Not paying their fair share
Union commissioners say camper and shed dwellers are mooching off taxpayers
BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Union County Commissioners, meeting with Raiford residents during a county commission meeting, said people living in sheds and campers are freeloading off Union County taxpayers because they don’t pay the special assessments that other residents pay.
Now, the special assessment for solid waste disposal is $70 per year. The county bills an additional $70 per house for the emergency medical services assessment
Commissioners informed attendees at a November 3 meeting at the Raiford Community Center that the assessments must increase for the county to remain financially viable.
However, during that discussion, Commissioner Donna Jackson raised the issue of those who don’t pay anything.
“Just by a raise of hands in this room,” she said, “how many of you know someone that you’ve seen in your neighborhood or around the county who is living in an RV or camper? I see them on every corner. How many of them do you think are paying a special assessment? Probably none.”
Jackson then proposed hiring an employee or contractor to locate unassessed campers and sheds used as permanent dwellings and charge the parcels the additional assessments.
Commissioner Mac Johns estimated the number of residents living in unassessed campers and RVs in the county at three or four thousand.
Jackson added that, according to Sheriff Brad Whitehead, a significant number of 911 calls are coming from unassessed sheds and campers.
“A lot of the call volume that’s generated, that’s using your tax dollars, is going to these makeshift, thrown-together RV camps,” she said. “That’s hard to hear.”
“Everybody screams they don’t want code enforcement,” added Board Chair Channing Dobbs. “That’s because they ain’t got (an RV encampment) next to their house.”
