Graham’s city council, which has eyed a 3-cent property tax increase all spring, ended up being divided over the final budget with that level of taxation, narrowly passing the city manager’s recommended budget on a 3-2 vote.
Voting in favor were city council members Bobby Chin, Ricky Hall, and Bonnie Whitaker. Opposed were mayor Chelsea Dickey and councilman Jim Young.
Neither Dickey nor Young had previously voiced their opposition to the budget, or its tax increase, although in an interview after the meeting, Young said he had told city manager Megan Garner that he would not be able to support the increase…