Corbin, Pless secure $15 million for Haywood projects

BY JESSI STONE NEWS EDITOR

The North Carolina General Assembly passed an official budget last week that includes $850,000 for critical infrastructure projects in Swain County.

County Manager Kevin King recently told the board of commissioners that Rep. Mike Clampitt (RBryson City) helped advocate for the funding the county and Town of Bryson City will receive in the coming year.

King said the budget includes $50,000 to go toward improvements at Alarka Community Center; $250,000 for improvements to the county fairgrounds and $100,000 to replace the HVAC system at the county recreation center.

The town will be receiving $200,000 for new downtown street lighting and sidewalks; $200,000 toward the Island Park project and $12,000 for an ATV needed for the Island Park project. Island Park — a small island accessible by a pedestrian bridge along the Tuckasegee River in town — has been closed since 2019 when

some flooding events covered the island and caused a lot of debris to pile up. Erosion has been a major issue for the park and without intervention from the town, the community asset could eventually wash away. The funding from the state will help the town install better lighting on the island for patrolling and public safety in addition to shoring up the shorelines to prevent further erosion and creating more river access. “Thanks to strong conservative leadership and legislation in North Carolina over the past decade, there has been a large increase in revenue due to many businesses moving into North Carolina,” Clampitt said. “This budget reflects the positive impact conservative leadership has had in this state and the importance of not spending more than we bring in. North Rep. Mike Clampitt Carolinians all over the state will reap the benefits of this budget.”

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS FOR JACKSON COUNTY

• $25 million for Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee • $3 million for Sylva playground • $1 million for Southwestern Commission. • $500,000 for Southwestern Community College Fire Rescue training • $250,000 for Sylva public restrooms

Larry E. Bryson, former Chief Deputy Haywood County Sheriff's Office, announces that I INTEND TO BE A DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF IN HAYWOOD COUNTY IN THE UPCOMING 2022 ELECTION.

My career began in 1976 and I have worked for Sheriffs Jack Arrington, Tom Alexander and Bob Suttles.

During my 35 years of law enforcement experience in Haywood County, I have held the following positions:

• Detention Officer • Deputy Sheriff • Detective • Drug Agent • Chief of Detectives • Chief Deputy • Acting Sheriff I look forward to serving the people of Haywood County again. Larry E. Bryson

STAFF REPORTS

Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) and Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood) secured critical improvements for Haywood County in the compromise state budget approved by the state Senate on Nov. 17 and the state House on Nov. 18.

“I am very happy with the passage of this budget. We were able to get more in this budget than has ever been included for Western North Carolina,” Corbin said.

Senate Leader Phil Berger (RRockingham) said, “Sen. Corbin was instrumental in getting critical infrastructure and other projects approved for his district.”

The state budget sets in motion a 10-year, $16.1 billion cash infrastructure and capital plan. It also includes a sweeping tax cut that reduces the personal income tax rate to 3.99% over six years and increases the zero-tax bracket to $25,500 for married filers. It increases the child tax deduction by $500 per child and eliminates the state income tax on military pensions.

“This budget addresses so many needs in our community that I could not mention all of them. Two items in this budget are close to my heart. The first is the $15 million pilot to provide a supplemental cancer policy for eligible Firefighters diagnosed with cancer,” Pless said. “We found a way to take care of these heroes a little better. $460,000 for an Innovative Court pilot is another solution that will help provide a Judge and Assistant District Attorney to help with accountability and find ways to help address drug abuse charges in our community.”

Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) stated “The substantial funding for the 118th District in the budget was a result of Rep. Pless’s strong advocacy for his district.”

The state budget includes $100 million in recurring funds for a new state-funded teacher salary supplement for lower-wealth counties to help them recruit and retain highquality teachers. I am happy to announce that under the formula we constructed, all counties in this district are getting very significant and permanent pay supplements for our teachers. In Haywood County the recurring annual supplement is $971 per teacher. On top of this there are 5% raises for teachers, $2,800 bonuses using federal funds for most teachers, and step increases.

In addition to supporting the sweeping tax cut and infrastructure plan, Corbin and Pless successfully advocated for a $1.5 million grant to Bethel Middle School for repairs

Sen. Kevin Corbin Rep. Mark Pless

and renovation to the sports field, $200,000 grant to Haywood County Event Center for lighting and parking lot improvements, a $1.9 million grant for a new pedestrian walkway, $100,000 grant to the Town of Canton for Sorrell Street Park renovations, $1.2 million to the Town of Clyde for water and sewer repair and mitigation, over $9 million for the Town of Canton for water and sewer repair and mitigation, $1.5 million providing funds for dredging Lake Junaluska, $35,000 to Mountain Projects, Inc., and $143,776 for a local health department grant.

Total allocation for Haywood County $15,790,817.

State budget wins for rural communities

• Broadband: $15 million allocated for 25 rural community colleges, and about $1 billion in federal funding to expand broadband availability, and establish the Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) grants program, as well as funding of broadband mapping, a digital literacy campaign, and more.

• Health care: $4 million to incentivize providers to practice in rural regions through the Rural Health Loan

Assistance program; $5 million for the federal Small Rural Hospital

Improvement Program; and about $9 million for rural health infrastructure projects.

• Water/Wastewater: More than $1 billion in historic investments in water/wastewater grant programs thanks to federal American Rescue Plan

Act funds; the largest investment in water systems since the 1998 Clean

Water Bond.

• Small Business: $120.5 million in a second round of funding for the State

Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) (an initiative first established by the

Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and funded by the U.S. Department of the

Treasury that has since been managed by the NC Rural Center); a $5 million

Capacity Building grant program for

Community Development Financial

Institutions (CDFIs); and $3 million in nonrecurring funding in 2021-2022 and $2 million recurring in each fiscal year for the One North Carolina Small

Business Program.

• Housing: $170 million for the Workforce

Housing Loan Program, which assists with “gap financing” of the federal Low

Income Housing Tax Credit.