Jackson budget focuses on school spending, savings and personnel

jacksonJackson County residents will avoid a tax hike for one more year, if commissioners choose to adopt the proposed budget for 2015-16.

Fire tax approved for southern Jackson County

cashiersMark Jones has never voted for a tax increase before, but the Jackson County Commissioner joined the rest of the board in favor of instituting a fire tax for the Cashiers and Highlands areas of the county last week.

Jackson to contract audit of permitting department

fr jacksonplanningJackson County Commissioners were upset to discover last week that no one’s been enforcing the county’s mountain and hillside development ordinance for more than two years.

No one enforcing mountain building rules in Jackson

fr steepslopeJackson County planning and code enforcement staff will be pouring through two years’ worth of building permits and retroactively inspecting certain projects after learning no one has been enforcing the county’s Mountain and Hillside Development ordinance for more than two years.

Jackson pursuing staff attorney hire

Commissioners in Jackson County are moving forward with a plan to scrap their policy of contracting legal services with a private attorney in favor of hiring a full-time staff attorney. At a recent work session, they gave County Manager Chuck Wooten the go-ahead to advertise the position and include more than $100,000 in salary, benefits and associated expenses in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2015-16.

Jackson gears up to replace planning position

fr geraldgreenThe business end of Jackson County Planner Gerald Green’s departure — who will be in charge of finding a replacement, what the timeline might be — was a necessary topic of discussion at last week’s county commissioner meeting, but commissioners prefaced the logistics with a unified lament over his leaving.

Sylva budget haggling concludes

sylvaA stalemate over whether to raise property taxes in Sylva ended last week with the majority of town board members opting to take money out of the town’s reserve fund to cover a $140,000 projected shortfall in next year’s budget.

Jackson schools might expand drug testing

drugsA bigger number of Jackson County students could be subject to random drug testing if a proposed policy change being considered by the school board gets approved.

Jackson’s planning director departs after a short but good run

fr geraldgreenIn a mere four years, Jackson County Planner Gerald Green has wrestled with just about every controversial land-use issue you could possibly come across in the mountains.

Jackson County comes up short on $4.8 million ask from school district

schoolsLeaking roofs, technology needs and impending state cuts prompted Jackson County Schools to put out a hefty ask to the county at the beginning of its budget talks, but it’s looking like the school system will wind up with only about half of the original $4.8 million in new funding it asked for.

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