How should Swain County’s leaders spend money from the North Shore Road settlement? That’s the question the Smoky Mountain News posed in a random poll last Friday conducted in front of the Bryson City post office. More than 120 people came by the booth to share their opinion. Each person got 10 pennies to plunk in jars according to how they’d like to see the money spent.

People could divvy up their pennies between jars, or dump them all in one. Or, they could write their own ideas on a slip of paper and dedicate their pennies to a jar labeled “other.”

Assuming the county gets the full $52 million it’s asking for, it could reap between $2.5 and $4 million a year depending on interest rates. County commissioners will ultimately decide how that interest is spent each year. (The principle won’t be touched.)

Teacher salaries • Pennies: 203

Teacher salaries were the top winner. Several voters dumped all 10 of their pennies in this jar. The overwhelming support for teacher salaries was widespread, with the majority sparing at least a penny or two, if not more, for this cause.

Teacher salaries were so important to one man, he went home and came back with seven rolls of pennies, begging to have them all placed in the jar for teacher’s salaries. When it was explained that each person was allowed only 10 pennies, which were provided, he insisted those conducting the poll keep them anyway as a sign of his support for teachers.

Teachers in Swain County are at the bottom of the totem pole compared to other counties. Swain is one of the few that doesn’t offer a local supplement to augment the base teacher’s salary paid by the state.

Carol Kievet is among the many who think Swain teachers deserve a supplement. “Really, that job is the most important one after a mother,” said Kievit.

When the school board announced recently it would budget a $400 Christmas bonus for teachers this year, Kievit thought the amount was insulting. For many, it highlighted an under-commitment to teachers on the part of the school board and county.

“I’m the general manager of Arby’s, and I make more than they do,” said Crystal McCoy after parceling most of her pennies into this jar.

If a large chunk of settlement money was spent on teachers, Swain could have the highest salaries in the state, attracting the best of the best to its school system.

Lower property taxes • Pennies: 159

Lower property taxes were a strong second in the poll. This jar also had such adamant supporters that it claimed all 10 pennies for some. After all, it means money in people’s pocket. It’s the closest option to simply dividing the road proceeds among the citizens. While the jar racked up lots of pennies, it didn’t have the broad base of support witnessed for teacher salaries or law enforcement. It has a down side. Plowing interest from the settlement into basic county operations may lower property taxes, but you have nothing to show for it and over time, the money gets absorbed in the budget and the tax rate starts creeping back up anyway.

But it sounded good to Bud Watkins, who lives on a scant fifth-acre lot and struggles to scrape together $400 a year for his property taxes. Thanks to rising property values, it’s four times his tax bill just eight years ago, he said.

Despite the popularity of this jar, Swain County actually has pretty low property taxes compared to other counties — 33 cents per $100 in property value. However, the low rate helps many Swain citizens who live in poverty or on fixed incomes.

Law enforcement • Pennies: 117

This jar got a steady trickle from all walks who seemed willing to dedicate a few of their pennies here. Not enough funding for the sheriff’s office has been a long-standing complaint in the county, but especially in the past two years when Swain commissioners reduced payments to the sheriff’s office. That decision made Swain’s sheriff among the lowest paid in the state.

Those with friends and family in law enforcement, or in law enforcement themselves, threw even more of their pennies here.

“I’m sure they could use more pay, and more officers on the road,” said Dale Spence, a retired police officer from Colorado.

The tragic death of Highway Patrol Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. still fresh on people’s minds could have influenced this jar as well.

School construction • Pennies: 102

School construction fared well, but didn’t exactly elicit passionate responses. “Well, we need schools, I guess,” was the comment from one person who dutifully tossed a couple of their precious pennies in this jar. Since there wasn’t a jar simply labeled education — an obligation that falls mostly to the state for funding — some saw this jar as the next best thing to “supporting the children.”

Swain has long-range plans to build a new middle school and convert the existing middle school into a third elementary school.

Recreation • Pennies: 76

This jar drew support from a cross section of parents, outdoorsy-types and retirees. The ideas under the category of recreation are limitless, and each person likely conjured a different idea of what it meant to them. It could be a greenway, soccer fields or boat put-ins.

For Bonnie Evans, it was a public recreation center with an indoor pool, walking track, and exercise equipment, “like the one in Waynesville,” she said.

Recreation did claim all 10 pennies from one person however: a kid helping her mother decide where to put the pennies hoping for a new playground.

Tourism promotion • Pennies: 36

This jar got by on drips and drabs, with few offering more than a penny or two. A popular argument for building the road was boosting Swain’s tourism profile, but interestingly enough, a number of people went out of their way to say this isn’t where they wanted the money to go.

“It ought to be spent on the local people, not tourists. They spend everything on tourists,” said Elmer Willis. “I’ve lived in Swain County all my life, and I have never gotten no good from tourists.”

Grant fund • Pennies: 35

Here’s a way to spread the wealth around. Create a pool of money and let organizations and non-profits apply for mini-grants. Grants could run the gamut: providing rides for senior citizens, installing benches on Everett Street, setting up a domestic violence help line, after-school tutoring or anything one could imagine. People either didn’t like it, or didn’t understand the concept.

Water and sewer • Pennies: 28

This could be expansion of water and sewer lines, increasing plant capacity or system maintenance. It’s one of those things that governments do, but apparently few people were excited about it.

Heritage Center • Pennies: 8

Few voted for this one, but maybe it’s because they didn’t understand it. For years, it’s been lamented that there is no interpretive site to commemorate the history of North Shore communities — those flooded by the lake and evacuated to make way for the National Park.

A heritage center could tell the stories of the people and places from that area and honor what was lost. The National Park Service floated the idea of a heritage center in the Park at the end of the Road to Nowhere, complete with a picnic area and campground. Many think this should be the park service’s obligation, but it could be a long wait until the National Park coughs up money to do it, if ever.

Those who paused to ask “Heritage Center? What’s that?” usually tossed a penny in the jar once they heard.