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In addition to highlighting projects completed, about to be completed or started, Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert L. Woodard presented a video of work by 23 county programs during his State of the County 2022 program, including:

Health and Human Services: conducted 52 COVID-19 vaccination clinics, inoculating 25,039 people; sent out 57 COVID-19 updates and made 19 videos.

Environmental Health Services: conducted 3,978 on site waste water inspections and 1,530 inspections of commercial and public facilities.

Board of Elections: conducted municipal elections in Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head and Manteo; held 206 early voting sessions in two locations; and trained 57 poll workers.

Libraries: 128,329 physical items were borrowed; 17,507 digital items were used; in Summer 2021, 18,132 children and teen books were borrowed (the most in last 14 years); and in October, the libraries gathered 950 pounds of food for food banks.

Finance: awarded a certificate of achievement for the comprehensive annual financial report 2021 for the 30th year; bond rating upgraded from Aa2 to Aa1, which means the county will be able to borrow money at a better rate for capital projects.

Tax Department: 6,564 land transfers issued, a 22% increase over 2020. The collection rate for property taxes was 99.81%.

Planning Department: issued 153 new construction permits for unincorporated Dare County; earned an improved flood insurance rating providing a 20% reduction in insurance rates.

Water Department: employees turned 2.5 billion gallons of salt water into drinking water.

Public Works: picked up 30,000 tons of trash.

Transportation: traveled 90,171 miles picking up and delivering Dare residents.

Airport: handled 28,407 aircraft landings and takeoffs, about 78 each day.

Parks and Recreation: 2,320 individual participants.

Public Services Department, including:

– Baum Senior Center: 819 participants in five types of virtual fitness classes; 5,600 participants for in-person fitness classes; 4,200 meals delivered.

– Dare County Center, now the Virginia S. Tillett Community Center: 3,600 lunches served at center; 8,000 home delivered meals.

– Fessenden Center: 522 youth sports participants; 5,500 people in adult fitness classes; 95 different activities for adults.

Information Technology: 141,000 users completed 506,000 sessions on the parcel data map, the first time the system went over half a million sessions.

Human Resources: 106 job advertisements posted; 1,667 applications received; 183 employees hired in 2021.

Register of Deeds: 1,011 marriage licenses issued; 287 birth certificates received; 216 passport applications accepted; and 20,890 property documents recorded.

Public Relations: in April 2021 launched social media platform with Facebook and Instagram and sent 300 posts to each account; issued 336 press releases; produced 181 videos; and reached 125,000 views on the county’s YouTube channel.

Emergency Management: sent 3.4 million text messages through the alert system and four million emails along with 116,000 automated phone calls; installed interactive storm surge awareness poles.

Sheriff: Patrol deputies responded to 24,795 calls. 911 operators handled 123,256 calls; 135,573 pills were collected at local drug drop off boxes and events.

Emergency Medical Services: responded to 9,461 calls and treated 6,758 patients; 353 MedFlights flying 2,800 miles with patients on board.

Board of Commissioners: held 23 regular meetings, casting 349 votes, 99.43% unanimously, and receiving 99 public comments.

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