Dixon: County needs agriculture center
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 30, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
State Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County farmer, makes a point during a recent meeting of the House Agriculture Committee. Dixon is one of the four chairmen for the committee, and is one of three chairmen of the Appropriations, Agriculture and National and Economic Resources Committee.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
State Rep. Jimmy Dixon, third from left, talks with his House colleagues during a recent session. Dixon, a Republican, represents District 4, which includes most of Duplin and Wayne counties.
MOUNT OLIVE -- Sitting at the kitchen counter in his rural Duplin County home one morning last week, state Rep. Jimmy Dixon, dressed in a starched white shirt and suit, looked more like a statesman than farmer.
But only hours earlier, Dixon had been busy working in his turkey houses.
Now in his third term representing state House District 4 that includes most of Wayne and Duplin counties, Dixon is known for his folksy sayings. He also is known for his passion for farming and protecting and expanding agriculture in the state.
As one of the chairmen of the House Agriculture Committee and the Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources Appropriations Committee, he is in a position to help influence state agriculture policy.
And that includes support of Wayne County's proposed $14 million agriculture/convention center that would be built on Wayne Memorial Drive near Wayne Community College.
The center is a joint project with the city of Goldsboro. In exchange for enlarging the center's convention hall, the city agreed to give the county 12 acres of land to build on. Also, the city has asked the legislature to approve a one-percent increase in its hotel occupancy tax -- 33 percent of the revenue would be used by the county for maintenance and operations of the center.
The county also has agreed to loan the city $3 million for a multi-sports complex.
State Sens. Louis Pate of Mount Olive and Don Dixon of Snow Hill have filed a bill seeking a $3 million state appropriation for the project.
Dixon said at least some state funding for the project can be obtained.
"The ability to get inside the decision-making process, particularly as it relates to appropriations, takes time," Dixon said. "The key to it is to be able to find sources of funding that maybe could be reprioritized, or sources of funding we are doing right now that are not meeting the expectations, and then identify those funds and reroute them to projects like this.
"I think there is good opportunity there. If the collaborative effort between Wayne Community College develops properly, that just provides you with another potential pathway to reroute funding that could benefit the ag center through Wayne Community College, or for that matter, the University of Mount Olive. The more partners you have, the more pathways that you have."
Dixon said he feels confident the legislature will be able to direct "some amount" of initial funding for the project. He said he believes the bill filed by Pate and Davis represents the "upper potential" of initial funding. It is early in the session, and with legislators already facing the big issues of budget, Medicaid, K-12 education and the UNC system, there has been little discussion about the Pate/Dixon bill, he said.
The county and city "pretty much" have the operating money in place for the center, Dixon said. Those are the costs that are normally a concern, he said. Often when money is appropriated for a project, there is a failure to account for operating costs, he pointed out.
A proposed increase in the city's hotel occupancy tax would be used for maintenance and operational costs associated with the new center.
"That was the key part of the agreement that allowed me to be supportive of the increase in occupancy tax because very rarely does Jimmy Dixon support anything that could be considered an increase in taxes," he said. "But I think this is such a good collaborative effort that it justifies it.
"I feel comfortable in supporting this because I think the people will do what they have said they are going to do, and there will be value generated from this extra. Sometimes people just want to increase something just to have more money to throw at a problem. This money is not being thrown at a problem, this money is part of the solution to a problem, and that is the reason I am supportive of it."
Dixon said he does not foresee any problem with the occupancy tax bill filed in the House by Rep. John Bell of Goldsboro.
Dixon said he and Bell, who is the House majority whip, have a good working relationship with each other as well as with their colleagues.
"When we support something, generally we have very broad-based support," he said. "We have built up some degree of trust and respectability with our colleagues, and I think when they see us support it, they won't fight us on it. I think it will pass."
Plans for the new center have evolved over the years from just new offices for the Extension Service, Dixon noted. By having more than one entity involved, the project stands a better chance of becoming a reality, he said.
Dixon said he isn't sure if he likes the term "convention center" because the facility will be more than that, he said. It will be a "great place" for people to gather to discuss "all of the issues of the county."
"That is a good thing," he said. "That is value added to the original concept of the new office space."
Building near Wayne Community College adds even more to the collaborative effort, Dixon said. And although the University of Mount Olive is 20 miles away, its burgeoning agriculture program could benefit from the center as well, he said.