Residents to get light petition signed
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 22, 2014 1:46 PM
sherring@newsargus.com
Wayne County commissioners Tuesday morning took the first step toward getting the street lights shining again in the de-annexed area north of Goldsboro.
However, whether those lights go back on is the responsibility of the property owners in that area.
Under state law, commissioners can create special districts, similar to fire districts and assess a tax to pay for a service -- in this case, street lighting.
But before the tax can be levied to pay for the lights at least 67 percent of the people in each district must agree to the arrangement.
Creating the districts has established the procedure that other older areas of the county can utilize as well, Wayne County Manager George Wood said.
The districts created Tuesday are: No. 1, Buck Run; No. 2, Morgan Trace; No. 3, a combination of three small subdivisions, Pine View, Tarklin and Perkins Road; No. 4 Falling Brook, the largest; and No. 5, Ashby Hills.
The sixth district is not an actual subdivision. It is an area where lots have been cut out that were annexed then de-annexed, he said. It is being called Salem Church/Buck Swamp because of the two major roads in the area.
"What we are talking about here are the areas that were de-annexed from the city of Goldsboro," said. "When they (developers) originally started out they had an agreement with Duke Energy to provide street lights in there (subdivisions). They had a contract for that.
"When it was annexed into the city by state law the city has to take over street lighting and pay for it so those original contracts were voided by the annexation. Of course they were paid for through property taxes."
When the area was de-annexed the city no longer had a legal obligation to provide the street lights, Wood said.
The problem has been that Duke Energy has not had an entity, such as a government or homeowners association, to contract with to provide the service, he said.
State law allows the county to create the district thereby providing an entity Duke Energy could contract with, Wood said. The contract is that the street lights are owned by Duke Energy, which operates everything.
Duke Energy would bill the county, which would use the revenues from the special assessment to pay the bill.
The special assessments will be included on the tax bills for only the people who live in those districts that vote to approve the assessment.
In an earlier interview, Wood said he is not sure what the initial assessments will be, but added that he did not think it will be that much.
The first year will probably be higher to help offset people who do not pay and to help build a reserve, he said.
Only one person spoke at Tuesday's public hearing on the creation of the six special tax assessment street light districts.
Ken Wadsworth, of Kelly Drive in the Ashby Hill area, thanked the board for its efforts to get the lights that he said are an important aspect of the safety and security of neighborhoods.
He said that residents in that area had met with Duke Energy only to be told the only way to have the lights switched back on was to have a homeowners association in each area.
Wadsworth said the residents had not been in favor of a homeowners association.
He said he would be interested to hear from the Sheriff's Office if the lack of street lights had led to more crime.
Prior to the public hearing Wood reminded commissioners that all they were considering was the establishment of the districts and nothing more.
The districts do not become active unless 67 percent of the people in one of those districts ask for it, Wood said.
Wood said he was unsure if another public hearing would be required, but suggested that the board err on the side of caution and hold one to give people a chance to be heard.
"At that point you are free to vote and levy the tax," he said.
All of the districts are in Wayne County Commission District 1 represented by Commissioner Ray Mayo.
It has been an ongoing issue for nearly two years, Mayo said.
Mayo said he had spoken with residents in the subdivisions and had made it clear that establishing the districts does not obligate them to anything.
The next step is to hold a public meeting with a representative of each of the new districts, he said.