City taxes protested / Some in annexed areas haven t paid

Wilmington’s newly annexed residents haven’t paid more than a third of the taxes they owe for the first nine months they were in the city.

Only 63 percent of taxes owed by residents who were annexed Sept. 30, 2000, have been paid for the nine-month period that ended June 30, 2001, said New Hanover County Tax Administrator Bob Glasgow.

He said about 100 of those taxpayers paid under protest by submitting letters that say they don’t consent to Wilmington’s taxing authority, now or in the future.

More than 83 percent of county taxes and 80.7 percent of city taxes owed this budget year were paid by Monday, the deadline to pay property taxes to avoid paying a penalty. The penalty, which effectively is interest added to the amount owed, is 2 percent the first month and three-fourths of a percent each month thereafter. Mr. Glasgow said the city will get 98 percent of the interest collected and the county, which issues tax bills for Wilmington, will keep 2 percent to cover its cost to collect the delinquent taxes.

New Hanover County’s tax billing cycle begins July 1 and ends June 30 of each year.

The city’s tax rate is 47 cents per $ 100 worth of property.

The county’s tax rate is 69 cents.

About 13,000 residents live in the newly annexed area between Whiskey and Bradley creeks. They were annexed by the City Council in 1998, but a lawsuit in state courts delayed the annexation until Sept. 30, 2000.

Opponents appealed the state court’s decision to permit annexation to proceed to a federal appeals court. A hearing on the issue before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., has been delayed until late February. The appeals court has allowed the N.C. Attorney General’s Office to participate because the lawsuit involves state laws, said Mary Margaret Nunalee, an attorney who filed the suit on behalf of annexation opponents.

Ed Spencer, a leader of Good Neighbors of New Hanover County, which opposes the state’s annexation laws, said he knows of no organized effort to encourage newly annexed residents not to pay their city taxes.

Joyce Fernando, with Citizens for a Sound Economy, said she, too, was unaware of anyone encouraging residents not to pay their property taxes. Citizens for a Sound Economy, a national organization with state chapters, opposes forced annexation.

“This is news to me,” Mr. Spencer said. “Even though we think (forced

annexation) is wrong, we don’t go to that step.” Newly annexed residents, however, have been encouraged to pay their tax bills under protest, he said.

Mr. Spencer said he was encouraged by the City Council’s decision Tuesday night to approve a resolution calling on local legislators to introduce a bill to allow people to vote on whether to be annexed. Changing the state’s annexation law won’t help those who have already been annexed, he said, but it would help others who might be targeted for annexation in the future.

In addition to changing state laws to allow people to vote on whether they want to be annexed, Mr. Spencer said, opponents would also like to reverse the city’s latest annexation.

Paying the piper

Although 80 percent of taxes owed by city residents have been paid this year, more than a third of taxes owed by newly annexed residents haven’t been paid for

the first nine months they were in the city.

Paid Unpaid

Latest annexation 63%37%

2001-02 taxes $ M New Hanover County 83.01% 16.09% Wilmington 80.7% 19.3%

Bettie Fennell: 343-2377

bettie.fennellwilmingtonstar.

GRAPHIC: Staff art / STEPHEN PIPES; STAFF PHOTO KEN BLEVINS. Bob Glasgow, New Hanover County tax administrator, is surrounded by 100 letters submitted with tax payments.

LOAD-DATE: January 11, 2002