Our Opinion: Wilson County wisely closes books on pet license fees

THUMBS UP to Sheriff Calvin Woodard and the Wilson County Board of Commissioners for ending the county’s animal privilege license fees.

County commissioners voted unanimously on Thursday to stop issuing yearly licenses for Wilson County pets. The move followed Woodard informing commissioners last month that his office would no longer collect the fees when the 2023-24 fiscal year begins on July 1, citing continued stress on deputies and civilian employees from negative interactions with residents who resented paying for their pets.

“It is time to retire the fee,” said Board of Commissioners Chairman Rob Boyette. “Construction and furnishing of the animal shelter is complete. Capital equipment, such as vehicles, is on a standard replacement schedule. The staff can now focus on adoption services and encouraging spay and neuter programs.”

Commissioners approved an ordinance authorizing the fees in 2008, with meeting minutes showing the money would be “applied toward a new shelter and improvements in the animal control program.” Collections began in 2009, but no money was set aside for a new shelter until 2016.

Miscommunication and mistrust between county officials and animal rescue groups over the money’s use made the annual fee a sore spot for many pet owners. Some withheld payment in protest, while others grudgingly coughed up the cash and took their frustrations out on the sheriff’s office, which was tasked with collecting fee proceeds but couldn’t determine how the money would be spent.

Woodard said the fees remained a source of friction even after commissioners made up the savings shortfall and fully funded construction of the new Wilson County Animal Services Center in the county’s 2019-20 budget. Recounting the lowlights over 13 years of collections, Woodard said at least one resident insisted on paying a $10 tab in pennies.

Like many dog and cat owners, Sheriff Woodard thought the fees were unnecessary. It was his predecessor, Sheriff Wayne Gay, who sought the additional revenue stream for animal control and enforcement.

“I serve the community, and I am not being paid to play Robin Hood within the community in which I was elected to serve and protect,” Woodard told the Times.

While many referred to the yearly charge as the county’s “pet tax,” the sheriff’s office got stuck playing debt collector because the assessment technically was a fee. Otherwise, the county tax collector’s office would have received the money and the complaints that came with it.

Initially embraced by animal advocates because it was tied to the promise of a new shelter, the pet fee was controversial from the start and never seemed to have buy-in from a majority of county pet owners. With the new Wilson County Animal Services Center in operation and, thanks to Woodard and his staff, well on its way to becoming a no-kill shelter, 2023 was as good a time as any to sunset the privilege license ordinance.

THUMBS DOWN to North Carolina’s high proportion of deteriorating highways. A full 33% of the state’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, according to a recent report from TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit.

Bad roads make for more than rough rides. In addition to discomfort and safety risks, our poorly maintained roadways cost the average driver $484 in additional vehicle operating costs per year, the report explains. Drivers in the Wilmington area have it worst, with accelerated vehicle depreciation, repair costs and increases in fuel consumption and tire wear coming to an estimated $544.

The TRIP report foreshadows challenges in reclaiming our “Good Roads State” moniker, noting that most highway construction, repair and maintenance money comes from the state’s 40.5-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax. More electric and hybrid cars and more fuel-efficient combustion engine cars on the road mean less gas consumption and less revenue for the roads.

State officials have suggested a shift to taxing people for the total miles they drive each year. Such a shift would be politically unpopular.

Revenue sources must be made sustainable for the long haul, but Tar Heel taxpayers who recall state lawmakers treating the Highway Trust Fund as an all-purpose piggy bank would have little patience with North Carolina pleading poverty.

The…