Resident questions duration of beach tax and urges opposition to Dominion Energy rate hike

Public commenter Terry Scott used the allotted public-comment time at the Sept. 1 meeting to raise questions about the beach-nourishment tax and a separate Dominion Energy rate notice.

Scott said neither the town nor the Dare County tax office appeared to know when the beach-nourishment tax will end and asked why the tax had not been placed on a referendum rather than decided by the council. "The only reason I'm asking is because no one at the town seems to know, and the Dare County tax office doesn't know," Scott said. He followed by asking whether the council had considered a referendum.

Scott also said he had received a mailing from Dominion Energy about a proposed rate increase and asked that the community consider opposing that increase at a public meeting in October in Manteo. The public-comment period is not a question-and-answer session, and no substantive response resolving Scott's question about tax duration appears in the transcript. Council members listened and took no formal action during public comment; staff later addressed related issues in the beach-nourishment briefing and subsequent business.