Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
~~~ <br />Page 3 <br />February 7, 2003 <br />II. The Prince William County, Virginia Model. <br />I have studied the materials made available to me <br />concerning the fee system established by Prince William County, <br />Virginia. I have also reviewed the Code of the Commonwealth of <br />Virginia to determine the legal framework for the Prince William <br />County system. Further I have contacted the New Hanover County <br />Attorney's office because I have been told that that office has <br />found "no legal impediment" to implementing the Prince William <br />County, Virginia system in North Carolina. <br />NIy research tells me that Prince William County, Virginia <br />created a sanitary district and that the sanitary district model <br />available in Virginia, is similar to the sanitary district model <br />in North Carolina. Prince William County, Virginia petitioned <br />the courts of Virginia for the creation of this sanitary <br />district and upon receiving the court's approval, the sanitary <br />district created can finance its system activities either by <br />charging rates (fees) for the use of the system and/or by <br />levying taxes on property in the sanitary district. The Prince <br />William County Sanitary District has apparently elected. to use <br />only fees to finance its solid. waste system. <br />North Carolina law provides for the creation of sanitary <br />districts which when created have taxing and other governmental <br />powers, including the power to charge fees for system services. <br />A sanitary district under North Carolina law is essentially a <br />local government independent of the county or' the city where it <br />is located. Sanitary districts as a model are, in Orange County, <br />I believe, obsolete.. Since Virginia sanitary districts are akin <br />to North Carolina sanitary districts and since sanitary <br />districts in Orange County, North Carolina are essentially <br />obsolete, the use of the Virginia model is not helpful, <br />The rest of this document therefore focuses on the two <br />other possibilities which are helpful and could be used <br />independently or together. It also includes a brief discussion <br />of franchising as a method of addressing financing solid waste <br />in Orange County. Incidentally, during my conversation with Holt <br />Moore with the New Hanover County Attorney's office, I was told <br />that he did not recall opining about the applicability of the <br />Prince William County, Virginia model for New Hanover County, <br />And in the end, New Hanover County went to a franchise system <br />