To tax or not to tax? Waynesville considers adding another tax-exempt parcel
It isn’t often that citizens avail themselves of the public comment session offered by local governments.
That’s just what happened, however, when Michael Tate took the podium at the Haywood County Board of Commissioners meeting Jan. 3.
Often, those who take advantage of the opportunity to speak before a city, town or county are anticipated, as in the case of the county’s recent deliberations over firearms possession on county property or the new animal shelter.
Tate, however, was a surprise.
“I stand before you this morning to request permission to bid or buy the real estate owned by the county at 10 Calvary Street,” he said.
Strangely, an agenda item later in the meeting was to request approval for the county to negotiate a sale with the Town of Waynesville over the very same parcel.
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“If you would go down Pigeon Street to the Head Start that is put on by Mountain Projects, right behind that is an old building that is not in good condition,” said County Manager Ira Dove. “The county owns three lots that were acquired through tax foreclosure.”
The lots Dove and Tate were referring to are located on Craven Road and straddle Calvary Street; they total just over three-fourths of an acre and have a taxable value of $27,300.
Tate’s vague plan for the parcels includes an “events center” upon which he didn’t elaborate, but the town of Waynesville hopes to turn it into a park instead. Both would probably necessitate the closure of Cavalry Street.
Commissioners seemed surprised that another party had shown up to express interest in the purchase, however, their lines of questioning assumed Tate’s purchase would not be exempt from property taxes, while Town of Waynesville’s would be.
“We have an amount of cash money into this so far,” Dove told commissioners, adding that the county had expended nearly $16,000 toward the acquisition of the properties and that some tax payments are still due on them.
Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hites said he expected to spend between $60,000 and $100,000 to acquire the parcels, demolish a dilapidated structure and create a “sheltered area.”
Given that no formal offers had been made to the county for the parcels either by Tate or by the town, no action was taken at the meeting regarding ownership of the lots.
The Town of Waynesville, however, appeared poised to take action at its Jan. 10 meeting. An agenda item was listed for the meeting directing officials to obtain the property from the county, and work with the county “to redevelop lots on Calvary Street as a community park.”
Back in September, Waynesville aldermen voted to annex another tax-exempt parcel at 1023 Dellwood Road, measuring 2.82 acres and home to the Shining Rock Classical Academy. Alderman Gary Caldwell called it “part of our growth,” despite the fact that the school won’t pay property taxes, just as a park located on the Calvary Street would be likewise exempt.
Tate did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story; as of press time, the Waynesville Board of Aldermen had not yet taken action on the item either.
