Heated Debate At Waynesville Finance Meeting

Waynesville could be dissolved if they don’t come up with more money, some city leaders said.

That claim and the suggested solution to raise it through an income tax were at the center of a heated meeting held on Thursday.

With heated exchanges and crowds out the door, it is a good bet that any other finance committee meeting for the Village of Waynesville would not create such a ruckus, but a proposed income tax is getting folks fired up.

“To make a permanent tax for a temporary problem, that’s not fiscally responsible,” Ed Backa, a Waynesville resident, said.

Waynesville is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and needs to make it up somehow, or the village’s government will be dissolved, state auditors said.

Some council members believe a one percent income tax increase is the way to make up that deficit.

“This is the very final resort we have,” council member Joette Hightower said.

The police department, which is down to two officers, and the street maintenance department have already seen budget cuts, but more cuts could be in line, Mayor Earl Isaacs said.

Isaacs even suggested eliminating high-salary positions.

”You can’t just keep going after the money of the people,” Isaacs said. “They get tired of that.”

Council did not make any decisions at the meeting.