Recent efforts by the N.C. General Assembly to pre-empt local government authority were clearly on the minds of Wilmington officials as they hosted members of the local delegation at the city’s annual legislative breakfast Tuesday. The meeting came just ahead of this year's legislative short session, which begins Monday.

Several items on the city’s 2016 legislative agenda refer to actions of the General Assembly in 2015’s long session, such as eliminating the Privilege License Tax paid by businesses to municipalities. In the upcoming short session, legislators are pondering making changes in Municipal Service Districts, just as Wilmington considers establishing such a district in its downtown business core.

These and other issues were on the meeting agenda, attended by Reps. Rick Catlin (R-New Hanover), Ted Davis (R-New Hanover), Susi Hamilton (D-New Hanover) and Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover). Holly Grange, who won the Republican primary and faces no Democratic opposition to replace Catlin next year, was also present.

In his opening comments, Wilmington mayor Bill Saffo thanked the delegation for stopping efforts in the General Assembly last year to redistribute sales tax proceeds in a way that would greatly favor rural areas at the expense of urban ones. Saffo pointed out that the city’s overall legislative goal is to support bridging North Carolina’s rural and urban divide in a way that benefits the whole state.

“We want to be part of a solution if there is one,” he said, adding that although the city doesn’t have a solution at this point, the city council understands that prosperity in rural areas benefits nearby metropolitan areas.

The first item on the legislative agenda places the city on record opposing “legislation that undermines local government authority and revenue generation.” In addition to the loss of the Privilege License Tax and potential changes to legislation enabling Municipal Service Districts, the agenda specifically mentions its opposition to modifications to the current Room Occupancy Tax distribution formula.

Council member Margaret Haynes said city council doesn’t want Raleigh forcing municipal elections into even-numbered years or getting involved in local government affairs.

“We believe the best government is [government] closest to the people,” she said.

A major topic of discussion was transportation, with city council members and state delegation members at times differing about the best ways of relieving traffic congestion in the Wilmington area.

Saffo expressed concerns about the aesthetics of the proposed redesign of two busy intersections: South College Avenue at Oleander Drive and Military Cutoff Road at Eastwood Road. Congestion at College and Oleander is so bad that the project is now on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s statewide list, Lee said.

Responding to Hamilton’s concern that constructing a flyover or other major reworking of the intersections could result in a loss of businesses there, decreasing the tax base, Lee replied it’s necessary to weigh that loss against a larger threat to businesses if motorists cannot readily travel around town.

When the discussion turned to the need to expand the capacity of Independence Boulevard, city council members argued for the proposed realignment of rail lines that would allow the Independence Boulevard extension to be built at grade rather than as an elevated highway. Hamilton agreed.

Council member Kevin O’Grady pointed out that an elevated roadway would divide and isolate the neighborhood around it.  

Lee, who has served on the NCDOT board, expressed some support for the rail realignment plan but pointed out the cost, which he said would exceed that of constructing Independence Boulevard extension as an elevated roadway.

“It’s all about money,” he said. “The question for the city is, are you prepared for the kind of growth that is coming?”

Lee said that population growth projections, in addition to likely increase in port-related traffic, necessitate transportation improvements, but that if Wilmington opposes NCDOT projects, “the money will go elsewhere.”

Catlin mentioned a possible effort to purchase the right of way for a former rail line that parallels 17th Street south to the port.

“It goes through everything we need,” he said.

City council members agreed that the city needs to communicate its transportation needs and proposals to the state, and Lee suggested they talk directly with the state transportation secretary.

There was no debate, however, on another topic: the need to create equity statewide in property insurance rates for wind and hail damage. New maps, which show pockets of risk in areas all over the state, have brought statewide attention to the issue of property insurance rate disparity, the meeting participants agreed.

Another legislative priority is to support the value of film and historic preservation incentive programs, for which most members of the local delegation advocated in the General Assembly. Council members also outlined for the delegation the need for creative approaches to affordable housing, city support for strengthened penalties for violations of firearms laws by convicted felons, the need for state funding of regional search and rescue teams, and the city's support for legislation creating an independent redistricting commission for the state.

For more about what local legislators want to see happen about the controversial HB2 law in the upcoming session, see Friday's print edition of the Business Journal.