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 Siler City, North Carolina  (919)663-3232   

Siler City approves budget

By Joseph Pardington

The Siler City Town Board on Monday unanimously approved the 2005-06 fiscal year budget of $9,385,755.

The move came following a recent public hearing on the budget, budget workshops and final revisions by Siler City town manager Joel Brower.

The town ordinance adopting the budget had seven sections, including section two, which told how much would be spent by each department in the general fund.

The Siler City Police Department had the largest appropriation at $1.5 million. The town will spend $832,660 on public works,  $504,336 on sanitation and $357,051 on recreation.

The total appropriation for the general fund was about $4.9 million.

Section three listed the water and sewer funds, including $1.5 million for wastewater treatment and $1.26 million for debt service and transfers. The debt service would be for the money borrowed to complete the lower Rocky River reservoir expansion, set begin being constructed after final permits are granted from the state. The total water and sewer funds are $4.6 million.

more- See Thursday, June 23 paper: Vol 85, No.28

Property tax hike coming

By Randall Rigsbee

Chatham County commissioners on Monday approved a budget for fiscal year 2005/06 which includes a new tax rate of 59.7 cents per $100 valuation.

The total general fund for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, is $62,503,033.

The new tax rate is four cents higher than the 55.7-cent rate county officials say would have been a “revenue neutral” figure had the county not conducted a countywide property revaluation this year.

The tax rate, however, is lower than that originally proposed by county manager Charlie Horne, whose proposed budget called for a tax rate of 61.7 cents.

  The extra four cents approved Monday over the revenue neutral rate will be used exclusively for capital improvement projects already approved by the Board of Commissioners, including a new elementary school in Siler City, a middle school in northeast Chatham, a new cafeteria at Jordan-Matthews High School, renovations to Horton Middle School, infrastructure for the county’s proposed business park in Siler City, a new Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) job training center in the business park, a new building for the Pittsboro campus of  CCCC, expansion of the Social Services building, a new judicial facility, and a joint CCCC/county library.

“Dedication of the four cents to these projects ensures that the county has the revenue to pay for these needed projects. It’s one thing to approve the project, but this budget ensures we have the funding necessary to make these projects a reality,” according to Horne.

more- See Thursday, June 23 paper: Vol 85, No.28

County learns portion of business park property can’t be developed

By Randall Rigsbee

Is the glass half empty or half full?

It’s the classic question separating optimists from pessimists.

On Monday, Chatham County commissioners faced a similar question, only the proverbial glass, in this case, is the county-owned property behind Wal-Mart near Siler City on which the county has planned for several years to develop a business park.

Commissioners learned Monday that more than 200 acres of the property can’t be developed in order to protect streams on the property.

Engineer Fred Hobbs of Hobbs, Upchurch and Associates met with commissioners Monday to discuss a survey of the 486-acre property prepared by the engineering firm which maps out all intermittent and perennial streams on the property and their required buffers.

Of the entire 486-acre property, Hobbs said, 22 acres will be used for roads and right-of-ways and 212 acres are set aside for streams and their buffers which “is required to remain a vegetative buffer.”

The property was surveyed recently and all the streams identified on a map “have been located in the field,” Hobbs said.

That leaves 252 net acres which can be built on, Hobbs said.

While none of the business park property, which was purchased by the county for $1.4 million in March 2000, has been developed yet, three entities have expressed an interest in using portions.

Chatham Hospital has plans to build a new facility in the park, Central Carolina Community College has discussed with county officials the possibility of building a new Siler City campus there, and the state has expressed an interest in using part of the county property for a juvenile detention facility.

more- See Thursday, June 23 paper: Vol 85, No.28

Siler City police seek robbery suspect

By Joseph Pardington

The Siler City Police Department is investigating an afternoon bank robbery that occurred June 17 at Fidelity Bank at 1426 E. Eleventh St.

“Upon our arrival we found out that a subject had entered the bank and presented a teller with a note demanding money,” according to SCPD Maj. Bill Harman.

The robbery occurred around 4:30 p.m.

“The teller complied with the note, and the suspect exited the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money,” Harman said.

Bank employees could not tell authorities if the suspect got into a vehicle.

The suspect is described as male, 5’9”-6’ tall, 200 to 250 pounds, medium complexion, and ethnicity unknown.

The suspect had scarring on his face, a Band Aid on his chin and was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a black bandanna that went down his back and was tied like a pony tail, Harman said.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Siler City Police Department at 919-742-5626 or Chatham Crime Stoppers at 919-542-6116.

more- See Thursday, June 23 paper: Vol 85, No.28

The Chatham News

is Published Every Thursday by The Chatham News Publishing Co, Inc at

303 West Raleigh Street, Siler City, NC 27344, (919)663-3232

Alan D. Resch Editor-Publisher

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