THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504270149
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
SOURCE: BY BOB MULLER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
In a column in The Coast, ``The future is now on the Outer Banks,'' Ronald L. Speer discusses a variety of goals developed for the Outer Banks and implies that foremost amongst the elements necessary for the future success of the area is the consolidation of local governments.
His view parallels the conventional wisdom on the subject and as such may benefit from a closer analysis.
The claim ``reduced costs'' is the one most often made in calling for consolidation. Taxes can be cut and redundancy eliminated if we all just pull together, is the battle cry. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The five towns in Dare County all provide varying levels of service to their communities. If you accept that under a consolidated government no one community would want to reduce its current level of service, and all the areas would expect the same level of service, then it is easy to show that costs would increase.
Fire protection offers a good example. The towns of Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores rely almost entirely on dedicated volunteers to provide fire protection while the towns of Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills have augmented their volunteers with full-time paid staff. Extending the same level of paid fire protection to the northern towns would require 10 to 12 new employees and cost, at an absolute minimum, $300,000 in salaries alone. Similar differences exist in other departments as well, extending the level of service offered to a part of the consolidated town to all of the consolidated town will not save money.
The county recently approached the five towns to gauge interest in the county serving as tax collector for all. The town of Manteo has already decided to pursue the idea. On the other hand, analysis of the proposal by the town of Nags Head showed the town would lose $60,000 by accepting the proposal despite the elimination of personnel. Neither town made the wrong decision; one solution is not always best for all.
Proponents of consolidation also imply that one government will be better able to provide the quality of life we all want on the Outer Banks. Again, closer examination may debunk this myth. Consider the question of public beach access. The town of Southern Shores has chosen not to provide any, while Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills have programs that are models for the rest of coastal North Carolina. If the residents of Southern Shores wanted such a program they would elect leaders who would provide it. They have not.
I suspect a unified government would have a hard time convincing the residents of the other towns to accept more visitors on their beaches until similar access was provided in the areas that don't have any.
I am writing this letter as an individual, and it represents only my views. But I am also a commissioner for the town of Nags Head. I am one of those whom you imply are blocking consolidation in order to maintain personal prestige and power. I am very proud of my title, but any power I exercise as a member of the Board of Commissioners is exercised for the citizens of the town of Nags Head. The argument that consolidation is being blocked by petty bureaucrats striving to maintain personal prestige and power is not only wrong, it is insulting.
The 25 elected leaders in our towns work diligently to find the best course for their respective areas. They do so because they care and because they want to make the entire area a better place. To imply such crass motives does them a great disservice and is unjustified by their actions.
I do not deny the need for more cooperation. Issues like stormwater runoff, land-use planning and ground-water quality do not know local boundaries. The decisions of one body impact all. To this end we need to do more joint planning, developing regional approaches to these problems.
I believe that a consolidated government for the northern beaches of Dare County cannot save money and will be less responsive to the needs of the community. There is no problem facing the area now that cannot be solved by cooperation amongst the towns. That has been amply proven already. In short, it's not broken, so don't try to fix it. by CNB