Pender County has been cited as the third-fastest growing county in North Carolina, and has struggled with crowded schools as a result. The Local Government Commission (LGC) has approved the county’s request to issue $178 million in general obligation bonds to attack the problem.
The debt will be paid for with a 9.25-cent increase on property taxes, raising the rate to 73.75 cents for every $100 in property value, all of which was approved by 53% of the county’s voters in a November referendum. That will allow Pender County Schools to build new schools in the eastern section of the county and to renovate aging structures in the central part of the county.
Those include a new middle school to accommodate 1,200 students, and a K-5 elementary school for 800 pupils. Portions of the bond money would pay for renovations to Topsail Middle School for a grade 9-10 academy due to overcrowding at the high school; an elementary school addition; and rebuilding of the Burgaw Middle School cafeteria. A new Central Services and Maintenance Building and 8-bay garage and maintenance building are part of the package.
Pender County, a coastal area, experienced a 26% population increase from 2010 through June 2022, according to U.S. Census estimates. The school district had 10,988 students and was 90% full districtwide, with six schools over capacity, according to media reports.
That was the major item on the agenda for the LGC meeting on Tuesday, July 11. The LGC, chaired by State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, is staffed by the Department of State Treasurer (DST). The commission has a statutory duty to approve most debt issued by units of local government and public authorities in the state. The commission examines whether the amount of money that units borrow is adequate and reasonable for proposed projects and confirms the governmental units can reasonably afford to repay the debt. It also monitors the financial well-being of more than 1,100 local government units.
In other items, Johnston County successfully requested that the LGC sign off on $85 million in revenue bonds to upgrade the Timothy G. Broome Water Treatment Plant. Work includes expansion of treatment capacity, water main improvements along White Memorial Church Road, construction of a wastewater collection system to divert wastewater to a new treatment plant and other work.
The city of Gastonia was given the green light to issue $42 million in revenue bonds to complete various improvements along the city’s water and sanitary sewer systems, and to build a new wastewater pump station, with construction anticipated in late summer.
The LGC approved requests from the towns of Statesville and Mills River, and Nash and Transylvania counties to use installment purchases for construction and land purchases. That type of financing allows the borrower to make payments over time instead of having to make a lump sum payment up front.
Statesville will build a 26,000-square-foot fire station with its $12 million. The building will replace an aging structure. Part of the money will be used to construct a new municipal operations center comprising a vehicle maintenance garage, the Electric Utilities Department, a storage building and covered parking.
Nash County will build two shell buildings after the LGC signed off on the $6.2 million in financing. The buildings will be erected at the Middlesex Corporate Centre and Highway 97.
Transylvania County will build, equip and furnish a 10,275-square-foot Emergency Medical Services base station with six bays and room for training and storage. It will replace a 1,961-square-foot building put up in 1957. The project cost is $5.5 million.
The town of Mills River will use its $2.4 million to buy a 34-acre parcel adjacent to the existing town complex for future expansion.
The LGC members gave permission to two housing agencies to issue conduit revenue bonds to provide refurbished apartments to low-income residents.
The Asheville Housing Authority financing totals $15.6 million, which it will loan to Laurel Wood VOA Affordable Housing. The proceeds will pay to acquire and rehabilitate a 51-unit, multifamily residential rental facility for seniors 55 and older, and to build another 54 units.
The Hickory Housing Authority will loan proceeds of its $12 million to Hilltop NC to acquire, rehabilitate and equip a 106-unit, multifamily residential rental facility. Site improvements include landscaping, lighting, a new picnic pavilion, new community center, playground and tot lot.