Wendell News Outlet

In the Eastern Wake News on July 25, 2007, Mr. Bob Sams wrote a letter to the editor in which he sought to imply that a letter, written earlier by Mr. Glenn Harris, was really about excluding a specific class of society from the town of Wendell. Obviously, Mr. Harris’ letter was primarily about the various tax rates in different towns in Wake County, but he also alluded to diversity in housing. Mr. Sams took umbrage and wrote a letter to the editor in which, unfortunately, he unintentionally distorted some facts and concepts.

Let me attempt to clarify and adjust some statements made in Mr. Sams letter:

1 – In referring to various sources of tax revenues, Mr. Sams says “therefore, based on these facts, we already have broad diversity in the Wendell tax base”. Yes, we do have diversity in the sources of tax revenues, but in relation to Mr. Harris’ letter that is like comparing apples to oranges. Mr. Harris reference to diversity was comparing the tax revenues generated by less expensive houses to more expensive houses and not the total revenue source of the town. One is really not comparable with the other in this context.
The following quotes from the 2007-2008 Wendell budget appears to lend credence to Mr. Harris’ comments regarding housing diversity; “The majority of revenue growth will be in property taxes and sales taxes. The additional property tax revenues will be primarily from residential development” (emphasis added)

2 – Mr. Sams apparently felt is was necessary to inject a divisive tone of elitism into his letter when he said “In my opinion, the real issue Mr. Harris speaks to is who will be allowed to migrate into and settle permanently in the town of Wendell, not this play on the word diversity” What a jump; from how to maintain sufficient tax revenues to discrimination against lower income families. Does one necessarily infer the other?
Again, Mr. Sams is using the concept of diversity in the wrong context.

3 – By bringing in the housing problems Knightdale is currently facing, Mr. Sams injects more discrimination against “some members of our society existing on an income lower than the median”. Knightdale’s situation is concerned with restricting the number of affordable housing units that can be built in Knightdale, contrasted with having a greater number of more expensive houses built in Wendell. Perhaps Mr. Sams read too deeply into Mr. Harris’ letter.

4 – And finally, Mr. Sams comment “Let Wendell remember and honor its history and former leaders, and not prevent others from achieving the American dream”. If Wendell doesn’t reverse its current housing policy, wherein it encourages the building of lower priced housing, there won’t be a town left to honor nor the wherewithal to achieve the American dream. Think about it: more expensive houses pay more taxes which in turn pay for a greater share of the services provided by the town. If the town continues down its current path of encouraging lower priced housing that generate lower taxes where will that leave the town?

To substantiate my contention, I quote from the town of Wendell’s 2007-2008 Budget Message Conclusion; “While the proposed Fiscal Year 2007-2008 operating budget contains funding for many of the town’s needs, more needs exist than there are revenues in which to address those needs” (emphasis added) Why aren’t there enough revenues? Perhaps it has to do with the small house vs. large house tax base.

Now that some adjustments to Mr. Sams letter have been made, I would like to join him in his “hope to see open discussion of these and other divisive issues with the intent being reconciliation for the betterment of all.” That, I feel, can be brought about by examining the facts on the ground and not dealing in hyperbole and conjecture.