WE, The Property Owners of Pine Knoll Shores, deserve justification and a full accounting for the proposed tax increase, especially since tax revaluations are being assessed. We are living in difficult and uncertain times, many people have lost their jobs, nearby municipalities have laid off both full and part time employees, and offered severance packages.

PKS Town Management views our shared scenario as quite the opposite, proposing significant salary increases and no lay-offs. The Citizens deserve to see any study suggesting these increases are required, especially now. The last tax increase was in 2014 and the tax rate changed from 0.156 to 0.197.

If your 2020 assessed value is $450,000 your taxes in PKS will increase 10% from a 2019 assessed value of $425,000 or the equivalent of almost $225. What additional benefits are accruing to the property owners? What funding can be postponed versus what needs to be acted on now to prepare us for hurricane seasons to come.

To view what your taxes may look like, use this form to enter your home's value and the balance of the sheet will populate:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gE32S8bmUNbcm7o4bfQ30ENICEB89oAf/view?usp=sharing

Click on Share at the top of the page and post to your own Facebook Page.

The undersigned find this proposal totally unacceptable.