Cherokee county

RALEIGH — Three Cherokee County commissioners who lost primary elections hope to leave the county with a $600,000 sales-tax hike as a parting gift. John Locke Foundation researchers question the…

Outgoing Cherokee County commissioners are asking voters to approve a $600,000 tax increase, an amount equivalent to a property tax increase of 1.5 cents per hundred dollars of value. County voters already rejected all three county commissioners who proposed the tax hike, but those lame-duck commissioners have since committed nearly $10 million to expand and renovate the courthouse.