Informational News of interest for the citizens in and around Wendell, North Carolina.
Postings on this site are the property of Glenn Harris and cannot be copied without express written permission.
Archives are listed at the bottom of the home page.
The Eastern Wake News posted an article on their web site that Harold Broadwell plans to run for mayor of Wendell.
Click here to read the article.
From Eastern Wake News
Who ever said town board meetings are boring?
Just spend a night with the Wendell town board and you’ll come away with a little different point of view.
The biggest soap opera in town takes place twice a month at the town hall in Wendell. Commissioners come to the meeting with a strategy for how they will get what they want and, despite the best efforts of at least some of their colleagues, they usually get it.
Click here to read the entire article.
Yes that’s right; your home is an equal partner with your 401k and IRA in your retirement planning. How can that be you say, well let’s go through some basic concepts:
With a 401k and an IRA, you contribute a certain amount of money and they keep on building in value, free of current income tax.
With your home, you contribute to it (pay the mortgage) and it keeps on building in value (or so you hope), free of current income tax.
If you accept the premise that your home is an equal partner with your other saving plans, let’s talk about that portion of the trio.
You own a home in Wendell which is located in Wake County, one of the most affluent Counties in the State and one of the fastest growing in the Country. People are coming from all over the United States, from all over the world, to live in this area. You picked the right place to buy (invest money for your retirement). Or did you?
Those last three words sounded ominous, didn’t they? Well, if you don’t watch your home investment, as well as you do your 401K and IRA, you could be less then satisfied with the ultimate returns. Think about it, the $200,000.00 home you own today could be worth $400,000.00 or more when it’s time to retire, and it may be a major portion of your retirement planning.
So how can you “watch your home investment”? One of the ways is for you to pay attention to what is happening in the area in which you live. Are the Wendell Town administrators exercising their best judgment in planning for the growth of the Town? Is there a suitable diversity in the housing population? Are there enough less expensive homes in relation to the number of more expensive homes? Or, in the case of Wendell, just the opposite.
That brings me to today, the middle of June, 2007. There are currently about 14 or 15 new housing sub-divisions being built or proposed for the Town or its Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Almost all of the developers of these sub-divisions want to reduce the size of the property lots on which to build their houses. That in turn will probably mean smaller, less expensive homes which will not generate sufficient taxes to pay for the greater portion of the services the Town provides. This will bring higher taxes or reduced services. It’s a vicious cycle that must be broken by persons such as us getting involved and standing up what’s best for the Town of Wendell and ultimately ourselves. Think about it, if Wendell becomes the Wake County repository for lower priced homes, will your home value increase as much as those in other towns?
The Wendell Community Coalition has pages of statistical data that shows Wendell is currently heading in the wrong direction and that places the Town at or near the bottom of the 12 municipalities in Wake County. Currently there are over 5100 houses scheduled to be built in Wendell and its ETJ in the next few years, most of which will be on small pieces of property. Smaller properties equal smaller houses which equal less tax revenues. Sound familiar? And now more sub-divisions are coming! Maybe you better do something!
If you can spend a couple of hours a month tending to your 401k and IRA surely you can attend one or two meetings a month to protect your home value. Are you going to sit home and hope others will make the right decisions for your financial future, or are you going to be a participant?
Important meeting and elections are coming up in the next few months, I’ll be there, hope you are too! If not don’t worry, I’ll make your decisions for you.
Plan on being at the following meetings. Your presence is important!
Wendell Board of Commissioners – Monday June 25th – 7:00 P.M. – Town Hall
Wendell Community Coalition – Tuesday June 26th. – Wendell Methodist Church – 7:00 P.M.
Roving WakeUP film-maker, Greg Flynn, is at it again with a new video on the real estate transfer tax. This time, a little girl goes to Washington in pursuit of answers to Wake County's growth problems. Click here to view the short video, and forward it to friends! If you like what you are seeing, please consider making a tax-deductible donation for our continued efforts to educate the public and elected officials. Also, don't forget to visit our Web site for additional information. | | Poll Shows Public Support for Impact Fees and More |
| Seventy percent of Wake citizens would support an impact fee on new development to help pay for schools, according to a recent poll of the News&Observer. And while people were divided on a transfer tax on real estate transactions, Wake citizens spoke loudly that they do not want higher sales and property tax to pay for growth. Click here to read more about the poll and read WakeUP Wake County's reaction.
| | WakeUP Urges Wake Commissioners to Pass Resolution
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| At the public hearing on Wake County's budget, WakeUP leaders, Karen Rindge, Stan Norwalk and Tim McBrayer, urged the county commissioners to pass a resolution urging the NC General Assembly to pass legislation giving Wake County fair growth funding options. And we weren't the only ones calling for a real estate transfer tax and impact fees to help pay for the costs of growth. Many echoed WakeUP's call. Read the full N&O story here, that quotes WakeUP leaders. | |
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By Leah Friedman, Staff Writer
PITTSBORO - The Chatham County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to halt most residential development in the county today, June 4, 2007.
The residential development moratorium could last as long as 12 months and would apply only to new residential subdivisions of 26 or more units.
Commercial developments, as well as development in Pittsboro and Siler City, will not be affected.
The commissioners held a public hearing on the issue last month, and dozens of people spoke in favor of the moratorium. All five commissioners support a slow-growth agenda.
In the last few years, the county and town of Pittsboro have approved nearly 15,000 new homes.
Check out "Ready Wake", a new website about preparing for disasters.
It is located at: www.readywake.com
There is also a link to it on the scroller on Town of Wendell web page http://townofwendell.com/
Some hard copies of the brochure will be available in the front office of Wendell Town Hall as well as the Wendell PD beginning on Monday 6-4-07.
The Wendell budget proposal is now on line thanks to the Eastern Wake News.
Click
here to link to the EWN story and click
here to link to the budget proposal pdf file.
Please look it over and make your concerns known to our commissioners and the executive committee of the Wendell Community Coalition.
Remember our June 5th meeting at 7pm at Wendell United Methodist Church on Main Street.
Please invite a friend and/or neighbor to attend with you.
June 1, 2007
PUBLIC HEARING JUNE 4.
Please come and urge Wake county commissioners to support new funding for schools!
The Wake County Public School System is in a financial crisis affecting our entire community. The result? Not enough schools, mandatory year-round battles and some schools may lose their magnet status. The realities of a rapidly growing county population combined with a huge financial shortfall for school construction has left parents and the Wake Board of Education facing extremely difficult choices of how to ensure that all children will be housed in the public schools they need. Growth is simply not paying its fair share of the costs of growth, and our community's future quality of life is at stake.
Now is the time to SPEAK UP up for new revenue sources to help pay for schools, which is the largest expenditure in our county's budget. Please attend the public hearing on Wake County's operating budget this Monday night, June 4 at 7pm. We need many concerned parents and taxpayers to come and support growth-paying-for- growth options, including a real estate transfer tax and impact fees on new development. These fair growth funding options could raise almost $120-150 million per year, and if that were bonded, would mean $1.5 billion in new revenue to pay for growth-related costs, like schools and parks.
Please come and make a short statement, hold a sign supporting more funds for schools or wear a WakeUP Wake County sticker. The Wake county commissioners, who control funding for the county, need to hear from YOU! Please join WakeUP at the public hearing at the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Drive, off Poole Road, 7 pm, June 4th. Also, please urge your friends to join WakeUP Wake County's email list by going to our website at www.wakeupwakecounty.com. We are building a local grassroots movement of concerned citizens, and we need your help!
Thanks,
Karen Rindge
Chair, WakeUP Wake County
WakeUP Wake County
P.O. Box 6484
Raleigh, North Carolina 27628-6484
WakeUP Wake County is a non-partisan, citizens' group supporting well-planned, sustainable growth in Wake County, North Carolina. WakeUP was formed as a non-profit in 2006 by a group of concerned, civic-minded citizens who believe that growth is good, as long as it is planned to ensure a better future for our communities. Wake County is growing rapidly, with a population due to double in 20 years and 27 acres of land developed each day. Because this growth ultimately affects us all, WakeUP wants to ensure a bright future for ourselves and for those who come after us.
