As the private sector is laying off people and foreclosing on property, Haywood County entered into a contract to purchase the old WalMart site outside Clyde. They agreed to pay $6.6 million, which is considered a very good deal for graded land. The county didn’t actually have the money, but it is relying on money from the federal deficit to pay for it. They have applied for a USDA Rural Development loan, from an ARRA program, which will be repayable in $250,000 annual installments for the next forty years.

The commissioners haven’t even hired an architect to find out how much it will cost them to build a new center for its health and social services departments. They may spend $12.5 million total. The expanded center is needed because the county’s social services department is currently under a corrective action plan due to sustained deficiencies, one of which pertained to inadequate facilities. The state can retain for itself state and federal allocations to counties that do not remediate deficiencies. The penalty for Haywood County could total 65% of its social services budget.