Focus on The Future Two: Taxes

The Responsible administration of taxes should be the foundation requirement of anyone aspiring to civic leadership. The urge to cut taxes is a constructive pressure for any governing body. Other candidates have suggested that it is time to cut our tax rate and accuse the Council of raising taxes. First off, the tax rate of .16 has been consistent for years. Property values have soared because more people want to join us in this wonderful place. Assessed values have gone up and that resulted in increased revenue to the town and increased taxes to the citizen. So what I am about to say goes against the grain of the understandable urge to cut the tax rate. I want someone to tell me as a private business owner if this makes sense. We are about to expand our customer base by over 20%. and what we should do next is reduce inbound revenue. Reduce the amount of staff and finances we have to accommodate these new customers. Does that make sense? I don't think so. We have seen how cutting taxes has effected our federal governance. Burdensome deficits lagging infrastructure. You fix the roof while the sun is shining. Sunset Beach is about to add 2,000 new household plats. Increase its visitor base with an expanding destination golf resort. We have annexed a significant new area the Angel Trace Parcel. The time to invest in infrastructure is now and the Council appropriately held on to the taxes generated by the increase in home values and assessments. They did not raise the tax rate, neither did they lower it. People may not be aware but property taxes only pay for 44% of the towns budget. To their credit the Council added a significant source of new revenue in the Parking Plan. These funds paid for primarily by visitors to our beach NOT SB TAXPAYERS may ultimately allow us to reduce the tax rate. But the time for that was not last year or the year before. Everyone in this community pounds the table because Brunswick County is building homes without increasing infrastructure. Sunset Beach fortunately is doing just the opposite. Yes we should take a look every year to see if we can lower the tax rate. Positive Revenue from paid parking which will hit the books as early as late 2026 may allow us to do that. Until then we should make sure we have the funds in advance of future growth so we can continue to be the great place we all cherish.

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