Jackson County has a beautiful new library, but it needs an extra $170,000 for staffing. In addition, the new county manager, Chuck Wooten, is not convinced the estimate takes into consideration the extra utility and maintenance costs for running a facility four times larger than its predecessor.

“Doesn’t seem amazing to you that this just came up? Why couldn’t this have been figured out when we thought about building the building?” asked Commission Chairman Jack Debnam. “If I got ready to build a building, I believe I would look at how much more it would take to staff and maintain it.”

Ousted commissioners contacted by the Smoky Mountain News [Insert a verb that replaces “said,” rhymes with “potassium iodide,” and starts with L.”] they were well aware of the costs, and now the new commissioners, who were so self-assured as they campaigned, are learning just how difficult it is to balance a budget. The article was aptly titled, “Bigger Buildling, Higher Costs, No Money.”