As Maggie Valley rebuilds from Hurricane Helene and absorbs slow but steady residential growth, aldermen have begun shaping a 2026-27 fiscal year budget defined by guarded optimism, rising service costs and lingering storm obligations. 

New Maggie Valley Town Manager Sam Cullen opened the workshop with a reminder that the board recently adopted a policy preventing the fund balance from dropping below 100% of annual expenditures — a common but informal goal for many of North Carolina’s smaller municipalities.

The U.S. Department of Labor has released additional funds to help North Carolinians get back to work in areas affected by Hurricane Helene.

The new funds, totaling $4 million, represent the remaining portion of a $10 million Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grant that the U.S. Department of Labor initially awarded to North Carolina in 2024 in the wake of Helene.

Two Haywood County water systems will benefit from a combined $15 million in funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program for disaster-affected states. North Carolina is the first state impacted by Helene to award grants from this program. 

Eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

As anger grows over the slow pace of federal recovery funding for Hurricane Helene and Republicans in charge of recovery continue to scramble for political cover, a spokesperson for Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) delivered a long list of false claims relating to Edwards’ role in procuring the help — or not procuring the help — Western North Carolina still so desperately needs. 

To the Editor:

I was finally able to get through the travel hazards back to Western North Carolina six days after Helene’s historic fury had torn through our region devastating roadways, major infrastructure, entire communities and thousands of lives.

We’ve had more than a week of picture-perfect fall days, usually a part of the recipe for a busy, successful tourist season. But there’s an unshakeable uneasiness among the business community since Helene, and especially in Haywood County. I hope elected leaders take note.