Competing theories as to the nature of proposed police reform have emerged, with one being that law enforcement budgets should be cut drastically and the other being that they should be increased drastically. 

Over the past week the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has been discussing whether to pass the 2020-21 fiscal year budget and tax rate as recommended by County Manager Don Adams or make changes some commissioners see as imperative. 

When the Sylva town board met for its annual budget brainstorming session in January, members had no problem dreaming big about the upcoming fiscal year. A Main Street director, multi-use trails on the Blackrock Creek property, a public bathroom downtown and an all-terrain vehicle for police use all found their place on the wish list. 

Maggie Valley is projecting a more than 16 percent decline in revenue for the 2020-21 fiscal year due to the shutdown caused by the COVID 19 crisis.

The property tax rate in Macon County will be increasing by half a cent after commissioners approved a 2019-20 budget that puts additional funding toward public education. 

Town of Franklin Manager Summer Woodard recently presented the town council with a proposed budget for 2019-20 that would maintain the current property tax rate and increase the cost of water and sewer for customers. 

For the first time in several years, Macon County Manager Derek Roland is proposing a small property tax increase moving into the 2019-20 budget year to support increased expenses and much-needed capital projects. 

For the second year in a row, Haywood County taxpayers can expect no increase in property taxes, thanks to increasing revenues and a substantial fund balance appropriation, but the county’s health care costs are starting to become nearly unmanageable. 

The Town of Canton’s preliminary proposed budget shows an increase over last year from $8.7 million to more than $9.2 million. Most of that is from monies split between budget years and slight increases in some spending categories, but Mayor Zeb Smathers was eager to answer the question on the minds of most. 

At $4.06 million, Sylva’s proposed budget for 2019-20 will be nearly $200,000 lower than the adopted budget for 2018-19.