AUGUST 20, 2009 ISSUE
Legislative and Budget Updates
Goss Saves Boone’s Visitor Center
Despite legislator’s attempts to remove funding from Boone’s visitor’s center in order to provide funding for the new visitor’s center in Wilkes County, Sen. Steve Goss (D-45) went to bat for the Boone center and was able to secure continued funding.
High County Host recently received full funding from the state after being in jeopardy of losing its allocation. Apparently, legislators in Raleigh attempted to remove the funding for Boone’s visitor’s center because the state is building a new center in Wilkes County, which is scheduled to open this September.
Sen. Steve Goss (D-45) went to bat for the Boone center and was able to secure continued funding.
“Several visitor centers in the state receive $100,000 annually to supplement the DOT’s $50,000 funding available to operate centers around the state. Watauga is among the counties that receive the additional funding,” Goss said. “There was an effort to remove Watauga from the list and replace it with Wilkes County, but I felt that was not a good idea because many tourists coming to Watauga County come up U.S. 321, N.C. 105, U.S. 221 and other routes which do not go through Wilkes County. As chair of the Sub-committee on Appropriations for Transportation, I was able to secure the recurring funding for Watauga County. I am now working on an alternate plan through possible contingency funding to assist Wilkes County for this year’s fiscal funding needs.”
According to High Country Host (HCH), more visitors come up Highway 321 than Highway 421. Officials of HCH were pleased with the news. It’s been a record-breaking year for visitors through the doors at the Boone center, which reported having 601 visitors on July 3. “Actually, our numbers are up for the past three months,” said Jerry Lamonds, treasurer of the HCH Board of Directors. “I feel like High Country Host is a huge success. It benefits all businesses, large and small and serves a five-county area.”
Other area tourist related officials said that they were initially concerned about the possibility of losing the state funding. “We all use the High Country Host call center to answer our guests’ questions about area attractions, restaurants and so forth,” said Doug Uzelac, general manager of the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center. “High Country Host is a valuable resource.”
In High Country Press’s North Carolina Budget story last week, state budget numbers for Watauga County Schools were not available. When calculating federal stimulus funds and discretionary spending now allowed from kindergarten through 12th grade, officials with the schools estimate that Watauga County’s state allocation this year is $1.29 million less than last year.
According to Rep. Cullie Tarleton (D-93), the sunset for the credit for investing in renewable energy equipment would be extended under a bill that has been ratified by the General Assembly (HB 512). The credit was originally set to sunset on January 1, 2011, but under this legislation it would be extended to January 1, 2016. The intent of the credit is to offer an incentive to encourage property owners to invest in renewable energy equipment in North Carolina. The bill has now been presented to N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue to be signed into law.
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