Rincon candidate answers

Here are full answers from some of the candidates

to the questions: Is maintaining no city property
taxes a priority for you? What do you think are the
most important priorities for the city council?
James Dasher:
Is maintaining no city property taxes a priority for
you?
No. And I understand the repercussions of someone
running for office may have from this answer. But I
also understand the needs of this City and they
shouldn’t fall on the backs of the residents while
large Corporations don’t pay their fair share. Rincon
has done a fabulous job operating without a property
tax for twenty years. Many of my colleagues and
past Council has served our citizens well and have
accomplished great things for Rincon without a
property tax through the years but with the growth
that we’re experiencing today the added cost has
depleted our “nest egg”. Three years ago the County
stopped collecting the duplicated service fees from
Rincon residents on our County tax bill and Rincon
lost about $400,000 annually in revenues. For two
years we have frozen positions because we can’t
afford to hire staffing and this is not good for
Rincon’s growth. I’d like to see Rincon continue to
operate without a property tax but if it comes down
to continuing to increase residential fire fees,
water/sewer, trash etc. I’d would rather see a
property tax where the businesses and Industry can
share the load. The businesses should not be
carried on the backs of the residents while these
businesses continue to operate without a property
tax. Businesses Operating in a City without property
tax don’t reduce their prices, they charge the same
as they do in Cities where they pay property taxes
and just add more to their bottom line and send the
profits to out of State headquarters. Is this fair for
Rincon residents? I think not..
What do you think are the most important priorities
for the city council?
Hiring the right people. Small town Government
struggles with this and Rincon is no exception. The
average tenure for a Police Chief Nationwide is 2.5
to 3 yrs. In my tenure we’ve had a Chief for 6 yrs.
and another for 11mths. We have a three person
team leading our Police department today and I
sleep well knowing the leadership that is currently in
place. Our shift Corporals and officers are some of
the finest people that I know. We have recently
signed a 5 year contract with our City manager after
his one year probation period. Fingers crossed.. Our
City employees are Rincon’s greatest Assets… We
have great employees that serve our residents well.
Rincon has 6000+/- acres of Industrial property with
10 miles of City Hall. I am concerned about traffic
congestion as these properties begin to develop.
With a City operating from fees and permits we don’t
get paid until growth gets here. We can’t plan ahead
and work on infrastructure in preparation of growth
coming. Little Rincon is no longer, we have become
a City of 11,000 residents and growing and it takes
money to serve these residents.

Patrick Kirkland:
I believe that the city needs to be able to maintain a
healthy budget to properly run the city. Property
taxes are not the priority, maintaining the current
budget is a priority.
My top priority if elected into office will be ensuring
the City of Rincon employees have all the tools they
need to be successful in there job. My goal would
also be to Hire employees of the best caliber that
want to settle in and become a part of our great
community. I want to be able to maintain a
consistent employee base that enjoys coming to
work for us.
Paul Wendelken:
I am of the strong opinion that we maintain a policy
of no city property taxes. We haven’t had property
taxes for the City since 1998. There are numerous
citizens who have moved to Rincon in those last 20
years that have never paid a city property tax. It is
getting harder to maintain that policy but I think it is
very important. We have been able to fund our
expenditures through fees and sales taxes. So, the
more the citizens stay local with their purchases (at
least within Effingham County) more of that sales tax
comes back to us.
Other priorities are smart growth with additional
commercial and industrial opportunities opening up
for us. Of course, getting Chick-Fil-A was a pretty
big deal. Everyone kept asking when was it going
to open. I know everyone wants a sit-down
restaurant, too. Believe me, so does Council. We
have to meet certain demographic statistics for most
large franchises with one of the first criteria being
population within a certain mile radius. For a lot of
them we do not qualify. Other priorities are
maintaining well-equipped Police and Fire
Departments. Our Recreation Department services
almost as many participants (depending on the
sport) as does Effingham County. Securing long-
term Water and Sewer availability are very
important, as well.
I have lived in Rincon for 52 years and also have my
insurance business here. I understand the
responsibility of representing the people of Rincon
and consider it a privilege and an honor. The fact
that I have so many years on Council is a benefit to
the City because of the institutional knowledge that I
have gained over those years. It’s valuable to know
what we’ve done in the past and whether it worked
or not, so that we don’t waste resources to try
something again that didn’t work previously.

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