March 22, 1957 - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

March 22, 19571 3Fit width104Meeting of Board of Commissioners for the County of JohnstonMarch 22, 1957The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County reconvened in specialsession on March 22, 1957, in the Commissioners Room, with the following memberspresentR P Holding, Chairman, J D Bailey, R G Gurley, H M Johnson, andFloyd C Price, SrAbsent NoneThe following business was transacted1 T L Upchurch was requested to advise J E Clifton that the Board wouldtake into account whether they would establish a tax on bonding companies when theyadopted the Schedule B license tax2 Harry E Canaday, Attorney and substantially the same committee which appear -ed before the Board on March 18, 1957 presented the following copy of a bill to beentitled an act amending certain sections of Article 24, Sub - Chapter 6, Chapter 7of the General Statutes so as to fix and extend the jurisdiction of the municipalRecorders Court in Johnston CountyThe General Assembly of North Carolina do enactSection 1 That G S 7 -190 be and the same is hereby amended by adding atthe end thereof the followinga That, effective the 1st day of January, 1959, the jurisdiction of theSmithfield Municipal Recorders Court shall extend to and include the followingtownships in Johnston County Smithfield Township, Ingrams Township and BentonvilleTownshipb That, effective the 1st day of January, 1959, the jurisdiction of theSelma Muncipal Recorders Court shall extend to and include the following townshipsin Johnston County Selma Township, Wilsons Mills Township, Boon Hill Township,and Pine Level Townshipc That, effective, the lst day of January, 1959, the jurisdiction of theBenson Municipal Recorders Court shall extend to and include the following townshipsin Johnston County Banner Township, Meadow Township, Elevation Township and _Pleasant Grove Townshipd That, effective the 1st day of January, 1959, the jurisdiction of theClayton Municipal Recorders Court shall extend to and include the following town-ships in Johnston County Clayton Township, Wilders Township and Cleveland Town-shipe That, effective the 1st day of January, 1959, the jurisdiction of theKenly Municipal Recorders Court shall extend to and include the following town -ships in Johnston County Beulah Township, CNeals Township, and Micro TownshipSec 2 That G S 7 -186 be and the same is hereby amended by adding at theend thereof the followingIn the Primary election for State and County officers, to be held in theyear 1958 and every two years thereafter, the qualified voters residing in theterritorial jurisdiction of each of the Municipal Recorders Courts in JohnstonCounty, as fixed by Section 1 of this Act, shall nominate candidates for Judge ofeach of said Municipal Recorders Courts from among the qualified voters residingwithin the jurisdiction of the Court At the General election to be held inNovember 1958, and every two years thereafter, the qualified coters of JohnstonCounty at large shall elect a Judge from among the qualified voters residing withinthe jurisdiction of the Court for each of the Municipal Recorders Courts in JohnstonCounty to serve for a term of two years The Judge of each of the MunicipalRecorders Courts elected in 1958, as herein provided, shall assume the duties ofhis office at the expiration of the term of the incumbent judge in 1959, and shallserve until the first Monday in December, 1960 Thereafter the terms of each of theJudges of said Municipal Recorders Courts shall begin on the first Monday inDecember following their electionSec 3 That G S 7 -196 be and the same is hereby amended by adding at the endthereof, the following --That on the 1st day of January, 1960, and on the 1st day of January of eachensuing year thereafter the clerk of each Muncipal Recorders Court in JohnstonCounty shall compute and pay into the general fund of the County of Johnston anamount equal to not less than per cent of the court costs collected by saidcourt during the preceding year— remaining after the payment of the salariesof the judge, the solicitor, the clerk, the baliff, and after payment of allnecessary operating expenses of the court105March 22, 1957 ContSec 4 That G S 7 -196 be and the same is hereby amended by adding at theend thereof the followingsThat, effective the 1st day of January, 1959, each Municipal Recorders Co m tin Johnston County shall pay the County of Johnston for all prisoners who are lodgedin the county jail pending a trial in said court, and such payments shall be madeat the rate of 4120 per day for each prisoner together with a payment of a turnkeycharge of 4150 for each prisoner; and it is further provided that said paymentsshall be paid on or before the 10th day of each month following the monty ofJanuary, 1959, and such payments shall be made without regard to the subsequentconviction or acquittal of such prisonerSec 5, All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of thisAct are hereby repealedSec 6 This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after itsratificationAfter a discussion the proposed bill was amended as follows by the generalconsent of all presenta That the County of Johnston shall receive an amount equal to not lessthan 25 of the net earnings of the district courtsb That a provision be inserted to this effectThat this bill shall not restrict or in any manner prejudice the rights ofother municipalities in the County to establish a municipal Recorders Court whensaid towns have met the statutory requirements provided in such casesIt was also requested that there be inserted in the bill a provision forrealinement of territory in case a town in the County became eligible to requesta district Recorders CourtIt was brought out in the meeting that the County would receive 150 turnkeycharges and 0120 boarding charges for prisoners lodged in the county jail by theDistrict CourtsThe bill as amended met the general approval of those present and no oppositionwas voiced to its passage by the General Assembly provided that a satisfactory billwould be drawn and enacted by the General Assembly at the same time establishing aGeneral County Recorders Court with civil domestic jurisdiction To this end acommittee composed of Harry Canaday, L L Levinson, Robert A Spence and J LGeorge was appointed to consult with the Attorney General, and to draw up such abill for presentment to the County Commissioners at their next meeting on March 27,1957, at 11 00 A MChairman R P Holding brought to the attention of the Board that the tobaccoand potato groups had brought to his attention that the General Assembly had req-uestedthat all local bills be in by April 1, 1957, and that the Commissioners shouldgive serious consideration within the next few days as to the position the Boardshould take in this matterJ L George, County Attorney, stated that he had been able to determine thatthe Counties of Wake, Wayne, Harnett, Columbus and Pitt had made tax exemptionson agricultural productsFollowing a short discussion, Commissioner Floyd C Price, Sr read and submit -ed the following statementMarch 16, 1957I am now and have always been opposed to special tax exemptions, for once theCommissioners of Johnston County start such, then there will be no end to suchrequests As you know we are being called on for more and more things to benefitJohnston County, and most of these requests seem to be to the best interest of allthe people of Johnston County, and I am very much interested in hearing such requestsfor it is a reality that we go forward or we go backwards So since the question isnow up about some certain property exemptions to be considered non taxable, there-fore, I pray someone tell us where to get the money from if we begin exemptingcertain items In fact, I doubt this board has the authority according to law, andonce we did start, there would be no end Therefore, I am very much opposed forcitizens or corporations, and there have been some requests from corporations thathave connections in our county and elsewhere that is joining in such requests ask-ing that special items be exempted in our taxable income The way I view it, itsimply cannot be done and I am very much against any special exemptionFloyd C Price, SrCommissionerMarch 22, 1957 ContIIto call There being no further business, the meeting recessed, subjectiChairmani