Craven County commissioners talked about several issues on Tuesday, including the sale and a lease of county-owned properties and property taxes.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners approved the renewal of debris removal contracts, funding for a new position in Water Services, the sale and a lease of county-owned properties; made appointments, discussed property tax rates, and talked about other matters during a regular meeting on Jan. 20, 2026, at the county’s Administration Building in New Bern, NC.
Chairman Denny Bucher announced the Indiana University football team won the national championship.
The Board of Commissioners approved the agenda with Tim Mason (District 1), Beatrice Smith (District 3), Etteinne “ET” Mitchell (District 4), Shevel “Sherry” Hunt (District 5), Chadwick Howard (District 6) and Chairman Denny Bucher (District 7) voting yes. Vice-Chairman Jason Jones (District 2) was absent.
Consent Agenda
The board approved the consent agenda that included approval of the Jan. 5 regular meeting minutes; tax releases and refunds; a budget amendment for the Sandy Ridge Mobile Home Park legal fees; a lease of the parking lot adjacent to the former Sudan Shriners building and the vacant waterfront lot for a BBQ competition from April 30 at 8 a.m. to May 2 at 11:59 p.m.; and a resolution recognizing Ms. Gooding on her 100th birthday.
The agenda and meeting packet can be found here.
Recreational Vehicle Park Ordinance
They adopted the Craven County Recreational Vehicle Park Ordinance.
Updated Drug and Alcohol Policy for the Craven Area Rural Transit System
The board adopted an updated CARTS’ Drug and Alcohol Policy.
Solid Waste
The commissioners authorized the Craven County Manager to execute the renewal of one-year Debris Removal contracts with Phillips Environmental and Ceres Environmental Services, Inc.
Water
Water Services Director Chris Mullins reported on the need for a new full-time Administrative Officer I position to manage the department’s customer billing and debt collection process and the administrative, human resources, and financial tasks. The starting annual salary for this position is $58,321. The board approved the new Administrative Officer I position and a budget amendment in the amount of $33,365 from the Water Department’s fund balance to the Water Department’s operating account was requested to cover the remaining balance for this fiscal year.
Appointments
Pending appointments for a future meeting include positions on the Craven Aging Planning Board, Craven County Clean Sweep Committee, Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, and the Volunteer Agricultural District.
Joe Avolis was reappointed to the Craven County Health Board and Jedediah Stancil was reappointed to the Fort Barnwell EMS Paramedic seat on the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
The board will consider appointing Marisa Byer to the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council at a future meeting.
County attorney’s report
Craven County Attorney Arey Grady recommended that the commissioners adopt several resolutions related to upset bids and the sale of county-owned real properties that the city of New Bern and the county acquired through the tax foreclosure process.
The board adopted a resolution approving United Worship Center of New Bern’s initial offer of $3,000 to purchase property at 824 Lees Ave. and authorized the upset bid process for the parcel. The tax value of the property is $6,000 and past due taxes and costs of foreclosure total $6,127.59.
They adopted a resolution approving Philip Hedrick’s offer of $2,400 to purchase property at 606 White St. The property’s tax value is $4,800 and the costs of foreclosure and past due taxes total $3,047.93.
The Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution to convey property at 819 Miller St. to PhuongLien Do and Terrence M. Lubsen for $3,000. The property’s tax value is $6,000. The costs of foreclosure and past due taxes totaled $11,323.91.
They adopted a resolution to convey property at 804 West St. to Hassell, LLC after receiving a bid of $3,825 and the completion of an upset bid process. The property’s tax value is $7,650 and the total costs of foreclosure and past due taxes were $2,765.26.
The BOC adopted a resolution approving the conveyance of 809 Green St. to The RL Seven Group, LLC for $3,000. The property’s tax value is $6,000 and the past due taxes and costs of foreclosure totaled $8,614.15.
They adopted a resolution for the conveyance of 841 Pavie St. to The Third Property Development & Estate Investment Group, LLC after receiving an offer of $3,825 to purchase the property, and the completion of an upset bid process. The property’s tax value is $5,400 and the total costs of foreclosure and past due taxes were $6,064.65.
The commissioners adopted a resolution to convey of property at 841 Bloomfield St. to The Third Property Development & Estate Investment Group, LLC for $6,000. The property’s tax value is $6,000. The costs of tax foreclosure and past due taxes and costs totaled $4,176.
The board adopted a resolution to approve the conveyance of property at 827 Bloomfield St. to Ronald Manigault for $3,000. The property’s tax value is $6,000. The costs of tax foreclosure and past due taxes totaled $2,764.82.
Chairman Bucher said, “It doesn’t matter, but are there one or two people that are buying most of these properties?”
“It seems to be a group of folks, a relatively small group of folks that are the primary bidders on these city properties. You see some of the common names, some of the common LLCs, and in a couple of cases you see LLCs with different names, but it’s the same individual signing the contract. So, yes, sir. There is a lot of uh similarity from parcel to parcel,” Attorney Grady said.
County manager’s report
County Manager Jack Veit said they were preparing for the potential of a winter storm this weekend and encouraged people to prepare in case of potential power outages and slick conditions.
“Make sure you have all your medications, oxygen, and enough food to sustain you for 3 to 4 days. We’ll keep an eye on this with our emergency management team and the state and make sure we do all the preparations we need to do for that,” he said.
The county manager also talked about a property tax study commission that was created by speaker. He said their intent is to look at property taxation across NC cities and counties that’s “related directly to affordability, which is a big national narrative now.”
He said there’s an idea that some municipalities are not going to a revenue neutral tax rate as they may have done ten years ago. “The revenue neutral is that tax rate that brings in the same amount of money you had prior to a revaluation. Our last revaluation, we went revenue neutral with no adjustment. There are many jurisdictions that did not,” he said.
Editor’s note: Craven County conducted a county-wide revaluation of all properties in 2023 that led to an average increase of 42.03% in local property valuation, as reported here.
“Some jurisdictions, very small, did not adjust their tax rate at all so they take the same tax rate prior to revaluation and it’s a tax rate post revaluation. So, you end up with some significant swings in property taxation,” he said.
Jack Veit said the other double whammy that Craven County identified “is that where you have a county resident who is also a resident of a municipality. So, the county may go revenue neutral, but the municipality may not, and that happened at our last revaluation,” he said.
He said the School of Government, the Association of County Commissioners, the League of Municipalities, and some property tax experts recently met to discuss issues and there will be other meetings and hearings in the future.
“The difference between counties and cities are — we are an arm of state government. Cities exist because people want them to exist, right? They were created by the folks inside. We are arm of state government. We are the safety net for a lot of programs that are mandated either at the federal or the state level that we don’t have a choice on,” the county manager said.
Commissioner Bucher said, “One of our municipalities very close to where we’re sitting has had a substantial increase in their tax rate. People are going to pay a lot more tax on that. It’s a city, it’s not the county.”
Veit said 15 years ago, the target was for everyone was to go to revenue neutral “and if there was something and you couldn’t get by, then tax was raised. Now, it’s we’re going revenue neutral, but then we’re bringing it up 3 cents, 4 cents, depending on the jurisdiction. And there’s a lot of need, don’t get me wrong – there are strains in social services, public education, things that are pushing their statewide narrative.”
Commissioner ET Mitchell said, “Since I live in one of those areas that did not go revenue neutral, but citizens don’t know the difference. They just see that their tax bill went up, and they don’t know who raised it for what. But to me, the issue is municipalities and the county governments are separate. People tend to think that it’s a hierarchy and it is not.”
The county manager said most of their municipalities have put on what’s called a vehicle fee in the past three years and it could range from $5 to $30. He said counties can’t do that.
He said sales tax isn’t as stable as property tax because there can be “big swings depending on consumer confidence.”
He said there has been a lot of legislation to tackle fees and there are good and bad actors in all of this stuff where you see certain levels of fees in the different jurisdictions.
Commissioner Sherry Hunt asked Jack Veit about the quality of drinking water and asked if there was anything unsafe about it.
“Not that I’m area of. No. I haven’t reviewed anybody else’s — other than our report — but they’re generally looking at different things that are in the water, meeting certain federal and state standards,” the county manager said.
There was a brief discussion on water wells, systems and providers.
Commissioner reports
Chadwick Howard said his constituents were happy that the Havelock Bypass was open and a couple of people had issues related to the noise, which the county manager and Planning department are working to address with the NC Department of Transportation.
Beatrice Smith said she was happy to be back after having surgery and she thanked everyone for their help and concern. She also noted that she may have to have another surgery.
Sherry Hunt said the Harlowe Volunteer Fire Auxiliary Group was doing a chili fundraiser on Highway 101 on Friday for $12 a quart. She also noted they would be hosting a blood drive with the American Red Cross on Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire station on Ferry Road.
Tim Mason talked about the North Carolina Symphony. He also said the Craven County Tourism and Development Authority was trying to increase the number and lengths of stays for the county and New Bern because it was an important source of revenue.
Denny Bucher talked about Dr. Mathhew Cheeseman, the new superintendent of Craven County Schools. He also said Baptists on Mission will be ripping down a “derelict house” on Antioch Road, which sustained damage during a hurricane.
The Board of Commissioners’ meeting agendas, minutes and packets can be found here, and videos can be found here.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.