Posted on June 8, 2017
By Adam Wagner, StarNews Online
A 10-cent tax increase to pay for beach nourishment is on the table in Oak Island.
During a pair of presentations during a Monday special meeting, Moffatt & Nichol hydraulic engineer Johnny Martin laid out the town’s dilemma and town financial adviser Doug Carter of DEC Associates laid out a series of options to pay for it.
“It seems to me,” Carter said, “that your greatest economic benefit is that beautiful beach, and that’s what predates the economics of your town.”
Ideally, Martin told town leaders, they would attain permits for a dune capable of handling a 10- or 25-year storm event. They would then take the initial $40 million to raise the beach to 224 cubic yards per linear foot for the length of the strand, revamping it every six years at the further estimated cost of $23 million.
“We could always build smaller,” Martin said, “but it’s hard to start small and build bigger if we get good bids or we find closer sand.”
Beach towns have taken various approaches to funding nourishment projects. Topsail Beach, for instance, has used a mixture of town money, state shallow draft inlet funds and FEMA money after storm damage to pay for projects related to its 30-year plan.
Carolina Beach’s next nourishment project was included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ recently released work plan. The corps, though, has yet to undertake a three-year study that could lead to a 15-year extension of federal involvement in the town’s nourishment.
Elsewhere in Brunswick County, Holden Beach just wrapped up its self-funded $15 million Central Reach project, which placed about 1.3 million cubic yards of sand on four miles of beachfront.
Carter said Monday that Oak Island’s estimated beach obligations for the 2017-18 year is estimated to include about $10.8 million, including $2.8 million for lost sand, $2.6 million to rebuild Oak Island pier and $5.4 million for beach nourishment. The town has about $7.5 million in its beach funds, leaving an anticipated gap of about $2.5 million.
“You have to find a (funding source),” Carter said, “and at least the only source we can find at the current time is essentially a tax levy inside the beach fund, so the money could only be used for the beach purposes.”
Carter also told town leaders that handling the estimated 2017-18 obligations could sap their beach-related fund balances, potentially leaving the town in a bind should a major storm hit the area.
Oak Island’s existing tax rate is 27.5 cents per $100, a rate that could jump to 37.5 cents per $100 if the levy is approved during the ongoing budget process.
The town council did not vote Monday on a $3 million contract with Moffatt & Nichol for the engineering of the anticipated beach nourishment.
The council’s next scheduled meeting is at 6 p.m. June 13.
Source: StarNews Online
