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PUBLISHED
ONLINE MAY 23, 2019
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Smithfield Council leans toward leaving tax
rate at 57 cents --- in effect, a tax
increase
Town Manager Mike Scott's
proposed budget for fiscal 2019-20 will be balanced with
a property-tax rate of 57 cents per $100 valuation,
based on a consensus of Smithfield Town Council members
voiced at a budget session late last week.
While that's the same rate the town has assessed since
2003, keeping it unchanged this year will increase
real-estate taxes for most Smithfield residents and
businesses because of higher property assessments
resulting from countywide revaluation, last done eight
years ago.
Mr. Scott plans to release his proposed budget to the
public this Friday (May 24). The Town Council will hold
a public hearing on the budget during its regular
monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 4.
READ
MORE about last Thursday's Town Council budget
session>
County manager recommends keeping county's
property-tax rate at 78 cents
County Manager Rick Hester has
unveiled a proposed county budget that's balanced
without changing the current property-tax rate of 78
cents per $100 valuation. That, too, will increase
real-estate taxes for most Johnston County residents and
business because of upward revaluations.
Mr. Hester said the recommendation is his. "The Board
(of Commissioners) has not weighed in yet," he told the
Sun. Commissioners will have their say during budget
sessions scheduled for Monday, June 10 and Monday, June
17, both at 6 p.m.
A public hearing for citizens to make comments about the
budget is set for 10 a.m. Monday, June 3 during the
commissioners' regular monthly meeting.
READ MORE about the county
manager's proposed budget>
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 #SSStrong Community Day was heated fun
The third annual celebration of
"Smithfield-Selma Strong Community Day" took place
beneath blue skies and hot sunshine last Saturday on the
football field at SSS.
At right, sophomore Jason Freeman of the high school's
golf team oversees one of several games played by
youngsters free of charge. Most everyone who took part
went home with a prize of some sort.
Numerous businesses and organizations set up information
stations to let folks know about their services to the
community.
The annual event is
sort of a "pep rally" for all the schools in the
Smithfield-Selma attendance district, including South
Smithfield, West Smithfield, Wilson's Mills, and Selma
elementary, Smithfield and Selma middle, and
Smithfield-Selma High. This year the Innovation
Academy at South Campus took part as well.
More
photos on this week's SPORTS & RECREATION PAGE>
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7th Street Marketplace & The Chicken
Barn
Market
Street (US 70 Business) at 7th Street, Downtown Smithfield
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 Monday, May 27 a holiday
for many public services
Practically every government
agency and service as well as banks and public schools
will take the day off in honor of Americans who gave the
"Supreme Sacrifice" during warfare waged worldwide to
protect our homeland.
Commemoration Monday at the Courthouse
The Johnston County Council of Veterans Organizations
will hold a Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday
inside the Courthouse in Smithfield. Guest speaker will
be retired Command Sergeant Major Benny Dobbs Jr.
Memorial Day is traced back to the mid-1800s when
spontaneous gatherings took place to honor the fallen
after the Civil War. It was originally called Decoration
Day in 1868. Congress designated Memorial Day as a
federal holiday in the National Holiday Act of 1971,
setting the date as the last Monday in May.
ON
TODAY'S FEATURE PAGE: Long-time Smithfield
resident Ruffin Johnson recalls how things were on the
"home front" during the Second World War>
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 Johnston
Community College graduates 666
Commencement exercises were
conducted May 13 at Campbell University as JCC's
auditorium is currently under renovation. (JCCollege
photo)
READ the complete list of
graduates>
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HEARING
TUESDAY ON INCENTIVES FOR UNNAMED INDUSTRY
Johnston's County Commissioners will conduct a
public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday (May 28) in
the Four Oaks Town Hall on a proposed
"economic incentive development grant" to an
unnamed company that "proposes to develop,
build, and equip a warehouse/distribution
center in an underdeveloped area of the
county."
The hearing was originally scheduled for the
commissioners' May 6 evening session but was
postponed at the last minute without
explanation.
It is the county's policy not to release the
names of industrial prospects prior to public
hearings on incentive-grant requests.
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Sweepers of some trashy Smithfield places
 Among the volunteers who turned out for
Smithfield's "Litter Sweep" campaign Saturday morning...
ABOVE: Lydia Moore, Griffin Moore, Emily Harris, Sarah
Edwards, Mayor Andy Moore, Whitey Kate Moore, and Clare
Harris.
RIGHT: Town Councilman Marlon Lee, Tony Nixon, Police
Chief Keith Powell, and Cedrick Raynor.
Photos courtesy of the
Town of Smithfield, event organizer
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DEATHS & FUNERALS
Each week we'll post links to obituaries about persons
who have died during the past week. We'll monitor the
websites of local funeral homes to compile our list, and
we welcome links provided by readers to obituaries of
persons with Smithfield connections who have died
outside our immediate area.
CHRISTOPHER RAY HEATH, 78 - died
May 22
RICHARD WILLIAM PALMER, 63 - died May 21
BERTHA MAE ALLEN, 64 - died
May 20
ISRAEL ARELLANO, 65 - died May 19
GREGORY HARRISON TUTTLE,
33 -
died May 15
GARRETT (GARY) KENAN GAVITT, 70 -
died May 12
A memorial service is scheduled for 11
a.m. Saturday, June 8
at Centenary United Methodist
Church in Downtown Smithfield.
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THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS
Here's a colorized
postcard view of Downtown Smithfield's Market Street
looking eastward at Second Street c. 1925. The facades
on the left, starting with the massive Tuscorara Inn,
look much the same as they did in the 1964 view of
this same block that was published in this space last
week (here's the link to take a look).
In the early days of the automobile, a few folks still
rode their horses into town. The caption at the top of
the postcard refers to Market Street as the "State
Central Highway." Originally numbered as "NC 10"
running east-west across the middle of North Carolina,
it was later added to the federal highway system as US
70. Today's it's US 70 Business.
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A Public Service Announcement
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