Welcome to CityView Today! From unfunded mandates to an unused former parking lot, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners has some thorny problems to tackle.
If you’ve had business at the county courthouse, you’re likely already familiar with one of the problems—that unsightly empty lot outside the front door. It was a parking lot before it became the home of the new Crown Event Center before that project was called off in June. Now, commissioners are sorting out what’s next for the dirty lot.
And as the county builds its budget for the fiscal year that starts in July, it’s likely on the hook for $3 million thanks to the federal government. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” shifts a greater share of the administrative costs for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called SNAP or food stamps, to states and counties. Kirk deViere, chair of the Board of Commissioners, calls it an “unfunded mandate.”
Thanks for reading,
Matt Hennie
Editor-in-Chief
More from CityView
County Considers Options to Ease Parking Crunch It Created Near Courthouse
As county commissioners seek new development for the former Crown Event Center site, they want to turn it temporarily back into a parking lot.
New SNAP Requirements Could Stress County Budgets
Cumberland County is expected to see the state’s fourth-highest increase in administrative SNAP costs, almost $3 million.
Obituaries
Peter George Singletary Sr.
Peter George Singletary Sr. passed away on Thursday, February 19.
Gerald Williams
Gerald Williams, 62, passed away on Friday, March 6.
Shirley Mae Barefoot
Shirley Mae Barefoot, 88, passed away on Friday, March 6.
Until tomorrow!
📣 Let’s try this again: Kirk deViere, chair of the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, will deliver his State of the County address at 6 p.m. today. The event was pushed back a day thanks to the threat of severe weather. He’ll make his address from the courtroom of the old Historic Courthouse at 130 Gillespie St., which turned 100 on Sunday. Mayor Mitch Colvin delivered a State of the City address on March 10 and declared the “State of our city is strong.”
