No place to hide for Chowan County board

There's precious little that Chowan County commissioners could do to save face following recent revelations that they blithely let the county's reserve funds plunge from a comfortable $19.5 million in 2001 to a deficit of $262,800 at the end of last month. But they certainly didn't help their cause last week during a meeting called to patch up a badly leaking budget.

Amid jeers from an audience of more than 800 residents - about 5 percent of the Chowan's population - the commissioners approved a revised budget that includes a 9-cent increase in the county's property-tax rate and 10 percent across-the-board cuts in services.

The new spending plan, adopted to fend off a takeover of county operations by the state, is a slight variation on one of four options presented by new County Manager Peter Rascoe. Under the circumstances, it's a fair compromise that preserves core services but keeps the tax rate (65 cents per $100 assessed value) in a range comparable to surrounding counties.

As part of the plan, voters also will be asked in November if they wish to raise the sales tax from its current rate of 6.75 cents per dollar to 7 cents to help shore up the budget. The climate for passage obviously isn't favorable, but taxpayers should try to be open-minded and weigh the pros and cons in the days ahead.

Last week's meeting presented a chance for Chowan's residents and leaders to regroup and move forward. Unfortunately, the commissioners managed the session as badly as they have county finances.

Despite repeated angry outbursts from residents, Chairman Ralph Cole failed to use his gavel to try to bring a little order to the proceedings. And some commissioners made matters worse with less-than-temperate remarks, such as Vice Chairman Jimmy Alligood's scolding of critics who had moved to Chowan "in the last four or five years and took advantage of our low tax rate."

As The Pilot's Connie Sage reported, the meeting ended so abruptly that many in attendance didn't realize the commission had taken a vote and adjourned. The vote occurred so quickly, in fact, that no one bothered to second the motion to approve the budget.

Several agencies, including the State Bureau of Investigation, are trying to sort out how the county's finances fell into such disrepair. But this much is clear: At best, the commissioners failed to monitor annual budgets and audits, or they saw the signs of trouble and failed to act. In either scenario, they were negligent.

Rascoe was informed on his first day on the job in June that the county was rapidly running out of money to pay its bills. The commissioners expressed bewilderment and said they didn't authorize transfers from the fund, but Rascoe's predecessor - 29-year veteran Cliff Copeland - maintains they did. Copeland, who has hired well-known criminal and civil attorney Wade M. Smith to represent him, said the fiscal problems arose when the county didn't generate as much revenue as he'd anticipated.

This story is far from over. As it unfolds, the commissioners would be wise to adopt a tone of abject apology and stick to it. And residents would do themselves a favor by allowing their well-deserved anger to cool - and calmly beginning preparations to oust their current leadership.