Hoke County Pool Drains Public Trust

There is no lifeguard on duty when it comes to saving tax revenue or protecting public trust in Hoke County Commission meetings, especially those behind closed doors in the dark of night.

Hoke County officially opened the James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center on May 1, 2023, but not before cutting two contractors adrift, nearly doubling its size and paying more than triple what the original estimate called for in 2019. The final bill came in at roughly $30 million, which would have drowned the county’s annual operational budget of roughly $70 million. Instead, officials borrowed money in limited-obligation bonds totaling $50 million. Those loans, from deep-pocketed bondholders hedging volatile Wall Street bets, will be repaid through tidal tax increases, with interest, at prescribed rates and maturity dates.

The lack of transparency from officials and widespread misinformation has created a growing tide of complaints. In a region in which the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 14.6 percent are below the poverty level—barely treading financial water—there’s no shortage of taxpayers angry over bankrolling a project beyond the reach of most lucrative communities, particularly those in such need of basic services. The fact officials reneged on the promise of free admittance for residents adds to the chorus of criticism.

“I guess because I was on the parks and recreation board a long time ago and worked for the local newspaper for 15 years, people often ask me, who overseas what local elected officials are doing with taxpayer monies?” said Hal Nunn, a U.S. Army veteran who moved to Hoke County in 2001 for a rural atmosphere that’s since vanished. “When local elected officials ignore citizen and media inquiries on law or rule violations, who do citizens turn to for answers? My guess is no one.”

His comment ominously predicted the future of our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with Hoke County—including those submitted multiple times. Nearly all have not been fulfilled or even acknowledged, customary even when denied. North Carolina’s Department of Justice explains on its website that under North Carolina law, “Any person has the right to inspect, examine and get copies of public records.”

The original request for bids from contractors (top), which is still on the Hoke County website, clearly states the budget and size of the pool. Documents provided by the county in response to our FOIA (below) mysteriously omit both figures.

One of the few records provided by the county, an alleged version of the original 2019 Request for Qualifications (request for bids from contractors), doesn’t even match the document still posted on the county website. The paperwork we received conveniently omits the rough pool budget of $8 million and final footprint of 28,000 square feet. The figures are not redacted—a legal practice often employed to protect a person’s privacy or for security reasons—either.

“Several folks and media outlets have requested the financials and decisions and actions on the Agriculture Building, Recreation Center and other projects and bids in Hoke County and still today, no one can seem to get answers,” Nunn added. “What other projects or policies have not been followed?”

The North Carolina Attorney General’s office has been informed there are two different versions of the same public document living in the county’s records and disregard for FOIA law. The general confusion over cost, authorization and contracts began long before that, however.

It’s unclear, for example, whether the county-estimated cost for the James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center includes the 2019 purchase of the land it now occupies for $1,035,075 (figure updated on from our initially incorrect amount of $549,000, which is actually the amount the county paid for adjacent property that same year, running the property cost alone up to more than $1.5 million). It’s also unknown if the $1.4 million from a Golden LEAF Foundation grant used to run sewer service to the area is officially tallied, either. 

According to a News-Journal article, Bobbitt Design-Build and Neal Smith Engineering were dismissed from the pool project by August 2020. That timing indicates one, or both, earned the original contract. Several FOIA requests for the agreements and letters of termination are also marooned on a county desk, apparently.  

The same month news of the dismissals, barely 12 months after the initial posting for bids, the estimated price for the pool had nearly doubled. “We’re thinking hypothetically around $15 million for the Parks and Rec center,” one county commissioner told the News-Journal. There was no fresh posting for bids on the county website reflecting the increased budget or notification that the original contractor(s) had been released from the project.  

By March 15, 2021, the cost—according to a report to the Hoke County Commission on Debt Affordability—was rapidly approaching three times its original size. The minutes of that meeting state, “The James A. Leach Aquatic and Recreation Center cost is estimated at $21.8M. $2.7M from prior year surpluses has been set aside toward the project. A net funding amount of $19.1M will be required and that amount will be funded through debt issuance in June, 2021.”

That figure grew another $5 million in six weeks. On April 30, 2021, a change order was signed by the Hoke County manager that authorized a contract increase of $22,341,844. The amount then stood at $26,845,545.

It wasn’t until June 2, 2021, that the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer’s office officially confirmed the county could issue bonds to pay the lofty bill. “Hoke County won approval to obtain $50 million in limited obligation bonds to build the 53,000-square-foot James A. Leach Aquatic and Recreation Center, two basketball courts, ball fields and Parks and Recreation Department office space on U.S. 401 in East Hoke,” it stated.  

The figures are as slippery as politicians in an election year. What began as an $8 million recreational expenditure grew to $15 million, then $21.8 million, followed by $26,845,545 and finally roughly $30 million, plus land, sewer, personnel and upkeep. All of it gambled on bonds—issued in an excess of $20 million than required—that taxpayers were never asked if they wanted to pay that principal and interest back through taxes. For 14.6 percent of the county’s residents, it may be enough to put them financially underwater.

The situation makes one thing obvious.

There is no lifeguard on duty when it comes to saving tax revenue or protecting public trust in Hoke County Commission meetings, especially those behind closed doors in the dark of night.      

(During an April 1 commission meeting—appropriate day of the year—an audit report reflected another $2.5 million that went to fill the pool and keep it wet through 2023. Here’s the story.)