Rockingham council approves letter arguing for UAL removal

ROCKINGHAM — The Rockingham City Council unanimously approved a letter they will send to the Local Government Commission outlining the city’s case for being removed from the unit assistance letter, which they were added to last year — along with all five of the other municipalities — as a result of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners’ April 2020 decision to change the sales tax distribution method from per capita to ad valorem without warning.

Since Rockingham was placed on the unit assistance list (UAL) in May of 2020, the county and municipalities have reached a revenue-sharing agreement that returned some of the losses incurred to sales tax revenue caused by the change to ad valorem. The list is a way for the Local Government Commission (LGC) to determine how they allocate their support resources to the governments in the most need, and being on it can be detrimental to a government’s credit rating.

“As a result of the City’s wise financial management, the City has remained in sound financial condition and had no other performance indicators of concern requiring them to submit a response to the Local Government Commission for fiscal year ended June 30, 2021,” reads the letter.

All council members were required to sign the letter prior to its submission. The letter is addressed to Susan McCullen, Director of the State Treasury’s Fiscal Management Section.

Members sworn in

Council members Denise Sullivan, Anne Edwards, and Gene Willard were all re-elected to their positions and were sworn in by City Clerk Sabrina McDonald.

Councilwoman Denise Sullivan said that the council will accept applications seeking interest for the open city council seat. Interested applicants must send a letter to City Manager Monty Crump by Dec. 31. This motion was unanimously approved.

Following that approval, Sullivan was unanimously elected Mayor Pro Tem. Her term runs through December 2023.

“It was a surprise,” Sullivan said after the meeting’s adjournment. “I’m honored. I look forward to doing what’s best for Rockingham.”

She’s the first woman to serve as Rockingham’s Mayor Pro Tem, according to newly-elected Mayor John Hutchinson.

Hutchinson presided over his first council meeting as mayor. He said that’s he excited and looking forward to the new year.