New Hanover County Commissioners approved a legal agreement earmarking room occupancy tax (ROT) collected in the unincorporated areas of the county for inlet maintenance projects during a Sept. 15 meeting.
According to county officials, concerns voiced by Wrightsville Beach Mayor Bill Blair about potentially exclusive language in the agreement, or memorandum of understanding, were ironed out before the meeting.
Speaking on behalf of the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen in a Sept. 12 letter to commissioners, Blair requested the memorandum of understanding explicitly designate Masonboro Inlet as eligible to access the funds.
The agreement specifically lists Carolina Beach Inlet and Masons Inlet as eligible to receive assistance. County Finance Director Lisa Wurtzbacher, who prepared the memorandum of understanding, said the agreement grants commissioners authority to distribute ROT funds to Masonboro Inlet in the case of lost federal funding.
Maintenance of Masonboro Inlet is currently paid in full by the federal government.
Chairman Woody White initially shared Blair’s concern but said a series of phone calls and emails before the meeting convinced him that funds could be used for all three New Hanover County inlets.
“The present language in the MOU does allow future boards of commissioners complete flexibility in addressing the needs of all three inlets,” White said during a Sept. 16 phone interview.
Wrightsville Beach Town Manager Tim Owens agreed that the memorandum seems to leave room for commissioners to consider Masonboro Inlet, but said he would still prefer the agreement to explicitly mention the inlet.
“The intent’s there. Why not call it what it is, and put it in there? Ten years from now, when somebody’s not around that knows the history, it could maybe not be considered,” Owens said during a Sept. 16 phone interview.
White said he did not foresee future commissioners sidestepping maintenance of Masonboro Inlet.
“It’s no secret that Masonboro has the highest traffic and use, and is of great importance to our area. I can’t imagine any future board neglecting to address the needs that might arise in the unlikely event that federal funding goes away,” White said.
The New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority Board approved the memorandum of understanding Aug. 28. Blair cast a dissenting vote during the Aug. 28 meeting, citing the same concerns about equal access to the money.
An accompanying set of guidelines, which will include rules about how much money is available to each inlet, will come before the Tourism Development Authority Board during an October meeting. County stakeholders are negotiating details of the guidelines before the October vote.
The ROT money became available for inlet maintenance in a 2014 law sponsored by Rep. Ted Davis, Jr., R-New Hanover. To comply with state law, two-thirds of the tax collected in unincorporated areas of the county after July 1, 2014 will be used for tourism promotion and one-third will be used for tourism-related activities. The memorandum of understanding ensures money devoted to tourism-related activities will be used for inlet maintenance.
Davis attended the Sept. 15 meeting in support of the memorandum of understanding.
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