I secured a set of budget documents from Rockingham County administrators last week. My thanks to Tom Robinson, Ginger Waynick, Mike Apple and Adam Lindsay.
The stack is thick and contains too much data for my little head.
But one thing, among many, sticks out.
The county is currently ranked 63rd in population and 63rd in tax rate. On the whole, one could say the county tax rate is average.
But when I looked at sales tax revenue the picture became clear.
The state average for sales tax revenue by a county with population of 50-100,000 is $17.4 million, or $201 per capita. The average for Rockingham County is $12.1 million, or $132 per capita. That is a 35 percent shortfall.
To me this seems like the crux of the matter. Without even an average rate of sales tax (read business activity) the county can't meet its funding needs without jacking up the property tax. Commissioners are already in line to make up a projected $1 million shortfall this year by raising property taxes at least 1.7 cents.
Commissioners Bert Jones and David Isley were stonewalled in their efforts recently to steer the board in the direction of finding savings. Commissioner Harold Bass went so far as to say he was "comfortable" with the projections, and didn't really seem interested in discussing ways to cut costs.
Isley stated early on that he would not run for reelection and Jones recently followed suit, given his frustration at the "entitlement mentality" of many in our community and the lack of consensus among elected leaders to force the county to find innovative ways to prevent tax rate increases.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to put a referendum on the ballot this year for a special 1 cent sales tax levy. More on that later.
I said all that to get to the main point, which is one of economics, quality of life and lack of community values.
What is clear to me is that Rockingham County residents do not have the value in themselves to address the challenges that face them. There are many in the county who could lead the way, but the size of the task, and the history of the community, likely would scare off anybody who had the skills and the energy to give it a go.
Rockingham County is trashed from one end to the other. Reidsville is like an open litter dump. You can't walk in a store without floating on a carpet of cigarette butts and discarded chewing gum at the entrance. Customer service is a foreign concept and quality, well let's just say there is little pride in quality here.
Why should people with disposable income to spend in county stores chose to shop local when the quality of experience is about like a dental procedure gone awry? Why not go to Greensboro or Danville? Why not buy online and let the friendly, customer oriented UPS man bring it to your door?
My point is that while many have begun to talk about appearance as a factor in community quality, it's only a start.
Business leaders need to focus on quality and customer service as a value. One well placed official said to me that they were all for the Horse Park of the South, but wondered who would work there? Who will staff the related restaurants and hotels and gift shops and ensure visitors leave here with a positive impression? Who could work at a fine dining restaurant, if one were to come to the area, and make the experience meaningful?
Business leads to prosperity. Rockingham County leaders need to realize, and begin to address the fact, that a poor experience by a customer is a lasting one. Service is paramount. Appearance matters.
It's a question of value. Either this county, its people and its leaders have self-worth enough to begin addressing the key factors limiting business activity or they do not.
Either chamber of commerce members, board members of the county's economic development agency and officers of civic and social clubs make customer service and quality a core business value or we continue to slide deeper into a culture of entitlement and reduced business activity which results in more government expenses with less local revenue.
I've been 
