The City of Gastonia just received one of the biggest checks from a company in its history. They were paid $20 million upfront by CaroMont Heath for the right to use the County-owned CaroMont Regional Medical Center and the land it sits on in Gastonia for the next 40 years.
This week a new committee will meet for the first time to discuss how the massive influx of funds will be spent.
Most of the committee members have already been throwing around ideas about how to use it to make even more money for the city and county. Gaston County Commissioner Jason Williams wants to use the money to fund projects that promote economic development, education, and quality of life in our region.
The commission also includes Robert Browne, vice president of Beam Construction in Cherryville; Jenny Holder, branch manager of Fidelity Bank in Gastonia; Bernardo Porter, pastor of Peculiar Generation Ministries in Gastonia; and Greg Botner, president and CEO of Wilbert Plastic Services in Belmont.
Some of these committee members are leaning toward investing most of the money, rather than spending it on new initiatives. They argue that investing it and receiving interest can help decrease taxes in the long run for all residents. $15 million or more of the money into some type of investment that gets the county the best interest rate possible.
How do you think the money should be spent?
Please share;
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