To the Editor:

To: Honorable Dallas Jones, chairman; Honorable Ronnie West, vice chairman; Honorable S. Bruce Phillips; Honorable Barry Porter; Honorable Carl Faison; Honorable R. Randolph Cook; and  Honorable Alan Edwards

Dear gentlemen:

The Southampton County Democratic Committee met on Sept. 29, 2017, and voted to have its position on the below-listed concerns penned and delivered to you.

1) On the matter of the request for $30,000 from both the City of Franklin and Southampton County to assist in the support of the golf course at Cyprus Cove Country Club, the question has arisen as to where the request originated. Information has come forth that the country club has not made any request for funding, so why is this matter being considered?

The committee had a unanimous vote to oppose the issuing of public funds to support a private enterprise. We prefer a pay-to-play concept as currently used for organizations using the course for fundraising, and initiating this same system for school usage.

2) The committee would like to point out that the $200 annual waste fee charged to each household is just that, a fee, and not a tax. Fees are assessed to cover a specified need and when the need no longer exists, the fee should be eliminated. Since our contract with the SPSA is coming to an end, the fees should also end. The monies collected should not be considered a revenue surplus and any overage should be reimbursed to the households that paid the fees. The Southampton County Democratic Committee at its meeting established this as the committee’s position by unanimous vote.

3) The SCDC supports the elimination of the special land use tax break on timberland. Taxpayers can no longer afford to give a tax credit to people and companies that hold large tracts of timber for investment. The monies gained will go far in providing relief to the budget of the county and aid in future planning.

Also, question has arisen as to how the county is taxing the land formerly classified as farmland, but is now being used for solar panels. Opinion is that this is no longer farm land by definition of farming, but industrial use land.

We thank you for your consideration to these issues and invite you to come to our meetings each last Thursday of the month. We would greatly appreciate a response to our concerns.

Yours truly,

Yvonne Rose
Vice president of  Southampton County Democratic Committee
Courtland