Here is a summary of the procedure for incorporation in NC. It is a 28 page pdf file provided by the state legislature. http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/documen...mary of Municipal Incorporation Procedure.pdf
Totally understand the dilemma Hat, and thanks for the feedback KDs. We're in an interesting situation in that our subdiv of about 75 houses is split by the county line...the first ~25 houses are Wake and the back ~50 are JoCo. Those of us on the Wake side pay JoCo utilities. I'm not sure how many others in this 40/42 area have the same situation, but it's definitely something to think about since the home values in my sub average $230k and before the housing bust there was talk of adding more on acreage that backs up to Pierce Rd. And, I'm fully aware Garner has their eye on our area, which is why the 40/42 incorp. discussion is of interest to me:mrgreen: I'll just keep my ears open for how ya'll are progressing for the time being! I certainly applaud the efforts...
Mom, that you folks pay taxes to JoCo will be in your favor, when it comes to deciding where to go...(and eventually...LOL...what to call it) As always, KDs is a breath of fresh air. Obviously, this is in its infancy stage. You're welcome to join us. H6
Thanks! You've done a lot of work on that website since the last time I checked, it looks great and is easy to navigate. Congrats! Actually, the link I posted above is already on your site, so I didn't really add anything with that. Disclaimer: Any comments or other involvement by me is strictly in the role of private citizen. Please do not take anything I may say as legal advice.
Uploading the Executive Summary information for demographics for the 40-42 area. I rec'd this info from the friendly folks at JoCo Economic Development. Kudo's to them for being able to porvide the info as quickly as they did. I spoke with the Tax Office folks, this morning as well. They can run a special report for the Cleveland Township unincorporated area that will provide the latest property value figures. The cost for the report is 35 bucks, and they advise a 2 week turnaround (although it is often faster than this)... the other method suggested was to go to the GIS page, open each parcel and add the figures up. Not gonna happen. I don't recall where I heard the figure, and I am reluctant to use it here, but in the interest of trying to help fill in the unpainted portion of the canvas will do so. I have no independent confirmation of this number. I seem to recall that the value of the Cleveland Township properties (and this will probably include our JoCo-Wake neighborhood mentioned above) at 983 mill. Remember, you didn't hear it from me, that this was a hard number, that is verifiable. I am in the process of uploading the pages to the website. http://clevelandschool.webs.com
Great information Hat! I'd be willing to throw in a few bucks to purchase the property value figures. Earlier today I started messing around with the GIS site and figured out real quick that it would take forever to pull together the data that way. Steve
Steve, Someone mentioned, jokingly I thought-but they may have been serious, to have an offering plate to pass around for donations. Stranger things have happened. Carl
***DISCLAIMER: THIS IS ONLY FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES AND IS NOT BASED ON ANY SOLID INFORMATION*** If the property values are $983 million, then a .30 cent property tax would yield $2,949,000 in annual tax revenue.
That figure would not likely include property outside of Johnston County. The post you are referring to states that the properties on the Wake side of the line pay Johnston County Utilities, not Johnston County taxes. It makes sense that one utility company provides water to the entire subdivision. If that area were included in the incorporated area, the property owners would still pay county property taxes to Wake county.
I have the ability to do this. I downloaded the GIS data and ran a select on all parcels inside the Cleveland Twp with a buffer of 100 feet. It selected 8,755 parcels although it seems as though a few cross or were not entirely within the township border and were not selected. Their database has a field called MARKET which is likely market value although it doesn't specify land, building or both. I assume it is both going by my personal property record. This is most likely what you would get for your $35 although coming form the tax assessor's office they may have a bit more info than they allow me to download. So when I run a Sum function on all property within the selection, I get $1,404,782,609. The earlier $983 figure was for a much smaller selection and not the entire Cleveland Twp. I think for starters we should look at the whole township and whittle things down from there if need be. You might think 1.4 billion may be so high that it is wrong, but keep in mind that the WalMart property alone is valued at almost 13 million dollars. Also, keep in mind that many of these properties are schools and churches which are tax exempt, yet still have a value associated with their parcel. Unfortunately the data I have does not delineate which are exempt. We have a lot of valuable commercial property in the area, which means the tax rate for whatever town limits we choose can be kept very low. Using that number the math works out like this (I think): $1,404,782,609 / $100 = $14,047,826 * the lowest tax rate possible of $0.05 = $702,391 for an operating budget. What does this mean for someone who owns a $200,000 home/property? $200,000 / $100 = $2000 * $0.05 = $100 in taxes per year. Keep in mind that someone like WalMart would pay $6,484 a year at this rate. Some other interesting figures: The mean property value is $160,454 Total acreage is 22,085 ac which comes to 32.5 square miles of township. By contrast Clayton has 10.3 square miles of city limits or an ETJ of 46 square miles. The mean acreage is inside Cleveland Twp is 2.52 ac.
The proceeds from the property tax would have to be adequate enough to pay for these services: Mandatory: Enforcement of the State Building Code Must provide at least 4 of the following 8 services: Police protection Fire protection Solid waste collection or disposal Water Distribution Street Maintenance Street construction or right-of-way acquisition Street Lighting Zoning All of these requirements can be met by contracting with the county government or a nearby city. source: pgs 13-14 http://www.sog.unc.edu/pubs/electronicversions/pdfs/incorporation07.pdf
??? so basically our taxes would go up for nothing since we already have roads, lights, etc. Sounds like a bad idea.
A significant percentage of homes here pay about 250 a year for trash removal. Having a municipality provide that for about 100 dollars a year seems to be an improvement, does it not? How about longer term? A Fire department that we can actually fund at the levels it needs to be funded. A law enforcement presence that can react to our needs faster than is currently possible. A unified municipal voice that works with DOT to think longer term, and more sensible traffic design. I envision an ability for broadband access readily available. I envision a community parks and recreation place more than just soccer fields and softball fields...a community pool, a municipal library. More than that, I envision establishing my own town's tax rate and deciding its services, rather than being involuntarily annexed and being forced to pay a tax rate I had no voice in establishing. Thanks for weighing in. I do appreciate hearing from you, and hope that we can present the pro's and con's in such a way that all can feel their voice was heard.
A lot of people react to their federal tax dollars not being spent wisely. The argument is usually about how Washington does not know what we need here. This is the same thing we have here, but on a much smaller scale. Currently, we pay taxes that are being spent by the county. Johnston is one of the largest counties by land area and extremely diverse in terms of rural vs urban or developed and undeveloped. The 4042 area has a huge tax base with many commercial properties and a lot of residential roof tops. That tax money gets spread evenly across the county. Why not have control over that money and where it is spent making sure it goes towards things we need right here?
Just want to make sure everyone is aware that the first meeting is coming up this Thursday. http://clevelandschool.webs.com
Meeting at Golden Corral, Son-Lan Parkway, 40-42 area, starting at 6 in the private room. Civil discussion and debate desired.
Rick Hester, Johnston County manager, has indicated he will attend this meeting. Mrs. Cookie Pope, Johnston County Commissioner was invited. Many of the movers and shakers with institutional memory will be in attendance. We "newbies" who want to have an open discussion will be there. Why not you? We invite any residents of the Cleveland Township area, who have interest in this issue, to join us at Golden Corral, Son-Lan Parkway, 40402 area on Thursday night at 6 pm. Come in, pay for your meal, and join us in discussing our future. http://Clevelandschool.webs.com H6
Interesting article on Clayton's growth in the Garner-Clayton Record. http://www.garnerclayton.com/news/story/1594.html Perhaps Clayton has zero interest in annexing this planning nightmare we call home.
