between 48 and 50 cents." And that's "subject to change," he added, as individuals and businesses continue to seek relief from newly assigned valuations.

The manager's budget raises total General Fund expenditures from $376.3 million this fiscal year to $402.3 million in the year ahead – an increase of 6.9%.

Upon receiving Mr. Hester's proposal Monday, several commissioners voiced disappointment with the recommended 64-cent tax rate.

"We need to be cognizant of its impact on people who have limited incomes," said Commissioner Bill Stovall, who blamed the pressure for higher taxes to serve Johnston's surging population on an "imbalance" in growth that's tilted more toward residential development than industry and agriculture.

"Unfortunately, everyone's property didn't increase equally," Commissioner Mike Rose noted. Especially hard hit by revaluation, he said, are rural landowners in southeastern Johnston where property values have gone up "200 to 300%."

Up till now, Johnston's growth has been "paying for itself," Commissioners' Chairman Butch Lawter added. "Now it's breaking the other way." He acknowledged the county has "a lot of needs," but he urged the board "to make sure we set a tax rate people can afford."

Manager's proposal falls short of schools' request

Mr. Hester is recommending an increase of $3.1 million in county funding to operate Johnston's public schools. Commissioners approved an even $104 million in the current year's budget. Johnston's Board of Education has requested raising that appropriation by more than $10 million to a new total of $114,082,706.

The manager is recommending an increase in county support for operating Johnston Community College from $6,912,389 this year to $7,750,000 in the year ahead. JCC's Board of Trustees has asked the county for $9,290,303 for operations.

In his budget message presented to commissioners Monday, Mr. Hester acknowledged "revenues will greatly exceed expenditures" with the proposed 64-cent tax rate, but added "that is not to simply bank taxpayer funds." He cited major capital projects looming that are not covered by annual budgets or bond issues, including a new Clayton High School and "new county government and court-related facilities."

(Mr. Hester told the Weekly Sun his proposed budget does not include a withdrawal from the county's General Fund Balance, which had grown to more than $238 million at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year last June 30, according to the latest audit.)

"Continuing to maintain and recruit employees in a highly competitive environment is a priority," Mr. Hester stated in his budget message. Regarding pay raises for county employees, he said "funds are included for a pay adjustment in July with the potential pay adjustment later in the fiscal year" but he did not specify any amounts, deferring that decision to "upcoming budget meetings" with commissioners.

His budget proposal calls for 44 new full-time positions in various county departments, including 16 in Emergency Services and 14 in Social Services.

A public hearing on the proposed county budget for 2025-26 is scheduled for the commissioners' meeting on Monday, June 2, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Courthouse. A follow-up budget session is set for 6 p.m. Monday, June 9 with adoption of the final budget tentatively scheduled for the board's June 16 meeting.

VIEW the manager's proposed budget in detail posted on the county's website>

ESTIMATED SMITHFIELD TAX BILLS AS THINGS NOW STAND
Based on the county and town managers' proposed budgets, here's how their recommended property-tax rate changes would impact a Smithfield residence valued 70% higher as a result of this year's revaluation of real estate:
• Last year's valuation at $250,000 – county tax rate of 67 cents per $100 plus town rate of 57 cents = total property-tax bill of $3,100.
• This year's valuation at $340,000 – county tax rate of 64 cents plus town rate of 47 cents = total bill of $3,774. That's a 21.7% increase.
Keep in mind that the new tax rates used in this example will likely change before final approval of county and town budgets by the two governing boards.
 

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THEY'RE IN JOHNSTON EMS HALL OF FAME

Major and Sue Baker (above) were two of four persons inducted this past week into the Johnston County Emergency Medical Services Hall of Fame. Dr. Ed Hartman (right) and Percell Holland Jr. were the other two. Mr. Baker has served with the Wilson's Mills Fire Department, Johnston County Civil Defense, Smithfield Rescue, and Four Oaks Rescue. Mrs. Baker also has served with the Smithfield and Four Oaks rescue squads. Dr. Hartman has retired as medical director of Johnston County Emergency Services. Mr. Holland has served with Micro Rescue and the Micro Fire Department. Johnston's County Commissioners have proclaimed May 18-24 as Emergency Medical Services Week. (County of Johnston photos)
 

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Gone from the front of the Howell Theatre on South Third Street are posters advertising upcoming movies. The theatre has been closed since late April.

Transactions in motion to "re-purpose" the Howell

Two steps in a multi-party maneuver have been taken to keep the shuttered Howell Theatre intact and sidestep its conversion into a church house.

First, a Charge Conference including representatives of Centenary United Methodist Church and the Methodists' North Carolina Conference met on Tuesday of last week to approve the sale of the former home of West Smithfield's Whitley United Methodist Church to Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church. The purchase price: $1,175,000.

On Wednesday of last week, Grace Presbyterian made good on an earlier agreement and purchased the Howell Theatre from JoCo Holdings LLC for $900,000. Presently housed in a church house on Little Creek Church Road between Smithfield and Clayton, Grace Presbyterian has been looking for larger quarters and settled on the Howell Theatre as its first choice.

Word of that pending sale evoked objections from citizens saddened by the Howell's demise as well as Town of Smithfield officials wishing to keep the Downtown landmark in commercial use.

In stepped the Historic Smithfield Foundation, a fairly new entity on the local scene, which guided negotiations leading Grace Presbyterian into re-considering its move and deciding instead to pursue purchase of the Whitley Memorial site for its new home. Whitley Memorial's congregation has disbanded, and last October deeded its West Smithfield property on Wilson's Mills Road to Centenary Methodist and the North Carolina Conference.

Grace Presbyterian has 60-90 days to close on its purchase of the Whitley Memorial site. In the meantime, the Historic Smithfield Foundation in concert with the Neuse Little Theatre is working to raise funds to purchase the Howell Theatre from Grace Presbyterian.

"We plan to join forces with NLT and keep it a theater," explained Todd Johnson, director of the Johnston County Heritage Center who also serves as secretary of the Historic Smithfield Foundation. Another of that organization's current projects is reconstruction of the two-room Freedman's School house on North Fourth Street – originally built by the federal Freeman's Bureau where African-American children were educated from 1869 until 1912.

Pictured below is the vacant sanctuary building of what used to be Whitley Memorial United Methodist Church in West Smithfield.

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Town Council gives green light to 3 subdivisions

Swift Creek Road project gets second chance after revisions
The Smithfield Town Council Tuesday night approved a preliminary plat for a 20-lot residential subdivision off Swift Creek Road just north of Cleveland Road after its developer came back with modifications to a plan the council rejected in December.

Instead of 18 lots of 20,000 square feet on 11 acres in the rejected plan, the revision calls for 20 lots, each exceeding 30,000 square feet, on 21.24 acres. That will allow a septic tank on each lot. Lanny Clifton is the subdivision's developer.

Smithfield's Planning Director Stephen Wensman said the subdivision will have streets 34 feet wide, which exceeds the town's standards, plus sidewalks and landscaped buffers. The N.C. Department of Transportation has given permission for two entrances but will not add turning lanes off Swift Creek Road because traffic counts aren't large enough, Mr. Wensman told the council.

Bill McClure, a nearby resident, objected. "Without turnout lanes, somebody's going to die or be maimed," he exclaimed in a warning about speeding motorists rounding a curve approaching the subdivision's entrances.

The council wrestled with a request from an adjacent landowner to eliminate a street stub in the new subdivision ending at his property line. Even though the developer's attorney and council members supported the request, Town Attorney Bob Spence said the stub is required by the town's Unified Development Ordinance and must be included in the plan unless that ordinance is amended.

The council voted 4-2 to approve the subdivision's plan, including the street stub. Travis Scott and Marlon Lee voted no. David Barbour, John Dunn, Steve Rabil, and Roger Wood voted in favor. Councilman Sloan Stevens was absent.

First of two Waddell Drive townhouse developments advances
The council approved a preliminary plat for Heritage Townes, a 17-unit townhouse project on 1.88 acres off Waddell Drive in North Smithfield. A special-use permit for the project was approved by the council in December. Mr. Wensman said the developer, Sam O'Brien of Raleigh, will be selling the lots to individual buyers.

West Smithfield subdivision gets an extra year to get started
The council granted a one-year extension for Harvest Run, LLC based in Gaithersburg, Maryland to start construction of a subdivision on the north side of NC 210 in West Smithfield. The project won approval from the council on June 12, 2023 but was facing the end of a two-year start-up deadline next month.

The plan calls for 96 single-family lots and 69 townhouse lots. Brian Massengill told the council his group of developers wants to build the townhouses first but are waiting for more favorable market conditions, including lower interest rates, before starting construction. An adjacent subdivision, Marin Woods, is already under construction.

Hospital Road electric substation to get an overhaul

The council approved a contract with Electrical Consulting Engineers of Matthews, N.C. "to analyze, design, and coordinate with Duke Energy" a major upgrade of the town's aging substation at the end of Hospital Road in North Smithfield.

Cost of the contract is not to exceed $75,000. The eventual cost of recommended improvements is not known at this point, Utilities Director Ted Credle told the council.

The substation is situated next to a Duke Energy facility that delivers electricity to the town. An unexplained malfunction of Duke's equipment there was blamed for a recent power outage that affected about 3,100 of Smithfield's electric customers.

Mr. Credle reminded the council that the long-range plan is to bring the Hospital Road substation up to par with a newer substation off Brogden Road. That will enable the town to supply power to all of Smithfield from either source in case one of the substations experiences an outage.

Smithfield affirms support for "regionalization" talks

The council adopted a Memorandum of Understanding keeping the Town of Smithfield engaged in conversations with Johnston's other municipalities and County Government about moving to jointly operated water and sewer systems. The conceprt is labeled as "regionalization."

Mayor Andy Moore said the memorandum approved Tuesday carries no financial obligations at this point. "We're not committing to anything," he declared. "It's healthy for us to continue being part of those discussions."

Councilmen Travis Scott and Sloan Stevens have been Smithfield's representatives on a committee studying the concept of water and sewer regionalization.

Nice-sized gathering to hear the Embers

Town Manager Mike Scott reported to the Town Council that Friday night's concert by the Embers at the Neuse River Amphitheater drew "between 400 and 500" – an audience large enough that "all vendors sold out of food for the event," he noted.
 

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That's according to U.S. Census annual estimates for municipalities with at least 5,000 inhabitants. Just released, the latest report's numbers are for July 1, 2024.

Smithfield's 12,806 total is up 13.3% from the decennial 2020 census while Clayton's 31,732 is up 20.6%. Selma's population has grown by 14.4% to 7,228.

In an earlier report, Johnston County's 2024 population was put at 249,794 with the Census estimate for last July 1. That's a gain of 33,795 –15.6% – since 2020.

VIEW local numbers from the latest U.S. Census population report in detail>

SOME HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Clayton, Johnston County's largest town during the past decade, once before was the largest. The 1910 Census put Clayton's population at 1,441 – ahead of Smithfield's 1,347. The 1920 Census put Smithfield back in front, and it remained the largest town until the 2010 Census which thrust Clayton into the top spot again with 16,116 residents – well ahead of Smithfield's 10,966. Census totals for 2020: Clayton 26,307; Smithfield 11,292.
 

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 WHAT'S COMING UP

375 Smithfield-Selma seniors expected to graduate Friday

The 56th commencement ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in Charles Tucker Stadium on the SSS campus. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the main gymnasium where seating will be limited to ticket holders. Smithfield-Selma and all the other high schools in Johnston County are able to hold their graduations before Memorial Day this year because last fall's semester was cut short by a couple of weeks.

Neuse Little Theatre's 186th show (a comedy) opens Friday

"Sex Please, We're Sixty" plays this Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday afternoon, and the same three days the following weekend in NLT's home inside the log cabin by the river on South Front Street. This is the final production of NLT's 50th season. You may reserve tickets by calling 919-934-1873 or visiting this website>

Memorial Day observance inside the Courthouse Monday

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 A WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE EDITOR 

Partisan school-board elections here? No thanks

No surprise that a bill in the Republican-controlled North Carolina Senate would add Johnston to the list of counties that elect members of their school boards according to political party affiliation despite the fact that our Board of Education voted 5-2 against that idea just one month ago.

"We are here to represent the interests of children, and that should be separate from the interests of a political party," declared April Lee, the only board member who's registered as an "Unaffiliated" voter and would be disqualified from seeking re-election if a party label is required to get her name on the ballot.

Not only that, but the only board member who is a registered Democrat was the top vote-getter among school-board candidates in last year's election.

I've been covering local government here throughout my journalistic career, and I've not seen blatant examples of political party affiliation driving important decisions. And that's the way it should be.

Johnston's county commissioners have always been elected as either Democrat or Republican, and half a century ago almost all of them were registered Democrats. At times I wondered if they followed the "party line" when casting votes in state and national elections, but I never asked any of them and it didn't matter. For the most part, they did their best to represent the citizens of Johnston County, not any "bosses" within a particular political party.

As the political winds shifted, the reverse took place and today I suspect we have a number of local office holders campaigning as Republicans who favor Democrats in state and national elections. I know for a fact we've had judges in recent years changing their registration to Republican simply to win re-election, and it worked.

If I had my druthers, we would have non-partisan elections for every local office, including county commissioner, sheriff, clerk of court, register of deeds, and school board member. In my view, only members of our state and federal legislative bodies ought to run for office with political party labels.

North Carolina's judiciary was exempt from partisan elections until a decade ago when all of those offices from Supreme Court justices to District Court judges were converted to Democrat vs. Republican. The result of that change hasn't been pretty, as we saw in a recently contested Supreme Court race and in recent legislative gerrymandering upheld by a partisan court that stands in the way of truly representative government when it comes to choosing state and federal legislators.
 

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