Hickory wants legislature to reject unions, shifting road costs

HICKORY

Collective bargaining by public employees and making local governments maintain state roads are issues Hickory wants quashed in the General Assembly.

"We will continue our opposition to collective bargaining by public employees ... we oppose the transfer of road maintenance to counties," said Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt at a recent Hickory City Council meeting.

She said the agenda will also be presented to Hickory's legislative delegation when city representatives visit Raleigh later this spring.

Many issues are carryovers from last year.

• Collective bargaining by public employees. State law prohibits unionization of state and local government employees. North Carolina is one of a handful of states with the prohibition, Surratt said.

"There are established (job) standards for managers and employees," she said. "There are political ramifications to collective bargaining.

"Public employees are non-partisan. Unions could threaten non-partisanship with the influence union leaders could have over members."

• Local maintenance of secondary roads.

The legislature is trying to cut state expenses, and one idea is to make counties take over state road maintenance.

That could force counties to turn to cities to help foot the repair bills.

At one time, counties were in charge of secondary roads. The patchwork of road conditions led to the state taking over construction and maintenance of all public roads except for federal highways and city streets.

"The General Assembly is looking at all options," Surratt said. "No action has been taken, but it's out there for discussion. We don't want local government to have that responsibility.

• A federal proposal to exempt occupancy taxes for hotel/motel reservations made online. The city opposes the exemption, Surratt said. It would reduce municipal revenue.

• Reduction in state-collected revenue distribution. The state is the recipient of money from some fees, permits, alcohol sales, sales taxes and other items. The state then sends local governments their share.

"Sales tax revenue is already down," Surratt said. "Reducing the amount of money the state traditionally gives local government would leave a large hole in the budget."

Cutting local shares of revenue from beer and wine taxes and utility franchise taxes have been mentioned in Raleigh, she said.

• Changing involuntary annexation regulations is a possibility.

"They're still being scrutinized," Surratt said. "Something may be done this year, but we think it will be minor."

Opponents of involuntary annexation want to make it more difficult for cities by requiring shorter timetables for providing services such as water and sewer, allowing residents in an annexation area to vote on inclusion in a city, and establishing criteria for "hands-off zones" if an area already has services similar to what cities provide.

Other issues. Mayor Rudy Wright wants to expand Appalachian State University's presence in Hickory.

There is a movement afoot to create another school in the University of North Carolina system in Hickory.

Wright did not mention that in his reference to ASU. The university has a satellite campus in Hickory and is involved in the Eco-Complex at the county landfill.

Council Member Danny Seaver thinks online sales tax laws should be examined.

When a local fundraising group ordered a product online, he said, sales tax was paid to the state of origin and to North Carolina.

Seaver questions the fairness of paying sales tax twice.