By Megan V. Williams
Wilmington, NC – Legislation in the General Assembly would put the issue of incorporation up for a vote in November and, if passed, define the town's borders, services, and government.
Identical bills on incorporation in the House and Senate face committee hearings this week.
The legislation sets out town borders running roughly between Highway 17 and the Intracoastal Waterway, from Washington Acres Road in the south to Sloop Point Loop Road. That area has about 1% less development than the General Assembly's guidelines for recommending incorporation. Representative Carolyn Justice, sponsor of the House version, says she's not concerned about the discrepancy, because she expects the town to develop rapidly.
Senator R.C. Soles Jr. sponsored the corresponding legislation in the Senate.
< If incorporated, residents of Hampstead would pay 5 cents per $100 value in property taxes for police, zoning, and streetlights. They would also pay a 6 cent rate for fire service, replacing an equivalent tax currently pay the county.
According to Justice, wrangling over Hampstead's incorporation has a long history in her district.
"It comes up, comes to the surface and then dies back down, and just sort of a cyclical thing," she said, "and Senator Soles and I pretty much determined it was time to get this on a ballet and put this issue to rest."
Justice says this time constituents seem to be split 50-50 over the question of incorporation. But there is one thing she says they agree on: "both sides want to vote on it this November."
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Text of HB1199
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