Join Aaron Keck every Tuesday afternoon for Chatham County Roundup, a recurring series that shines the spotlight on Chatham County through engaging discussions and interviews with locals, newsmakers, officials and more. 

This week on Chatham County Roundup, join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Chatham County Commissioner Karen Howard, where they discuss outreach plans for the 2020 census and current plans for Chatham County’s budget.

“We do have a potential additional tax on the March 3rd referendum,” said Howard, “And that would be a quarter cent sales tax, which would really just get us where a lot of the surrounding counties are with their sales tax, and that would help us meet a lot of our obligations with regard to school infrastructure. But also we are looking at some growth needs. So you know, these are the growing pains of a county like Chatham that’s been largely rural and quickly becoming more heavily residential.”

Among the issues currently being worked through in terms of budget and planning are school infrastructure and staffing, preservation of natural land and resources, affordable housing and more.

“We are looking at how we can start setting aside land, potentially for some preservation of land, and we have a significant challenge with affordable housing. So [the question is] how could we meet some of the affordable housing needs without putting an additional financial burden on the citizens that are already there.”

Listen below for the full conversation, including details on the implementation of the 2020 census, upcoming events and initiatives in Chatham, and more.

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