At the Feb. 11 regular meeting, the Macon County Board of Commissioners discussed multiple avenues to address animal control efforts throughout the county. To the relief of the large crowd in attendance, Interim County Manager Warren Cabe announced that the county had already found one temporary solution.
Cabe said the county had tapped a contract option with the North Carolina Alliance of Public Health Agencies to bolster staffing and had posted a job announcement on the county’s website earlier that day. The county plans to hire an animal shelter attendant at least through June 2025 to free up animal control officers to focus on other pressing duties.
(For more background on animal control, see Dan Finnerty’s article “County to explore options for animal control” from the Feb. 13 edition.)
Regional library system questioned
A number of speakers used the public comment period to raise concerns about an alleged plan being developed to remove Macon County from the Fontana Regional Library (FRL) system. The authenticity of the contents of a photocopy of an email that speakers provided to commissioners to substantiate their remarks are unverifiable.
David Germain first raised the issue stating, “The suggestion is that somehow the commissioners and county managers of both Macon and Jackson county coordinate behind the scenes to organize a surprise, simultaneous exit from the FRL, ostensibly for financial reasons. I would simply like to ask this board that if there is any consideration to exit the FRL, that it be done openly and honestly, and allow the public to participate in that conversation.”
Three other speakers also raised concerns that if commissioners were contemplating following the strategy outlined in the alleged email, that they would be in violation of North Carolina’s Open Meetings law.
At the end of remarks, Chairman Josh Young responded to the expressed concerns stating, “For the record, I’d like to reiterate we just signed a 10-year, bipartisan, good-faith contract for our regional library. I don’t know where these emails are coming from… That’s where we’re at with it.”
Fiscal year 2025-2026 budget kick off
As the night’s agenda progressed, commissioner John Shearl provided a proposal to Young, after reminding him, “I have sat through two budget cycles and voted against both budgets.” His proposal: “to recommend a committee on government efficiency” on which Shearl and Young would sit.
“I would like to be able this year to really understand and support the 2025-26 budget and get some answers that I couldn’t get in the last two years … to understand the make-up of this county government, where tax dollars are going, and the transparency through this process,” said Shearl.
Young responded, “I will make a commitment to you to look into efficiency.”
Additionally, Cabe explained that the county will split initial budget information into two meetings, with March 11 used to report on the Capital Improvement Plan. The goal would be to have a proposed budget discussion underway by May so that a budget could be passed by the end of June.
Cabe then turned the floor over to Macon County Finance Director Lori Carpenter to provide the mid-year snapshot of budget revenues and projections.
In comparing five-months’ sales tax revenues between Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025, Carpenter said, “There’s a slight decline in Fiscal Year ’25. We’re down $81,000 or 1%”; $7,515,580 is projected.
“Unfortunately, on sales tax we’ve had, after COVID, some peaks [on revenue] due to double-digit growth year over year, but we’re seeing that growth is gone,” she added. “Hopefully, growth will rebound with December’s Christmas sales, and in spring and summer, hopefully tourism will turn this number around.”
Reporting on all property and motor vehicle tax collection revenues, Carpenter said the county had brought in $29,719,574 in revenue for the current fiscal year. “We’re up a little over $1 million compared to last fiscal year, so that’s great news. One contributing factor is that our collection rate is 83.6%. Kudos to our tax department and kudos to the citizens for paying their taxes.”
Carpenter noted that when the county prepares the annual budget, it projects these revenues very conservatively – not knowing if sales will hold, especially for motor vehicles.
“I think we’ll end the [current] fiscal year very favorably since we’re ahead of the game six months in.”
On General Fund revenue, the county is “sitting on $42.5 million, so we’re up $2.63 million overall,” said Carpenter, explaining that the increase is due in part to increased property tax collections. The other factor is due to a program called Medicaid Cost Settlement Revenue, which has brought in $1.27 million more than in the prior fiscal year. Carpenter summed this up as “positive news that revenues are indeed up.”
At a little over $29 million, expenditures are down slightly compared to Fiscal Year 2024 due to capital items such as vehicles purchased last year. “I would expect expenditures to catch back up by end of fiscal year,” said Carpenter.
Looking at the General Debt from Fiscal Year 2025 through 2045, “Our debt service payments are a little over $5 million. You’ll see in Fiscal Year 2026 we then jump to $9.5 million.”
Carpenter explained the reason for that increase is attributed to Franklin High School interest and principal debt payments coming due for the first time together.
Construction, health board updates
Cabe reported positive progress on the current Macon County Public Library renovations. The deteriorating support posts have been removed and stabilized with temporary bracing in place. With the construction far enough along to prevent conflicts, the county is now ready to start requesting bids to finish the roof.
Work on Franklin High School started “off with a bang,” according to Project Manager Jack Morgan, with the Macon County Planning Board. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the project partner. We’re moving along as scheduled, with no hold ups, no budget impacts.”
Joe King, project superintendent, reported student parking will be completed this summer; field, stadium, and component work by May 2026. The new campus is expected to be finished by April-May 2027. Caroll Daniel will then complete the demolition of the active campus with substantial turnover expected by April 2028.
The county commissioners closed the session with the selection of six Macon County Board of Health appointees. Two open positions for a qualified optometrist and pharmacist remain vacant due to a lack of applicants in the county.