WHQR The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge needs to be replaced, but the NCDOT is out of money. For the last month , the region debated a privatized option.
After hearing a series of public comments mostly opposed the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization voted 7-5 to reject the further exploration of an unsolicited proposal to privatize the operation of a replacement bridge. That leaves the future of the Cape Fear Memorial in serious question but, for now, rules out a toll bridge.
The vote caps a month of public debate, which began after NCDOT publicly revealed to WMPO members that it lacked the funding to replace the bridge and implied that maintenance and repair costs would continue to increase. NCDOT presented a proposal from an unnamed company to privately build and manage a new bridge. Details, especially the expected toll rate, were
An ill-fated precedent: WMPO board rejects toll bridge proposal
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Cape Fear Memorial Bridge will not be replaced with a toll facility
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New Hanover County Commissioners approved an effective property tax increase to finance a variety of expanded and new initiatives. (Port City Daily photo/File)
NEW HANOVER COUNTY –– A typically run-of-the-mill process was inflamed this week when New Hanover County Commissioners effectively passed a tax increase, with two commissioners splintering off from the anticipated state of affairs in favor of finding alternative revenue sources.
The now-approved $458 million budget is up $58.4 million from the current fiscal year, or about 15%.
To finance a variety of initiatives, including making New Hanover County Schools employees the highest-paid teachers in the state, the county opted to raise property taxes. The tax rate isn’t actually increasing (in fact, it’s going down by $0.08), but because of recent property revaluations, most property owners will end up paying more. Property values increased by an average of 33% as a result of this year’s revaluation; the last reval
By Christina Haley O Neal, posted About 5 hours ago
PPD s headquarters in downtown Wilmington (File photo) The acquisition of Wilmington-based PPD Inc. could go two ways for the company s base in Wilmington, said Adam Jones, an economist with the University of North Carolina Wilmington. It could be a threat to the location as headquarters operations get rolled into a larger organization (potentially elsewhere), or it could mean more resources for the organization to grow, Jones said Monday.
The company s decades-long presence overall in Wilmington has been economically significant, he said.
Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) announced last week that it would purchase PPD, a global contract research organization with a presence in Wilmington that dates back about 35 years, for $17.4 billion.