Wednesday, October 14, 2026
By Submitted Story on September 18, 2026
Dare County Manager Bobby Outten will provide a presentation and answer questions at the three community meetings in early October to discuss the Nov. 3 ballot question on the proposed quarter-cent sale tax increase—with the revenue to be used for Parks & Rec improvements in the county.
The county has also launched a new informational webpage, DareNC.gov/QuarterCent, where voters can learn more about the sales tax referendum and review the information used to develop the proposed improvements. Here is the release.
Dare County voters will decide during the November 3, 2026, General Election whether to approve a one-quarter cent sales tax increase to fund Parks and Recreation improvements throughout the county.
If approved, the sales tax rate would increase from 6.75% to 7.0%. The estimated additional cost for Dare County residents is approximately $14 per year for individuals or $22 per year for families.
The increase would not apply to groceries, gasoline, automobiles or prescription medicines. County officials estimate that more than 70% of the tax would be paid by visitors.
If approved, the tax is expected to generate approximately $6.1 million annually for improvements to Dare County Parks and Recreation facilities, fields and amenities.
Comments
Think Twice
The county commissioners want us to vote to raise our local sales tax to give them an additional $6 million per year. They claim that the money can only be used for Parks and Rec facilities but the truth is this sale tax revenue will go into the general fund and can be spent for anything in the county budget.
To make matters worse, they do not even have a financially sound plan to set priorities, then budget and responsibly spend the $6 million year after year to upgrade and maintain our facilities over the long run. Their shortsighted plan is to borrow almost $60 million and then pay back $6 million per year with interest over 20 years for a grand total of nearly $120 million. They want to splurge now while they are in office and then stick future county commissioners and taxpayers with being forced to pay back their debt. This is incredibly irresponsible money management.
It gets even worse — A major part of this plan is to replace our grass athletic fields with artificial turf fields which are very expensive ($1M – $2M each) and degrade over time and typically require full replacement every 8 to 12 years. That means that in 10 years we will need to be replacing the worn-out turf with new turf but we will not have any money because we will still owe the $6 million per year for 10 more years. Artificial turf fields also have known safety problems since they get very hot in the sunshine and after a few years the aging turf gets harder and slicker, increasing the risk of injuries.
These county commissioners have a history of wasting our hard earned tax dollars, like their million dollar pickleball courts and splash pads for the tourists, and their multi-million dollar subsidized housing boondoggles open to anyone from anywhere. We should think twice before we vote to raise our sales taxes and give them any more of our money.
Ed
A better picture would be Jordan Hennessy’s new fleet of super cars paid for by Bob’s dredge contract with him.
SMH
Gas prices out of control, groceries skyrocketing, housing costs rising and these Republicans are asking for us to pay more taxes. SAY NO TO NEW TAXES!
Forget About It!
No.
Dom Bostich
I see the propaganda has already kicked off with the photo used on the “information” page. When it comes to hoodwinking the public, good old Bobby O. has learned from the teachers’ unions: “It’s for the kids!”
DR Rob Jr
I am dating myself, but as Nancy Reagan said: “Just Say No!”
I could finish that with ‘to drugs’ because I think that is what the county commissioners are on wanting MORE money when they won’t closely scrutinize the spending already going on.
Luminous
My guess is we’ll see strong bipartisan opposition to this one at the polls.
A lot of Pennies
Bostich nailed it
They are calling their plan “Pennies for Parks” in order to make it sound like an insignificant tax increase “for the children.” At $6 million per year that is 600 million pennies per year. Over the life of their planned 20 year debt we will need to pay back about $120 million. That’s 12 Billion Pennies that weigh more than 66 million pounds or 33,000 tons. That is a lot of pennies.
Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice
Chief, I think you’ve made your views on this abundantly clear.
Quit Crying
And you who are voting for socialist? Truly believe that the progressives will not tax you more? C’mon man!
Republicans are for less taxes and Democrats are for more taxes!
As for doing it for the children, well thats right out of the lefts playbook.
Rules for radicals!
Think before you vote!
Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice
Quit, just as point of information, all the members of the Dare County Board of Commissioners are Republicans.
lippy
Give more money to the county commissioners who thought affordable housing on the beach was a good idea? Ahhh NO!
bob
Remember this. “No New Taxes”
Please we are taxed enough. Hold the line, we pay more sales tax. It’s high enough. And remember it’s the Red party that want to raise your taxes, not the Blue party
JUST VOTE NO
Jay
Mark J. There are Republicans and then there are RINO’s.
I’ll wager if Dare County turned Democratic all of our RINO commissioners would switch parties and become Democrats.
Tax and spend is all our commissioners know.