Brady Cody
Robbinsville – Graham County Manager Brady Cody said that Tuesday's special-called commissioner meeting was part of a "budget check-up."
Cody said he has recently been meeting with department heads to chat about any lingering problems.
"If there's an issue, we want to catch it early," Cody said. "We want to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayer."
During the meeting, the board specifically addressed a projected overage of $100,000-$150,000 for EMS. Concerns over medical bills at the detention center dominated the second half of the 40-minute discussion.
"Things happen," Cody continued. "We set the budget in March of last year, but when the real world happens … no budget's ever perfect."
Detention center
The Graham County Detention Center has been closed for months as part of a process to eradicate asbestos and lead-based paint that was detected inside the facility. The jail is on the bottom floor of the Graham County Courthouse, which opened in 1942. It is unclear when normal operations will resume.
Currently, inmates are booked and held until being transported to a regional detention center. Graham County is still on the hook for any costs associated with any of its inmates, however – including medical expenses that may be incurred while incarcerated. There were $115,000 in medical expenses during the 2023-24 fiscal year; $96,544 in 2024-25; and $81,000 in 2025-26.
Cody said a bill arrived over a month ago for around $54,000, which leaves just $22,000 for the line item. Documents obtained by The Graham Star show that $58,577.67 have been spent on medical supplies by the jail during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Sheriff Brad Hoxit was on-hand for the meeting and when tasked with ideas on how to produce more money for the line item, instead questioned why the county recently cut $65,548 from the jail's line item for meals. The recent amendment dropped the original budgeted appropriation from $96,875 to $31,327.
"With the inmates being out of the county and at other locations we can move money around, because they're not getting fed – but we're having to house at other locations," said Hoxit. "So if that money wasn't taken, we could've put that money toward the medical bills."
Cody replied by stating that since the jail is currently closed, the expense is actually revenue for the Graham County Senior Center – which provides the meals – so the money was simply moved as an interdepartmental transfer.
"It's one of the unique budget tools that we have to deal with," Cody explained. "That's something we were forced to do, just to keep the budget balanced."
Hoxit continued by stating there was "nowhere in the budget to cut anything," before asking county finance officer Stacy Carpenter to pull the numbers on how much funding had been pulled over the last two fiscal cycles.
Carpenter soon had the data: a $89,800 reduction at the detention center and $33,300 toward the sheriff's office itself.
Commission Chair Meggan Smith asked Hoxit for clarification on how many detention officers are required to work on-site, with Hoxit stating that the state-mandated minimum was two. Even with the jail itself non-operational, detention personnel must be available if a suspect is arrested and booked.
"It's a safety concern," Hoxit added.
Smith then asked Hoxit about booking inmates at the sheriff's office itself, with Hoxit explaining that there has to be a holding cell in place – which is only available at the jail.
Commissioner Natasha Williams followed by asking if a deputy could be utilized as a detention officer.
"Then you've got a deputy that can't answer calls," Hoxit answered. "Then you've got a deputy that would respond to calls, that would be going to a call by themselves. That's another safety concern.
"We're at bare minimum."
EMS
The entirety of EMS' overspending can be traced to one source: employee salaries.
While overtime is a given in the field – and even budgeted for – the need for additional overtime has led to the increase.
"Overtime in EMS is not easy to regulate. If it was, we wouldn't be talking about it," Cody astutely observed, while adding that he and EMS director Brian Stevens are formulating ideas on how to best curb the issue.
Cody noted that one method already used to save on expenses was the county re-purposing a vehicle previously allotted to the Graham County Department of Public Health for EMS use. Capital projects are also being paused, in order to keep a nest egg.
Smith said that commissioners have brainstormed the idea of presenting another ¼-cent sales tax referendum, which would specifically help offset EMS expenses. If approved at a board meeting, the referendum could appear on November's general election ballot.
"Raises haven't been given in a long time. I understand that. I've been in that position," said Smith, who is a FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner). "I worked in long-term healthcare for 10 years and got one raise, so I completely understand that it's very hard. It's hard to be motivated to continue and we're not as competitive (pay-wise) as other places.
"I'd say the people that work here do it because they love this county. I appreciate that very much."
Commission Vice Chairman Lynn Cody is also the Stecoah Fire and Rescue Chief. He praised the work of EMS, recalling how far the local call has come since he first began working in the field in 1983.
"I'm very proud of the EMS system that we have," Lynn said. "You don't know when somebody's going to get sick. There's days there's no calls, then there's days there's back-to-back (calls). You don't have enough people to go around to cover it.
"I've seen the budget start out one way, then it gets all out of whack. That's just due to the number of calls you get each year. It's one of those things that's hard to project and one of those things that you try to control, but it's one of those things that the public demands. You have to take that step and make sure the public is served – because if you don't, they're going to be calling you."
Commissioner Cody brought up the messy topic of EMS billing, relaying a personal story about a relative receiving a bill for EMS services, which stated the balance could be paid at the Graham County Tax Office. Upon arrival, the payment was turned away and asked to be sent to the third-party billing company instead, which is in South Carolina.
This spurned a discussion between Commissioner Cody and finance officer Stacy Carpenter over the process and the terms of the contract with the billing company. Manager Cody said the contract with the billing provider would be reviewed before the board's regularly-scheduled meeting Jan. 20.
Back on track?
Smith later summed up the end goal of the discussions, adding that there is a common goal in place.
"I've got a couple of years left, but my goal is to see Graham County grow,” Smith said. “I'd love to see progress. In order to do that, we have to be fiscally responsible with the money we have. I know it's been tough, but we've almost had to tough it out last year and this year in order to make a recovery. My goal would be for people to get raises, because that's how you grow, right? But in order to grow, we have to work together."
The meeting can be watched on The Star's YouTube channel.