The Macon County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on March 11. In opening statements, Commissioner Barry Breeden followed up on public comments from the Feb. 11 meeting on concerns the county was contemplating leaving the Fontana Regional Library (FRL) contract. Breeden stated unequivocally, “I am not interested in pulling out of FRL. I think we signed that contract for 10 years. I was not on the board when we did that … but I just want to let everybody know that I do support [the existing contract].”
Commissioners voted to appoint Bill McGaha to the Fontana Regional Library Board and Kathy Smith and Vivian Hney to the Macon County Library Board of Trustees.
Seniors taking action
Commissioner Gary Shields announced the federal government was no longer planning to close the Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Franklin under a proposal by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). After reading from an email sent by State Senator Kevin Corbin regarding resolution of the problem, Shields thanked the State and Congressional delegations and the Southwestern Commission, which had swung into action and had the decision reversed.
During the public comments section, Shields called upon Pat Hedrik, who is serving as Macon County’s delegate to the Senior Tar Heel Legislature, to provide an overview of her recent lobbying in Raleigh. Hedrik explained that her role was to advocate for issues affecting senior citizens being considered by the North Carolina General Assembly. Hedrik was able to leverage her position to interface with Corbin and State Representative Karl Gillespie as word of the potential closure of the SSA office began hitting media outlets in early March and explain how the closure would affect citizens in Western North Carolina. They, in turn, worked with Congressman Chuck Edwards, Senator Ted Budd, and Senator Thom Tillis to lobby for the SSA office to remain open.
Turning back to state business, Hedrik explained that the Senior Tar Heel Legislature had just met in Raleigh during the first week of March.
“What an honor. We actually got to be in the Capitol for our meeting,” said Hedrik. “We meet three times a year, there in Raleigh, and of course we have lots of Zoom calls… We have eight goals this year.”
Among the topics of concern for the Senior Tar Heels were the need for more ombudsmen to address complaints at long-term care facilities. While Macon County does not have the same level of issues, Hedrik said many facilities had received complaints across the state.
“As we all know, the senior population is increasing, it’s getting bigger and bigger, and we don’t have space for folks, and [with] the Medicaid expansion, we’re hoping nothing happens there that’s going to affect our folks because a lot of those recipients are Medicaid recipients, so if something should happen there, where are they going to go?” asked Hedrik.
“I was very blessed to be able to be with Senator Corbin, Karl Gillespie, Mike Clampitt, and Mark Pless… It’s just a real honor to serve the senior citizens of this county…We’re really interested in having a new Senior Services building,” added Hedrik, who said seniors had outgrown Macon County’s current space and were less able to access it with the addition of roundabouts on Wayah Street.
During the session, commissioners called upon Jennifer Hollifield, who oversees Senior Services for Macon County, to celebrate the work of volunteers at the Crawford Senior Center.
“We have some of the most dedicated volunteers around,” said Hollifield. She described the various services provided by 120 volunteers who donated more than 5,500 hours to seniors in 2024. The commissioners declared April 20-26 as Macon County Volunteer Week and thanked the work of the many volunteers supporting the Crawford Senior Center.
Interim County Manager Warren Cabe, Commissioner Shields, and Commissioner Danny Antoine then called upon Reesa Boyce, the Center’s 91-year-old part-time Community Social Services Assistant, to recognize her extraordinary contributions to the county since 2014. Proving that age is no barrier, Boyce spoke about her work at the center.
“More and more of us are living into our 80s, 90s, and 100s, and I’m delighted and thrilled to represent the many talented, skilled, and creative elders among us,” said Boyce. “The Senior Center gives folks a home, a place, a purpose where we can enjoy each other. If you are lucky to grow old, it will be crucial to your well-being to have the resource and community support that the senior center provides.”
Capital improvement plan within bounds of fiscal policies
In the second part of the 2025-2026 budget season review, Financial Advisor Mitch Brigulio provided commissioners with a condensed rundown of Macon County’s Capital Improvement Plan and adherence to fiscal policies.
Among the highlights on the county’s credit rating, Brigulio reported: “As a municipality you are rated by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s at Aa2 and AA. The highest score is AAA. You are two steps away from the highest possible score. There are two areas you can control in the upcoming budget process: financial performance and the amount of debt you have outstanding.”
He added, in regard to overall trends in the General Fund Financial Performance, “You had another good year…Your operating revenues have exceeded operating expenditures.
In charts presented to the commissioners, Brigulio noted, “The county has consistently added to unassigned and total fund balance over the last six years. From FY 2022 to FY 2024, the Total Fund Balance increased by approximately $25.7 million, from $29.3 million to $55 million.”
He said the use of funds has been strategic and in line with existing county policies to keep the Unassigned General Fund Balance within less than 30% of expenditures, which helped account for the consistently high credit ratings.
Turning to the county’s debt profile, Brigulio said that things had changed since, due to the Franklin High School bonds. However, Brigulio continued, “Taken as a whole, these policies suggest that as you consider what projects you want to fund, you have debt capacity. [You can] use debt as a tool. It doesn’t mean it’s affordable. It doesn’t mean you have the cash flow to pay for it, but from debt ratio and policy, you have capacity,” to look at potential new capital improvement projects.
Brigulio provided a number of options and scenarios to help commissioners look at how they could potentially tap federal and state grants to work on longer-term projects as they sort through 2025-2026 budget priorities in the coming months.
Finally, in 5-0 vote, commissioners approved the contract for Warren Cabe to serve as the new county manager. Abby Braswell was re-appointed as the county’s tax assessor for a new five-year term.