For those who missed it in the print edition:

What I See
What if the people say no?

Charlie Kraebel
City Editor
One of the most interesting parts of an otherwise quiet election season this year is a referendum in Lenoir County asking for a 0.25 percent increase in the sales tax.

County officials say they need the money because the state is taking a bigger chunk of the tax in return for taking over Medicaid costs. The county figures the increase will mean another $1.4 million a year in revenue.

The thing about the Nov. 6 ballot measure is that it appears, on the surface, that Lenoir County residents will actually decide whether to accept this increase.

Hold the phones. This is actually a non-binding referendum, meaning county commissioners can do whatever they want regardless of what the people say.

What’s got me curious is what happens if voters give a resounding “no” to this proposal.

Are the commissioners going to abide by the results of the referendum, leave the sales tax rate alone and find someplace else to get the money? Will they ignore the results of the vote and increase the rate anyway?

I’d almost like to see voters go out and reject this proposal just to see what happens. Almost.

If the county really needs more money to offset the loss caused by the state takeover of Medicaid, the sales tax is the fairest way to do that. That way everyone, including people who don’t pay property taxes, pays into the system.

I just don’t think having a non-binding referendum was the smartest route to take. It may have been better for the commissioners to simply increase the rate, which is what Pitt County did in August, take the heat for a short while and move on.

The commissioners may have painted themselves into a corner. I can’t wait to see how they get out of it if the ballot measure is rejected.

* The GOP makes nice. It appears that Republicans are trying to present a united front before next year’s election cycle as two former state lawmakers kissed and made up this week.

Raleigh businessman Art Pope and Lenoir County’s former state house representative Stephen LaRoque have been feuding for more than a year over a vote-buying allegation LaRoque made against Pope last year.

Pope sued LaRoque, now Lenoir County’s GOP chairman, and LaRoque later responded with a lawsuit of his own. All that was thrown out the window last Friday when LaRoque faxed a formal apology to Pope, and all lawsuits dropped.

It’s really not that big of a deal, but I found it interesting anyway. After all, it takes a lot to get any politician to admit he’s wrong.

My guess, and I’m really stressing the word “guess” here, is that LaRoque apologized for two reasons beyond the official we-need-to-move-on-and-work-together mantra.

One, Pope’s pockets are much deeper than LaRoque’s and could probably drag the lawsuits out for as long as he wanted.

Secondly, the two may have realized what happens when a party divides and fights among themselves. It’s probably one reason why the N.C. House District 10 seat, which includes part of Lenoir County, is now held by a Democrat.

Charlie Kraebel can be reached at (252) 559-1074 or ckraebel@encblogs.com. Check out Charlie’s blog at ckraebel.encblogs.com.