February 15, 1961 - 2:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Special)

February 15, 19611 4Fit widthI ? -OMeeting of Board of Commissioners for the County of JohnstonFebruary 15, 1961The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County reconvened in specialsession on February 15, 1961, at 200 P M, in the Commissioners Room, for thepurpose of discussing with the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Community Buildingthe erection of the Community Building for Pleasant GroveThe following Commissioners were present H M Johnson, Chairman, J DBailey and Frank B HoldingAbsent Floyd C Price, Srand R G GurleyThe following business was transacted1 Commissioner Frank B Holding moved that the bond of Harvey C Barbour, Con-stable of Elevation Township, be approvedCommissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was carried2 Commissioner Frank B Holding moved that the following resolution honoring thememory of J L George, former County Attorney, be adoptedRESOLUTIONWhereas, God in his divine providence has seen fit to take from our midstJerry L George, lawyer, friend and co- worker, andAWhereas, he has played a prominent part in the civic, social, and religiouslife of our County, and since the early thirties has made a significant contribut-ion to County government and his profession, andWhereas, he has served as County Attorney from January 29, 1951 to the dateof his death on January 21, 1961, performing his duties loyally, skillfully andefficiently His sincerity, character and integrity have shown forth in his under-takings, and won for him the admiration and respect of his associates,Now therefore, be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of JohnstoneCounty bow in humble submission to the will of God, gratefully acknowledging ourindebtedness for the love and sacrificial efforts expended by Jerry on our behalf,and for the benefit of the citizens of our county, we -extend our deepest sympathyto his loved ones in their lossFurther be it resolved that this resolution be spread upon the minutes of theBoard of County Commissioners, a copy be sent to his family, and copy be sent tothe newspapers of the countyCommissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted3 H M Johnson, Chairman, read a letter from Wade Stephenson, President of theFarm Bureau, recommending the purchase of the Broadhurst property, Town of Smith-field, as a site for an agricultural building4 At the request of Donnie Stephenson, Chairman, Board of Trustees, PleasantGrove Community Building, W R Britt, County Attorney, reported that after confirm -ing with the Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Community Building and other groups inPleasant Grove Township and after reviewing the constitution and by laws of thePleasant Grove Community Building as adopted on October 25, 1940, copies of whichwere submitted, stated that, in his opinion, the present Trustees were legallyconstituted, and that title to the property should remain in the County unless anenabling act of the General Assembly provided for conveyance to another groupHe read the minutes of the meeting of the citizens of Pleasant Grove Townshipat Providence Church on January 18, 1961, which was held after due notice was givenin the Smithfield Herald The minutes gave the report of the Treasurer and thereport of the Trustees as to their plan and the adoption of the motion passed bya vote of 107 to 16, that the Trustees proceed with the erection of the buildingas outlined in the plansHe also gave a brief summary of the resolution adopted by the Board on April 3,1950 for the operation of the Bentonville Community Building and stated that, inhis opinion, which was shared by Mr Stephenson would be a desirable plan forPleasant GroveHe also stated that in his opinion that the Trustees should advertise for bidson the construction of the proposed building, but that the Trustees were not boundby the bids if a less expensive course was openA- pproximately 40 citizens from Pleasant Grove were present at the meeting withdiversifying opinions as to whether the present Trustees represented all sectionsFebruary 15,1961 Contof the Township, whether plans had been adequately discussed, whether members mouldbe added to the Building Committee, whether the Commissioners should appoint the qTrustees, whether the by -laws should be amended, etcMessrs Hallie Hicks, R M Pleasant, Clyde Dupree, J C Dupree, Shaw Fish,Lloyd Stephenson, G Willie Lee and R F Coats shared their views with the membersof the Board of Trustees and the Commissioners in working out a satisfactory arrange -ment for plans under which the Trustees could proceed with the buildingIt was brought out in the discussion that the services of VV R Britt, CountyAttorney, would be available to the Trustees, and that the 600000 held in a special,account would be disbursed by the Treasurer upon presentment of bills representingcompletion of work and utilization of materialsAs a concilitory measure, Hallie Hicks was requested to confer with his groupand to present mamas from which the Commissioners would select two men and one womanto serve as additional Trustees of the Pleasant Grove Community BuildingAfter reviewing the eleven names as presented, Commissioner J D Bailey movedthat Glenn Pleasant, Route #1, Angier, Mrs Vara Ogburn, Route #1, Willow Springs,and Lee Ogburn, Route j 1, Willow Springs be appointed as Trustees of the PleasantGrove Community Building to serve with the present Board of Trustees until January 1,1962, or until an appropriate resolution is adopted by the Board providing for themaintenance, care and operation of the Pleasant Grove Community BuildingCommissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was carried5 Commissioner J D Bailey moved that subsequent to the meeting of the Trusteesof the Pleasant Grove Community Building to acquaint the new members of the Boardwith the proposed new plans and specifications of the Pleasant Grove CommunityBuilding, that W R Britt, County Attorney, with the advice and consent of theTrustees proceed to advertise for bids on the construction of the Pleasant GroveCommunity BuildingCommissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was carried6 Chairman H M Johnson appointed Commissioner Frank B Holding to represent theBoard in exploring with the Trustees of the Johnston County Library the feasibilityof devising cooperative plans of facilities and services with the Trustees of theSmithfield Library7 Commissioner J D Bailey moved that the State Highway Commission be requestedto add to the Johnston County Road System and maintain that certain road known asExtension of McCullers Street, and being a distance of 05 miles in lengthPetition enclosed with this order For reference see Wilton Pace, R#3, Smith-field, NCCommissioner FrankB Holding seconded the motion, which was carried6 Lulu Jolliff, Superintendent of the Welfare Department, requested the assistanceof the Board in repairing the floors in Building No 1 of the Boarding Home and theinstallation of a buzzer systemMrs Jolliff was advised that the Board would give these items due considerat-ion9 Dan G Matthews, W H Britt, and T L Upchurch, Tax Collector, appointed bythe Board at a prior meeting to make a study and recommendation relative to proced-ures and improvement of tax collections in the Tax Collectors office submitted thefollowing recommendation;February 15, 1961iBoard of County CommissionersCounty of JohnstonSmithfield, North CarolinaGentlemen;In accordance with your authorization, we have completed a study of the records ,and procedures of the Pax Collectors Office for the purpose of modernizing the syst-em, establishing better audit control and improving the collection of delinquenttaxesAs a result of our study, we recommend the installation of a delinquent taxledger, the purchase of a validating and receipting machine and a tax accountingmachine the same model as the present machine now being usedA delinquent tax ledger would accomplish the f ol]mvingMEFebruary 15,_1961 Cont1 Establish control over delinquent taxes, thereby creating a permanentrecord and the audit of delinquent taxes will be more effective2 A ledger account would be maintained for each taxpayer showing thebalance uncollected for all years3• Active and inactive ledgers may be maintained?} Each year when the new levy is turned over to the Tax Collector, thetaxes becoming delinquent at that time would be posted to the delinquenttax ledgerMany counties maintain a detailed tax ledger card for each taxpayer and eachyear the new levy is posted to the taxpayers account at the time of tax billingAll payments are credited to each account when made The cost of setting up andmaintaining a complete tax ledger is much greater than that of the delinquent taxledger The complete tax ledger shows the amount the taxpayer owes by each yearseparately rather than the total the taxpayer owes for all years as the delinquenttax ledger does The complete tax ledger would require more filing equipment,supplies and storage space than the delinquent tax ledgerThe validating and receipting machine will establish control over the receiAaand provide a registered, serially numbered and dated receipt for each taxpayer Themacnine has a two -total register and provides for total current tax collections,total delinquent tax collections at the end of the day, has locked -in audit tapeand provides for identification of each cashierThe tax accounting machine will be used in the Tax Collectors office for post-ing charges and payments to a tax ledger, for preparing a daily distribution of taxcollections, and preparing periodic tax statements A machine that will do thedaily distribution of tax collections must be programmed for a 25 column distrib-ution with 22 totals During tax billing, the tax supervisor can use the machinefor preparing tax bills and scrolls This will provide two machines for billingand will enable the bills to be mailed by August 1Copies are attached of the proposals obtained fran the Burroughs Corporationfor the tax accounting machine and the validating and receipting machine It willbe necessary for you to make a decision within the next few days regarding theinstallation of this system if it is to be used for billing the 1961 taxesRespectfully submitted,Thomas L UpchurchDaniel G MatthewsW H BrittAr W H Britt, County Auditor andTax SupervisorJohnston CountySmithfield, North CarolinaGentlemenModernization of your tax collectors operation will simplify tax __de?lin?quencyyreference, facilitate daily breakdown of receipts, establish better auditit cowand eliminate time consuming clerical procedures now necessaryTo accomplish these results we recommend the installation of the followingmachines;One style F1506 tax accounting machine 6,72000Less County Discount of 8, 53760Net 6,18240One style 1010311- Validating ReceiptingMachine 111500Less 8 County Discount 8920Net 102bbONet Cost of Complete System- Installed 7,02820TAX ACCOUNTINGThe tax accounting machine will be programmed to post both charges and paymentsto a tax ledger maintained for each delinquent taxpayer, and to post controls whichmay be maintained for each past year It will also provide a simple method of pre-paring the daily breakdown of revenue into the various school districts and otherclassifications required Totals for classifications will be automatically printedand errors located mechanically on each line of distributionThis same machine will be programmed to prepare the tax bills and scrolls,thereby serving to accelerate billing451February 15, 1961 ContIf it is decided that a tax ledger should be maintained on every account ratherthan on delinquent accounts only, the tax accounting macnine can be so programmedVALIDATING AND RECEIPTINGThe validating and receipting machine will provide a registered and seriallynumbered and dated receipt to each taxpayer, thereby established dollar account -ability Each cashier would be identified on the receipt, the retained copy of thebill, and on the locked in audit tape Totals would be provided for current yearreceipts, and for prior years and miscellaneous receiptsThis operation will be a fast and accurate as that of a bank teller Placingyour order at an early date will enable us to deliver and install it by June 1,1961We will provide complete and competent installation service and one yearswarranty The help of Mr Dan Matthews, Mr Thomas Upchurch, Mrs Allen and MrsLane is acknowledged in preparing this recommendationYours truly,W A WallNamed Account RepresentativeR B LedfordZone Sales Manager10 After a submission of the report, a discussion was held relative to the purchaseof a tax accounting machine, validating and receipting machine as enumerated insaid recommendation, W H Britt, Auditor, was authorized to advertise, accordingto law, for the purchase of said machines, subject to the approval of CommissionersPrice and GurleyThere being no further business, the meeting was adjournedirma nCler t