Many Sampson residents may have been less than pleased that county commissioners raised property tax rates this past summer, but as we well covered on these pages, it was a necessary evil in order to get county government back on positive financial footing. That kind of forward thinking and proactive moves on the part of then-interim county manager Jeffrey Hudson, new county manager Allen Vann and the Board of Commissioners has now led to very positive news indeed for Sampson County.
At Monday night’s commissioners meeting, it was announced that the county will save more than $2 million over the next 10 years after refunding its bonds from 2015. That means not only will the county be facing less debt, it has also improved its credit rating in the process, moving up to a AA- rating from Standard and Poors. In turn, that translates to better loan terms, lower interest rates and generally an easier process, should the county move to procure loans or bonds in the future. And that’s probably more of a definite than a maybe, since there are always urgent needs that must be addressed, including aging buildings, schools and infrastructure.
Too often, the loudest voices are critical. In this case, we’d like to give kudos to county leaders for doing what they can to move our community forward. It’s a process, for sure, and takes time, but already, we are starting to see the benefits of the decisions commissioners made months ago.
At the December meeting, Vann mentioned that he had already begun meeting with department heads to work on next fiscal year’s budget as well. Those who are running for re-election — McLamb, Chip Crumpler and Thaddeus Godwin — have all but promised there will not be another property tax increase this year. Here’s hoping that promise is kept. We think under Hudson’s leadership, and now Vann’s, things are definitely on an uptick for the county. We are pleased to see progress, and we certainly hope that continues.
It’s not easy being an elected official, by any stretch of the imagination. So we applaud those who are willing to step up to the plate, maybe take a few for the team, all with the goal of moving the county forward.
While the process of improvement may be slower than some would like, it’s important to keep in mind that huge changes don’t happen overnight. It takes time, patience and persistence to make real, lasting change.
As board chairman Allen McLamb said at Monday night’s meeting, “Maybe things don’t get answered as quick or done as fast as some things that people want sometimes, but we’re working on it.”
That’s all we can really ask from our county commissioners — to work on it. And we know that they are, because we are seeing results already.
There are some trying times ahead, for sure: the upcoming budget, the proposed transfer of six million gallons of water out of the Cape Fear River Basin to the town of Fuquay-Varina, the incessant agricultural spills that plague our area roadways regularly. But, as McLamb said, commissioners are working on it. They will discuss the budget ad nauseam in the coming months. There’s a planned discussion on the proposed interbasin transfer in February. And there are upcoming discussions and policy proposals regarding ag spills, too.
We think our commissioners are up to the challenge, and we encourage our residents to keep speaking out about issues that are important to them, too.
As we’ve said numerous times, the only way a community can grow is by working together.