COUNTY MANAGER:

RON HUNT

Spring greetings,

Welcome to this new quarterly edition of Wilson County NOW. This is the first edition, and it is an opportunity to communicate your county government’s work for Wilson County’s citizens.  

This quarter, county staff are focused on the 2024/2025 budget preparation and our tax staff are finalizing the 2024 Tax Revaluation. Each of these areas come with much thought, dedication, analysis, and thorough processes, with our citizens always being the focus. Tax Revaluations are required in the state of North Carolina a minimum of every eight years. Some counties choose to do them sooner than eight years. Wilson County’s is due in 2024. While those details are being finalized, pay close attention to all our revaluation updates at wilsoncountync.gov, Facebook, Twitter/X and see the section below from Crawford Bolton, Tax Administrator.  

As our budget preparation moves ahead, we will have numerous meetings with County Commissioners in April and May. They provide careful guidance and expectations to me and our county staff. Our county government’s budget is a transparent process that allows us to meet statutory requirements, provide quality citizen services and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. I will make the county’s proposed 2024/2025 budget presentation on May 6, 2024. Commissioners will spend the weeks after that examining every area and making any necessary adjustments. After many meetings and a budget public hearing on May 30, 2024 at 7:00 p.m., Commissioners will decide when to approve the budget and as part of that process, will set a tax rate based on the tax revaluation, revenues and our financial obligations. County governments must have an approved budget by June 30 of each year.

Budgets may not be the most exciting thing to read about, but budgets impact all our lives. Outside of that, this quarter there are many great things to celebrate in this county. Again, read through the summaries from our departments to stay up-to-date on county news. If you are new to Wilson County, welcome – it is the best place to live, work, play and thrive. If you are already one of our amazing citizens, thank you for all that you do to make this county the best it can be.

WILSON COUNTY OPIOID MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM:

LORI WINSTEAD, DEPUTY COUNTY MANAGER

Wilson County Government has partnered with the Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition to provide recovery services and resources to the citizens of Wilson County. Wilson County Government supports this nonprofit annually while they provide evidence-based addiction treatment through in-patient and/or out-patient services. In addition, we continue to expand our use of strategic partnerships and support as we expand our outreach activities in our public schools, churches and rural areas. We look forward to more powerful impacts as we continue to focus on this work in the years ahead.

To get help and resources, call 252-991-7267, visit Wilson County Substance Prevention Coalition's website or Wilson County Government's website.

COMMUNICATIONS:

STEPHEN MANN

Since I'm fairly new to Wilson County Government, these first few months have been an exciting time as I've gotten to know the inner workings of the County and have started on some new initiatives. This quarterly newsletter is one of those initiatives, along with the launch of our new YouTube channel. Some of you may have already seen the monthly videos on social media where each department head gives an update on important initiatives. 

I hope that you all find these additional means of communication helpful. If there are items that you'd like to see covered in future editions of this newsletter, please feel free to reach out to me at smann@wilsoncountync.gov. 

If you don't already, I encourage you to follow us on social media:

• Facebook- @wilsoncountygov

• Twitter- @wilsoncountygov

• LinkedIn- linkedin.com/company/wilson-county-government-nc

• YouTube- @wilsoncountygov

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION:

NORMAN HARRELL

The 73rd annual Wilson County 4-H Livestock Show and Sale took place on March 27 and 28 at the Wilson County Fairgrounds. Youth ages 8 to 18 had the opportunity to market their livestock—16 with steers and another 82 with pigs and market hogs. This annual show raises funds for college scholarships and other projects. 4-H participants learn about decision-making, responsibility, time management and communication skills when handling and showing animals they have raised. We are proud of our 4-H youth and appreciate all of the community support.

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES:

BRAD THOMPSON

The County is currently updating its Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The plan will provide guidance on land use and infrastructure decisions for years to come. 

The Plan will build on the visioning goals and work performed for previous planning efforts and work to create an updated list of recommendations and policies to assist local decision makers in the management and growth of Wilson County. Feedback from stakeholders, members of the public, and elected and appointed officials is essential. We received a lot of valuable feedback in our 2045 Comprehensive Land Use Plan survey.

We will hold a public meeting to discuss next steps in the plan on April 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Wilson County Agricultural Extension Building, 1806 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, NC.



EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS:

JEFF WILLIFORD

April 14-20 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week happens the second week of April each year as a way to honor and thank those who serve the public as a Public Safety Telecommunicator. 

On March 19, we awarded our very first CPR Saves pin to one of our Telecommunicators, Tracy, for providing CPR instructions to a caller and patient, who was in cardiac arrest, over the phone. As a result, the patient was delivered to the hospital with a heartbeat.

The Wilson County 9-1-1 Center handles an average of 400 calls per day between five to seven telecommunicators. Even with that volume of calls, they are here to serve you in a timely and efficient manner.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:

GORDON DENO

Wilson County has the CodeRED™ Emergency Telephone Calling System for mass emergency notifications to notify residents and businesses within minutes of an emergency or a potential hazard. You must opt in for Weather Warnings. The system will call each number and will leave messages on answering machines and cell phones. If you wish to receive notifications, you must register. 

Sign-up for Code Red—It's one more way we can keep you informed about emergencies.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES:

MICHAEL COBB

Our professionals continue to shine:

• Esteban Arizpe recently became our Board Certified Community Paramedic. This certification from the International Board of Specialty Certification (IBSC) requires a lot of studying, skills and knowledge. Learn more.

• Hanna Jackson and Marci Ezzel completed the Field Training and Evaluation Program (EMS-FTEP) in March. They attended the course as part of the NC Association of EMS Administrators Leadership Conference in Wilmington, NC.

• Ashley Spencer was promoted to EMS Clinical Affairs Officer on March 1. She oversees our quality management program, in-house education, training and protocols, and she supervises our Community Paramedic. She has worked at Wilson County EMS since 2016.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT:

CINNAMON NARRON

Anna Oakley and Hannah Jonas are recent additions to the provider staff at the Wilson County Health Department.

Anna Oakley is a Family Nurse Practitioner. Prior to joining our team, Anna was as a cardiovascular surgical nurse. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from East Carolina University and a Master’s in Nursing from Purdue University.

Hannah Jonas is a Physician Assistant. Before coming to Wilson, Hannah worked at UNC Hospitals on their pediatric neuroscience floor and spent time volunteering on the medical floor of a homeless respite center in Washington, D.C. In addition to completing the PA program at Campbell University, Hannah’s undergraduate degrees from Campbell are in Religion and Biology.

Both providers are passionate about primary care and helping patients dealing with chronic disease. Anna and Hannah look forward to serving the citizens of Wilson County.

LIBRARY:

KAREY BLANCHARD

We are meeting you where you are:

• Our new bookmobile not only makes stops at senior living communities, we also provide the opportunity for residents to choose their own books via browsing. By using the lift on the bookmobile, we are able to roll carts of books inside where residents can easily access them. This way, they have more autonomy with their book selections. These bookmobile visits are called "Lobby Stops" because the carts are able to venture into the lobbies of local buildings.

SENIOR CENTER:

DR. KESHA HOWELL

May is Older American’s Month. In observance and celebration of this, we are hosting an “Age My Way – Powered by Connection” event at Greater Wilson Rotary Park on Friday May 31 from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. We will have all types of games and field events for seniors to participate in, as well as food and a DJ. Last year, there were approximately 150 people in attendance.

In addition, stay tuned for an announcement in the near future about our Grand Opening of our modern and updated facilities and wellness pavilion!

SOCIAL SERVICES:

ANNIE WARD (INTERIM)

I began as Interim Director of the Wilson County Department of Social Services on March 1. I assumed the role from Glenn Osborne, who retired on February 29, after leading the Department for nearly 30 years. Prior to this, I served the Department of Social Services for nearly 50 years before retiring in 2022 as its Deputy Director.

The Wilson County Department of Social Services provides assistance to over 25,000 customers each year, which is almost one-third of Wilson County's citizens.

SOLID WASTE SERVICES:

ANDY DAVIS

• A free mulch giveaway event will be held at the landfill from April 22-27. This is another way we work to improve our county's environment.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Wilson County Construction & Demolition (C&D) Landfill, along with what items you can and cannot dispose of.

TAX ADMINISTRATION:

CRAWFORD BOLTON

By now, all Wilson County property owners should have received their tax revaluation notices in the mail. Taxes affect us all and during tax revaluations, it can be challenging. That’s why my office is here to help every step of the way during the 2024 countywide tax revaluation and will remain fully transparent throughout the process. Let’s start by addressing a few common concerns:

• The revaluation is a statutory requirement that must be completed in all

100 counties in North Carolina. The goal of a revaluation is to appraise all

property at its current market value so that each property is only assessed

at its fair share of the tax burden.

• The revaluation notice that you received is NOT a bill. Property tax rates

will not be set until around May/June 2024. Therefore, we cannot predict

what your new tax bill will be in August.

• Typically, your tax bill will not increase at the same percentage as your

assessment.

• Wilson County revaluates all real property on an eight-year cycle. The last

time we revaluated all real property countywide was in January 2016. In

addition, the county has gone 16 years without an increase in tax rate.

• North Carolina has seen an increase in real property valuations over the

last few years due to the overall growth in population. North Carolina is

one of the fastest growing states by population over the last few years.

• There are several types of appeals: informal review, formal appeal, state

level (Property Tax Commission), and in some cases, Appeals Courts and

Supreme Court. We want to work with as many people as possible on the

local level to ensure equity across the board. If you have an issue with

your valuation, every owner has the right to request a review of their

property records. The review process for 2024 is limited to the following

time periods:

- Informal Reviews: March 8, 2024 - April 4, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.

- Formal Appeals: April 5, 2024 - May 16, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.

Learn more about the appeal process.