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Volume 125 ¢ Issue 23 » Wednesday, June 5, 2013 ¢ 75¢
2013 Graduation
Section .. ice
No property tax increase proposed for 2013-14
«+ ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
No property tax increase
is proposed in the $7.4 bil-
lion 2013-2014 county
budget prepared by Interim
County Manager David
Dear.
The current county prop-
erty tax rate is 57 cents per
$100 valuation. The tax rate
Leaders
tout
growth
+ DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Cleveland County’s
economy is barreling ahead
on the strength of new indus-
try and business develop-
ment incentives. Meanwhile,
taxpayers are getting a lot of
bang for their buck from ro-
bust and efficient utilities
services to award-winning
schools that boast high test
scores and smaller-than-av-
erage class sizes.
That was the message as
Kings- Mountain and county
leaders gathered last week at
the annual State of the Com-
munity, sponsored in part by
the Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce.
Two dozen grants — from
public and private sources —
drove hiring at businesses
ranging from Steag Energy
(40 jobs) to AT&T (43 jobs)
and Solaris Industries (32
jobs), said Mayor Rick Mur-
phrey in the address to local
leaders and members of the
public. All told, money from
the N.C. Rural Economic
Development Center, City
Industrial Incentive and
Community Development
Block Grants helped create
510 jobs — or in some cases,
slots for future jobs — across
a handful of industries, in-
cluding manufacturing, serv-
ice and textiles, Murphrey
said.
Many schools within the
Cleveland County School
System are fast becoming
model schools that are the
envy of other districts, ac-
cording to Superintendent
Dr. Bruce Boyles. Class
sizes are below the North
Carolina average in all
grades, and administrators,
have been able to reduce the
dropout rate by 50 percent in
the past five years, Boyles
said.
Two schools in the dis-
trict scored in the top ten
percent statewide, and eight
scored in the top 25 percent
in tests administered by the
See ECONOMY, 6A
98525700200
for the county-wide school
district will remain at 15
cents. The early payment dis-
count for taxpayers who pay
during the month of August
will remain at the current dis-
count rate of one half of 1%.
Nothing is passed — and
won't be until after the public
hearing June 18 at 6 p.m. at
the Charles F. Harry Admin-
istrative Building in Shelby.
County commissioners con-
tinued their discussion of the
budget at Tuesday night’s
meeting and heard recom-
mendations from the county
manager and Finance Direc-
tor Chris Cripps on future
property revaluation.
The proposed budget in-
cludes an increase in tipping
fees of $44.65 per ton and
household fees by $12 a year.
Household fees have not
been increased in 20 years.
It has been several years
since county employees re-
ceived a pay increase. The
proposed budget includes a
2% cost of living adjustment
for all permanent fulltime
employees. Set hourly rates
will also rise by 2 percent.
Dear said that beginning
last year the county provided
up the curtain on “Flemming, an American
Thriller” by Sam Bobrick and directed by
Georgianna Wright, Friday night at 7:30
p,m. at Joy Performance Center.
The play, a spoof of the film noir
thrillers from the 1940s and 50s, will also
be presented this weekend- on Saturday at
7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. and next
weekend, June 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Bored by his privileged, but mundane
life, Henry Flemming (Frank Lattimore)
sells his lucrative brokerage firm to be-
come a detective. On his very first case
and to the horror of his wife, Karen (Brid-
“Flemming” to take the stage —
Frank Lattimore, left, as Henry and Bridget Allen, as Karen, have the lead roles in the
KMLT’s “Flemming,” opening Friday night at the Joy.
Kings Mountain Little Theatre will ring .
photo by LIB STEWART
get Allen), and his two crazy neighbors
Suzy and Stan (Dawn Rickus and Sean
Whitworth), the Flemming living room be-
gins to fill up with dead bodies. One of
them turns out to be Karen’s father, Warren
Larsen (David Allen). Ryan Dever is the
plainclothes cop Lt. Davis, Carolina Allen
is Miss Havenhurst, a sweet young thing
who’s had a tough life; and Jeff Cooper
plays Vito Mardigan, a tough, threatening
hoodlum. Even though Henry keeps show-
ing up at home every day more disheveled
and beaten up, he couldn’t be happier.
Henry is-convinced he’s found his life’s
See KMLT, 3A
Bethware Fair set for June 25-29
The Bethware Progressive Club is cur-
rently planning its largest fundraising event
of the year, the 65th annual Bethware Fair.
This year’s Fair runs nightly from 6 -10
p.m. June 25-27, and from 6-11 p.m. June
‘28-29. Admission is free and all festivities
are held in the track-field area adjacent to
Bethware Elementary School in Kings
Mountain.
“Since 1948, the Bethware Fair has
served as a wonderful opportunity to bring
the community together for a great cause,”
said Bethware Elementary School Principal
Jennifer Wampler. “Initially, the event started
out as a major fundraiser for the school and
primarily served the Bethware community.
Over the years, the appeal of the fair has
grown to include Cleveland County and be-.
yond, and now it is something that people of
all ages look forward to attending.”
While the annual fair always features
rides, booths and food, Progressive Club
members will debut several new attractions
during this year’s festivities. Bingo will be
held every night in the school’s auditorium,
texting competitions will be featured each
evening, a display of RV campers will also
be available for public viewing each night.
Themed ‘car shows’ will give auto enthusi-
asts a unique opportunity to enjoy new cars,
motorcycles, trucks, and 4-wheel drive vehi-
cles, rat rods, and of course, classic cars.
For many years, animals and agriculture
Rylie Carroll is the reigning Bethware Fair
Queen and will kick off the 2013 Bethware
Fair with an appearance on June 25.
have played an important role at the fair, but
this year officials have decided to have no
live animals on the premises. Instead, stu-
dents will participate in a unique “barnyard
See BETHWARE FAIR, 3A
employees with a Health
Savings Account as the only
health insurance plan option.
He said health insurance
costs have been controlled
over the past several years
due primarily to the savings
in the HAS plan. For next
year, he is projecting that
premiums paid by the county
on behalf of employees will
rise by 8 percent with no in-
crease in dental premiums.
The budget reflects that
per pupil funding in the
Cleveland County School
System will remain the same
at $1,763.38. The current ex-
pense allocation will be re-
duced by $558,643 due to the
projected decrease in the
number of students. The
See NO INCREASE, 6A
According to officials...
Petting zoos
can, and do,
occur safely
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Petting zoos or animal
contact exhibits have not
been banned from the Cleve-
land County Fair but Fair
Manager Calvin Hastings
says petting zoos may be ab-
sent “because of time con-
straints” at the 2013 Fair
when it opens Sept. 26 for an
11-day run at the Fair-
grounds.
Bethware Fair officials
will not include live animals
in exhibits at the community
fair later this month, on the
grounds of Bethware School
in Kings Mountain.
Hastings said he has been
waiting to solicit applica-
tions from petting zoos until
safety findings were released
by a 17-member Cleveland
County Fair Study Commis-
sion looking at fair safety.
“I do foresee future pet-
ting zoos at the fair for kids
to enjoy but maybe not this
year,” he added.
Hastings said the Cleve-
land County Fair Associa-
tion will implement all the
recommendations released
Monday to make the 89-
year-old agricultural fair
safer for patrons in 2013. He
said that implementing the
See PETTING Z00S, 6A
Will revaluation
be pushed back?
The subject of property
revaluation was on the table
for discussion at Tuesday
night’s county commission
meeting in Shelby.
Chairman Ronnie
Hawkins said the county is
still within the eight-year pe-
riod required by law for
revaluation. State law re-
quires local property revalu-
ation to be examined at least
every eight years. The last
county revaluation was in
2008 and the next one was
scheduled in 2012.
However, due to an un-
stable housing market, it was
put off until 2014.
If the commissioners
change the date, revaluation
will be in 2016.
Also at Tuesday’s regular
meeting the board was ex-
pected to honor the public
service of Rep. Tim Moore
of Kings Mountain with a
resolution of appreciation.
ABC Board to hold
budget hearing
Public hearing on the
Kings Mountain ABC
Board’s proposed 2013-
2014 budget of $1,278,700
will be held Monday, June
24, at the Kings Mountain
ABC Store, 220 Cleveland
Avenue. The meeting is
open to the public and a
copy of the proposed
budget is available for in-
spection in the office of the
board’s general manager
Aileen Ormand at 220
Cleveland Avenue in Kings
Mountain.
Ormand said the ABC
Board submitted the pro-
posed budget May 28. The
new fiscal year budget. in-
cludes a modest increase in
operating expenses.
Members of the Kings
Mountain ABC Board are
Mark Hullender, chairman;
David Faunce, secretary;
Sandra Murphrey, Ragan
Harper and Ralph Grind-
staff. ;
The KM ABC Store em-
ploys six people.
“We hope to have a good
year coming up in 2013-
2014,” Ormand said. -
3
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