As difficult as it is to balance government budgets these days, Haywood County is being sued for at least $2 million in damages. The general contractor in charge of courthouse renovations filed the motion which, in addition, requests arbitration to settle outstanding differences of opinion and that the county pay attorney fees. The renovations were only supposed to cost $8.5 million.

The City of Asheville expects to receive $509,460 for homelessness programs by way of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Now, it has to figure out where to stash the loot. It is soliciting pre-applications from potential subgrantees.

The John Locke Foundation gave Asheville and Buncombe County B grades in transparency. There is, however, a great deal of difference in the way the two bodies handle information. Asheville publishes hundreds of pages of staff reports with each formal meeting agenda, which often runs three pages long. Buncombe County publishes about a paragraph of information on most agenda items. Numerous items pass by way of an unquestioned consent agenda in the county. Asheville had a bound copy of its proposed budget in circulation when Buncombe County didn’t even have its budget online. City council meetings run until the cows come home, but Buncombe County meetings only last about an hour.

The Fed will print $460,000 and loan it to the US government with interest just to spiff up Park-&-Rides in Western North Carolina. Whereas people have been parking informally, they will soon be able to park in spaces that are actually striped. They will also be able to wait for their rides in a shelter rather than inside their cars. Saith the Smoky Mountian News:

According to commuter patterns, taking on such a project made perfect sense.

The national debt is only $11,550,065,874,018.16 and counting.

Mills River managed to pass its budget maintaining its 1-cent property tax rate. Keeping taxes low is Mayor Roger Snyder’s idea of a sound economic development policy. Citizens of Mills River also pay a 6.5-cent fire tax. The city provides four “core” services from the list from which the state requires municipalities to provide at least two. One of these is town-wide zoning. In addition, the town intends to build a library and a town hall. It also intends to undertake master planning.

These photos show the special parking at the new Best Buy store in Waynesville, NC.  No one was parking in these spots, it is WNC where snow is common in the winter and a lot of folks need four wheel drive to get around on mountain roads, so do these spots create any value?

This is an interesting article from Transylvania County:

Commissioner Daryle Hogsed was the lone dissenting voice on Monday, voting against adopting the $44.5 million county budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The county budget includes an addition of 19 people for the detention facility and one telecommunicator and one maintenance position. The cost of these additional personnel and other costs associated with the new facility is $953,346.

And obey your nanny government. The Agricultural Extension wants to educate you. It is telling you to drink fluids if you encounter potentially dehydrating situations.

Americans for Prosperity doesn’t want you eating your raw tofu in the dark. Instead, they would like you to educate and reach out to government. The state legislature doesn’t know it is spending too much. As you know, they want to raise taxes on everything except attorneys and loopholes. In particular, legislators appear to correlate raising the utility tax on homeowners and small businesses from 3% to 6.75% with some kind of economic development. Cliquez ici pour instruire votre chefs.

This is from the Waynesville Mountaineer:

In a scene crafted from an old tent revival mixed with PowerPoint salesmanship and a heaping helping of “throw the bums out” populism, about 200 people from around Western North Carolina met in Canton Friday night to take on civic complacency.

The gathering took place at Canton’s historic Colonial Theatre, an aptly-named setting for the meeting that featured plenty of patriotism, from sing-a-longs of “God Bless America” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag” to a speech by a Thomas Payne impersonator. It was a meeting organized by a group called the Haywood County 9/12 Project. The group’s aim is to encourage more civic participation through planning, community organizing and discussion.

“I’d like to propose that this is our time to defend America and the Constitution,” said Lynda Bennett in her opening remarks at the Friday meeting. “I want you to stand up next to me to defend the Constitution. Let’s get started.”