HICKORY, N.C. — A $3.2 million settlement for a wrongly convicted man and a looming bill in the millions to fix a massive sink hole has the city of Hickory in a tight spot.
Mayor Rudy Wright said Thursday they will not be raising taxes, but some future projects in Hickory may have to be postponed.
It has been an expensive summer for taxpayers in Hickory.
It will cost nearly $2 million to fix a massive sinkhole along U.S. Highway 70 in Hickory, and there is the multi-million settlement with Willie Grimes, who spent more than two decades behind bars for a rape he did not commit.
"I regret that he was incarcerated all of those years," Wright said.
Insurance will pay roughly $1 million of the Grimes settlement but the city must come up with the rest. Channel 9 learned ;projects along Highway 127 North and an area of downtown will be delayed, but the mayor said taxes won't go up, services won't be cut and employees will get raises next year.
"We are able to withstand this without a tax increase," Wright said. "I can insure folks, if at some future date, if we have a tax increase, we're not going to blame it on the settlement or the sinkhole."
Residents outside city hall Thursday in Hickory supported the decision to settle with Grimes.
"I think it is a blessing that they can repay him, but they can't repay him what he lost," resident Rosa Craig said.
Still ahead for Hickory is another lawsuit filed just this week, where a woman claimed police used excessive force during an arrest in 2013.
Police would not comment on the case, but the mayor said Hickory is as strong financially as any city in the state.
"I don't mean to sound like we have money just laying around to burn," Wright said. "We don't. This is economic recovery, slash, rainy day money."
The mayor said the $40 million bond referendum passed by voters will not be impacted.
That money is to build a river and city walk along with an advanced manufacturing park.
Cox Media Group
