Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
Caldwell County's recent 22.2 percent property tax increase has gotten some folks mad, and they're letting everyone who drives on U.S. 321 know about it.
A group calling itself "Concerned Citizens" last month posted a full-size billboard along the county's busiest road questioning decisions made by the County Commission and seemingly encouraging residents to vote against current commissioners in the next election in 2008.
"You've got mail!! 22.2 percent tax increase," the yellow and black billboard reads: "Will you vote for these COMMISSIONERS again?"
But the phrasing of the billboard prompted local and state elections officials to have the billboard's sponsors change the phrasing to avoid a conflict with election laws.
Last week, the billboard was amended and now reads: "You've got mail!! 22.2 percent tax increase. Will _____ again?"
Sandy Rich, director of the Caldwell County Board of Elections, called the N.C. board about three weeks ago when her office starting getting questions about the original billboard to find out whether it violated state law.
"We needed to know if they needed to file for a PAC or not," she said.
Rich and her staff snapped photos of the billboard and sent them to the state office in Raleigh, where Adam Ragan, a compliance specialist in the state's campaign finance division, reviewed the message and decided last week the ad wasn't a violation because it didn't specifically name any of the commissioners.
But Ragan kept thinking about the billboard, he said, and decided to talk with the state board of elections attorney.
"We were stumped by the term, `these commissioners,' " he said. "There are no names involved ... but there can only be one set of commissioners."
That, combined with the word "vote," he said, was clearly trying to sway residents from re-electing the current commissioners. Ragan talked with at least two people responsible for the ad and contacted Rich to explain the violation.
No formal, written complaints have been filed, but if either election board receives one regarding the original billboard or the edited one -- which has a white strip covering part of the phrase, including the words "vote" and "these commissioners" -- Ragan said they will launch an investigation to find out who paid for it and where the money came from.
"That's the main thing we'd be concerned about," he said, "but I think a lot of it was inexperience with campaign finance laws."
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