Immediately after Jackson County Public Schools Associate Superintendent Jake Buchanan and Southwestern Community College President Don Tomas proposed their respective departmental appropriations for fiscal year 2026-27, Jackson County Manager Kevin King presented commissioners with a May 19 draft county budget that left both requests unfulfilled.  

Macon County Manager Warren Cabe presented a budget to county commissioners last week that satisfies their wish to avoid a tax increase, but amid rising costs and ongoing capital improvements, some departments will likely come away with less than they’re hoping for. 

Last year’s budget came in just over $70 million, and this year’s proposal would drop it just a bit to around $68 million, but Cabe noted that he expects grant money to supplement that number as it has in past years. 

To the Editor:

The following item is a version of one that has been making the rounds on social media. It is illustrative of the rising tide of resentment and protest against the way property taxes are being assessed and administered by local governments.  There needs to be a major reform of this iniquitous system, if not an outright replacement of it.  

Even ahead of calculating the budget, Swain County’s Fiscal Year 2026-2027 costs are likely to be higher, said County Manager Lottie Barker. 

“It’s across the board, different depending on what the department has asked for, as well as special appropriations.

Canton has entered the growing statewide fight over property tax limits, with town officials adopting a resolution opposing legislation that would restrict how local governments fund the bulk of their operations. 

“I think it’s in line with what is happening across the state — the possibility of what the General Assembly will do and what effect that will have on our already strained budgets,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers.

To the Editor:

There’s no better time than tax season to take a hard look at our absurd federal tax code — the single biggest reason the so-called “1%,” and the wealthy more broadly, have been pulling away from the rest of us for the past 50 years. Consider this: tech founders like Mark Zuckerberg famously take a $1 annual salary. They pay no income tax on that salary.

After last year’s property tax increase, Jackson County commissioners met Feb. 17 to begin planning next year’s budget, balancing fresh revenue growth against rising costs and lingering anxiety from property owners still absorbing the impact of escalating property values — just as a competitive Primary Election looms. 

An anonymous payment recently applied to decades-old tax bills owed by a sitting Haywood County commissioner presents the appearance of impropriety and may violate campaign finance law and the Board of Commissioners’ ethics policy. 

Substantial questions about the payment remain, but at least one thing is certain — the long drama surrounding Commissioner Terry Ramey’s unpaid taxes is not settled. 

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission invites 2025 North Carolina taxpayers to donate all or part of their state tax refund to the N.C. Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund. Donations support research and conservation projects for the state’s most vulnerable wildlife. 

Despite an ever-changing cast of characters cycling through like a revolving door, the Haywood County Tax Collector’s office has come a long way since Maggie Valley Republican Mike Matthews defeated Democratic incumbent David Francis in 2014 by 1.26%. Now, after nearly four years of service, Republican incumbent Sebastian Cothran has decided to seek other opportunities, guaranteeing a fourth change in leadership over the past four elections.