2025-26 Annual Budget

On June 9 at 6:45 p.m., the Town Council held a public hearing on the proposed 2025-26 budget. At the 7 p.m. meeting, the Town Council approved the budget. You may view it here.

The tax rate for the 25-26 year will remain at 22 cents on the hundred.

The Town expects to take in a little over $50,000 in property taxes in 25-26.

The State will give the Town $16,000 in 25-26 to maintain town streets (Martin, Depot, Church, Cherry, W. Main, and N. Lee).

The Town has received a grant from the State of NC for approximately $150,000 to do an in depth study on the sewer system and future planning for it.

The largest expense in the budget is the sewer study that is paid in large part by a State grant.

June 9, 2025 Regular Meeting Agenda

Monday, June 9, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.

Lattimore Town Hall | 120 Cherry Street, Lattimore, NC 

Welcome and call to order by Mayor Alton Beal

Recognition of Public Officials and Honored Guests in Attendance

Determination of a Quorum

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

AGENDA 

I. Approval of Agenda

• Motion to adopt the proposed agenda (Only emergency items may be added to the agenda with the approval of the Mayor and Town Council) 

II. Public Comments (Must sign up before the meeting. Limited to 3 minutes.)

III. Approval of the Minutes for the May 12, 2025 Meeting

IV. Approval of the 2025/2026 Fiscal Year Budget

V. Boiling Springs/Lattimore Merger Regionalization Feasibility Study (Request for Additional Funding)

• Partnership Acknowledgement & Participation Letter

VI. Lattimore Fire Service District Resolution

VII. Budget/Financial Reports

VIII. Budget Amendment for Fiscal Year 24/25

 IX. July 4th Celebration

 X. Adjournment

The History of Lattimore School

The history of Lattimore school dates back to 1880.  Classes were held in a one room log building called the Durham School.  Mr. Will Gidney taught children of all ages in this one room school.  There was a large fireplace on one side where logs were burned to furnish heat during the summer months.

The first school, after the town was named Lattimore in 1895, was housed in one of the buildings discarded by a railroad camp.  It was also a one room school building and only one teacher was employed.  This was a subscription school with pupils paying a tuition to attend the three or four month term.  Mrs. John Carlton and Miss Estelle Purcell were two of the first teachers.

Later, a two room structure was built.   Ten years later, two more rooms were added, thus making a two story building.

During the early 1900’s the enrollment increased and a staff of several teachers and a principal were paid by local and county funds.  Some of the men who served as principal were Chivous M. McSwain, B.H. Bridges, Captain W.T.R. Bell, and Bunyan Harrill.

In 1921, this building housed one hundred and forty students and four teachers.  The parents believed the building to be unsafe due to the way it was constructed.  They decided to build a brick building and extend the term from seven to eight months.  This was done by voting a special tax upon themselves.

In the summer of 1923, the building was completed.  The community was proud of the new brick, three-story building with sixteen classrooms, an auditorium, and a science laboratory.  This was an accredited high school and in 1924, four girls were its first graduates.  Mr. Lawton Blanton was principal and served two different terms for a total of fifteen years.  During his first term, Lattimore High School was recognized as having a superior program, and many out of district students attended; some boarding in the community and others driving in.  The county began to operate buses in 1926.

By 1928, this school was consolidated with all of three and half of two other school districts, namely Double Springs, Cabaniss, Pleasant Ridge, Padgett, and Rehobeth.

Federal funds helped finance the building of a gymnasium and agriculture department in 1930.  Enrollment continued to increase and more space was needed.  In 1936, with the help of Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, a separate building for the high school was constructed on a site close by.  This building had ten classrooms and an auditorium.  WPA funds paid the cost of grading the playground.  For twenty-five years, two buildings were used; one for the elementary grades and one for the high school.

In 1945, Mr. Chivous Padgett became principal.  During this time, many changes occurred in the organization, enrollment, and facilities of Lattimore School.  In 1946, Zion (a small primary school) was moved to Lattimore.  In 1953, a Home Economics room and a new gymnasium were added to the school building.  A large cafeteria, eight elementary classrooms, and shower rooms for the gymnasium were added in 1950.  By 1960, an addition of two more classrooms made it possible to abandon the three-story building which was no longer considered safe.  This building was sold and has now been demolished.

The class of 1959 was the last class to graduate from Lattimore High School.  The following fall, grades ten, eleven, and twelve were moved to Boiling Springs and consolidated with those grades from Boiling Springs and Mooresboro to form Crest High School.  When the building for the present Crest High School was completed in the fall of 1967, the ninth grade was assigned to Crest, leaving grades one through eight at Lattimore.

Racial integration began in 1962 with the enrollment of four negro students.  The first negro teacher, Mrs. Mary Gleaves, was assigned in 1965 and was accepted without a problem.  Total integration of all Cleveland County Schools in the fall of 1969 brought further changes.  Grades seven and eight were consolidated with those of Boiling Springs, Mooresboro, and Green Bethel, forming a junior high which was named West Cleveland housed in the former Green Bethel School in Boiling Springs.  New district lines were drawn and a small section was lost to Dover School.

Lattimore school with twenty teachers now served children in grades one through six with an enrollment of 533 students.

The academic program was enriched at Lattimore when the PTO hired a resident of the community, a capable musician, to teach music. Mrs. Mary Lattimore was employed in 1958 and taught classes each week until 1989.  At this time, the music program was taken over by the county.

A speech remediation teacher was hired in 1968 by the school system to help elementary children with speech problems.  Lattimore students were included in this program.

With the help of federal funds under the Title I program, classroom aides were employed for the primary grades beginning in 1968 to assist the teachers with clerical duties, thus enabling the teachers to give more time to the teaching of reading.  The following year, the tutorial reading program was begun in order to provide one-on-one help for children with beginning reading problems.  In 1976, a reading lab was set up to help third and fourth grade students with reading problems.  In 1977, the North Carolina legislature funded the Primary Reading Program which eventually provided and aide for each first, second, and third grade classroom in an effort to facilitate the teaching of beginning reading.

Under the leadership of the Cleveland County Superintendent Walter Thomas, the faculty and staff conducted the first self-study to meet the requirements for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools during the 1970-71 school year.  Accreditation was granted in 1971.  A second self-study was done in 1981 in order to maintain accreditation status.

Nineteen seventy-three was the year Mr. Chivous C. Padgett retired after twenty-eight years of service to the Town of Lattimore and the surrounding areas in the capacity of school principal.  He was an honored, respected, and beloved member of the community.  Mr. Padgett passed away on December 9, 1987.  Richard Harris succeeded Mr. Padgett as principal of Lattimore School.

In 1973, the old shop building was renovated for the addition of a kindergarten class.  However, this space had to be used for three first grade classes due to the increased enrollment.  The initial kindergarten class was postponed one year and the full kindergarten program began in 1975.  Dressing rooms in the gymnasium were converted to classrooms to accommodate the fourth class of first graders.

The enrollment grew in 1974 necessitating the location of two fourth grade classes in the gymnasium and the other two fourth grade classes joining them the following year.

Physical Education teachers were hired in order to provide a sequential physical development program beginning in kindergarten.  However, after three years, limited funds forced the program to begin with the fourth grades.

The federally funded Headstart Program had been a summer program with a center at Lattimore School from 1965 to 1975 when the program was changed to nine months and redesigned to serve qualifying four year olds rather than five year old children.

The Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) provided federal funds to provide on-the-job training for unemployed people in the mid-seventies.  The schools gained several clerical and janitorial assistants through this program. 

The opening of Crest Junior High School in 1976 influenced another change at Lattimore.  West Cleveland School was made a fifth and sixth grade for the students in the Lattimore and Boiling Springs districts.  This made Lattimore a kindergarten through fourth grade school.

Another change in 1976 was the moving of the district lines.  Mooresboro School was closed and part of the area served by that school was added to the Lattimore district to the south.  The northern limit of the Lattimore district was also moved, reducing the area in that direction.

In the spring of 1976, Representative James Broyhill visited and presented Lattimore School a United States  flag which was flown over the nation’s Capitol in Washington DC.   Another US flag was given to the school in 1984 by State Representative Jack B. Hunt. 

As a part of the Primary Reading Program, which started in 1977, the annual testing program was expanded from the benchmark years (grades 3,6, and 9) to include the first and second grades with a criterion referenced test (this was changed to a standardized test in 1984).  Shortly thereafter, the fourth grades were included in the annual standardized testing program.

In 1978, Ronal Wilson was assigned the principalship of Lattimore Elementary School.  During his five years in this capacity, classroom observation of teachers by the principal became a part of the teacher evaluation program.  A computer literacy program was begun during this period with computers being purchased for classroom use.

Harold P. Watts became principal of Lattimore School in 1983. 

The CODAP (Community Organization for Drug Abuse Prevention) Self-Concept Program for the fourth grade began in 1983.

The following year, in 1984, the elementary classes for the hearing impaired, the behaviorally/emotionally handicapped, and the educable mentally handicapped In the Cleveland County school system were moved to Lattimore.  The hearing impaired class was moved to Polkville School the following year.

In 1985, a program for the gifted and talented was started in grades two, three, and four.

The 1985-86 school year at Lattimore was exciting as renovations in the gymnasium and media center were made in preparation the return of the fifth and sixth grades in the fall of 1986.

In 1985-86, there were 296 students enrolled with a faculty and staff of 48 which included 22 teachers, 13 aides, and 13 bus drivers, lunchroom workers, and custodial help, plus a principal and a secretary.

In 1988, The Basic Education Plan became a part of the regular school program.  At this time, kindergarten and first grade students were provided instructions in Spanish.  The following year second graders were added.  Currently first and second grades are being served.

Mr. Harold Watts retired at the end of February 1988.  Mrs. Linda P. Hendrick, kindergarten teacher, became principal.

[During] the following years, modern technology entered the school.   The WICAT computer program was introduced to the staff and students.  Students continue to visit the computer lab twice weekly.  IN 1990-91, another modern invention became part of the school – SIMS which replaced the teacher register.

In August of 1990, sixth graders from Lattimore School were moved to Crest Middle School, making Lattimore School kindergarten through fifth grade with an enrollment of 382 students and a faculty of 48 members.

Lattimore School has for one hundred and eleven (111) years served the educational needs of the children in its school district, adjusting and adapting the curriculum as necessary to provide the children the best instructional program possible.

(This article was taken from an Alumni Day booklet published on April 21, 1989)

A MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE TO PRIVATE EDWARD R. PRICE

In the small town of Lattimore, there is a distinct monument that is located beside of the Price Community Center on Main Street. This marble obelisk rises about ten feet above the ground and has only one word on the front – PRICE. This hallowed ground is a reminder of someone’s son, an American patriot, a Lattimore hero. His name was Edward Rintels Price.

Edward was born on May 7, 1891 and was raised in Lattimore. His father was Gideon Price, a well-known man in the area who served as as postmaster and depot agent in a newly established town. On the corner of Price and Peachtree Streets, Gideon maintained an immaculate tulip garden that was the talk of the area every spring. People would drive many miles to see this beautiful display of flowers.

One of the few documents that remains to tell the story of Edward’s life is a draft card that bears his signature dated June 15, 1917. In his own handwriting, he listed his occupations as farmer and assistant letter carrier.  Another area resident named Clephane Greene registered for the draft on the same day as Edward. It was very likely that these two close friends decided to go together to see J.B. Lattimore to register for the draft.

An article published in The Shelby Star told that Price was assigned to Company A in the 322nd regiment of the United States Army. While preparing to deploy in New Jersey, Edward contracted the measles. Instead of deploying to France with the rest of his company, he was boarded a ship to go to Liverpool, England. On that voyage, he contracted the Spanish Flu, an illness that would eventually claim the lives of an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide.

Edward passed away in a Red Cross hospital on October 3, 1918 while separated from friends and family. Every Memorial Day, freedom continues to ring thanks to men like Private Edward R. Price.

Sidewalk Repairs in Town

The Town just completed several sidewalk repairs on Main Street and Price Street. Several repairs where the sidewalk began to settle and become uneven. Also, the sidewalk was extended from the Price Street to the Caboose Park gazebo. More landscaping will be done in the near future. The Town contracted with Chuy’s Concrete Finishing to do the work.

When you notice something needs to be repaired or work needs to be done on something in the town, please email us at info@lattimorenc.gov or call the Town Hall at 704-434-2620 to leave a message. We are here to serve our residents.

The 2025 Lattimore 4th of July Parade and Celebration

The Lattimore Fourth of July Parade and Celebration is an annual tradition that dates back to the 1980’s. Resident Bob Blanton was instrumental in organizing and coordinating this highlight of the year.

This year’s parade will begin at 9 am on Friday, July 4th. Parade entries will line up at the corner of Sailers Dr. and Oak Dr./Towery Road. The main parade route will proceed up the northern stretch of Westley Street and onto Main Street. Entries will included the Piedmont Pistons Go-Cart Team, antique cars and tractors, horses, and much more. If you would like to participate in the parade, please click here to complete an entry form online.

After the parade, a special program will be held at the Lattimore Baptist Church Recreation Park located at 113 Lattimore Rd., Shelby, NC 28150. The program will include the recognition of veterans, a flag color guard, and honoring the 2025 Grand Marshal Mr. Charles Toms. The entertainment will be provided by the bluegrass trio Finkelstein Three. Hotdogs and hamburgers will be sold by Lattimore Baptist Church throughout the event. The church will also be selling biscuits along the parade route that morning.

Help us make this the largest parade ever by spreading the word and coming out for the day. Later in the day, visit our friends just south of us in the Town of Mooresboro for their outstanding fireworks event.

Lattimore High School Basketball: An Interview with Buddy Weathers

The following is a transcription of an interview with Buddy Weathers at the regular meeting of the Lattimore Town Council on Monday, February 11, 2014.  The questions were asked by Alton Beal, the mayor of the Town of Lattimore.

Q: When did you play for the Lattimore High School?

A: I played through 1954. We had some good basketball players through that period.

Q: Who were some of your teammates that you had during the years that you played?

A: First all, I think of Bill Lovelace because he is still here. Bill Bell, Gilbert Greene, Bill Ray Mauney, Steve Blanton, Cecil Bailey, Bobby Greene, Joe Ed Walker. That is just some of them. Red Towery was our old coach and he started taking us to the old Dixie Classic. They had it every year down in Raleigh. They had the “Big Four” which was North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, and Duke. Then they would have four teams from the outside to come in, and they would bring the best teams in the whole country. We saw some of the best ball [playing], and we got some good pointers from going to that Dixie Classic. That is where I picked up my jump shot. You didn’t see the jump shot back then. We went to the Dixie Classic and two or three were shooting it, and I came back and started copying that. Coach Towery didn’t much like it because he wanted you to shoot this ole’ two hand set shot from the top of the circle and to shoot free throws from under your legs. I got away from that [because] I didn’t want to shoot that ole’set shot. I started shooting that one hander, and then started adding the jump to it. It evolved and I got pretty good at shooting the jump shot.

Our best year when I was playing was my junior year when Billy Ray Lovelace, Bill Bell, and Gilbert Greene were seniors. We had a really good team. Unfortunately, Mr. Padgett the principal some way or another failed to pay our registration fees for the state tournament and we were ineligible to go into the state tournament that year. We could have probably advanced real far.

Now the next year we had lost Billy Bell, Bill Lovelace, and Gilbert Greene, and no one gave us a chance to do anything. There were only two returning starters, myself and Billy Ray Mauney. We surprised everybody. We didn’t lose a home game, and we lost three games in the regular season. We won the county tournament, went two deep into the state tournament and got beat by a team from Gaston County on our third game. We didn’t have near the team my senior year as we had my junior year. Unfortunately we didn’t get into the state tournament that year.

Q: Did other teams start using the jump shot after you started using it?

A: Yes, other teams started using it, and others on our team started using it pretty regular. We had a person up at Fallston that before me was shooting a form of a jump shot. His name was Elliott. I believe he taught auto mechanics at Crest and at Burns. I can remember him at Fallston; he would come down the side of the court, and he shot a two handed jump shot. He would jump up and shoot that thing with both hands. That was kind of unorthodox. That is the first person I can ever remember shooting a jump shot. He was not shooting a one-handed jump shot. After I started shooting that in the 10th grade, I kept developing it, and by the time I was a senior, I could shoot the jump shot from anywhere on the court. Most of my jump shots would be where the three point line is today. We didn’t have a three point line back then. A good portion of my points came from that area.

Q: What was the home gym here in Lattimore like?

A: Well, I started off my first two years in the “Old Tin Can.” I don’t know if you have ever heard about it or not. That was a rough place to play. The floor was so rough that if you fell down, you were going to get skinned up! If it was going to rain, they had to set buckets out to catch the rain so you could hopefully play the ball game that night. The first two years were in that “Old Tin Can.” Then they started throughout the county building these gymnasiums like we have got there at Ambassador [Baptist] College. We got that when I was in the 10th grade. That was really one more upgrade. The big difference from the way things are now is the old fan shaped backboards. It was not a rectangular shaped backboard, but fan shaped. Everybody in the county had the same type of backboards. All the basketball courts were the same. We had piped-in steam heat. The building was good and warm. You would freeze to death in that “old tin can.”

Q: What was the atmosphere like on a basketball night?

A: They [the fans] backed you home and away. You thought it was a big crowd back then, but the gym couldn’t hold many people. It would jam packed every ball game. We had twelve rural high schools in the county then. We didn’t have football so most all of our emphasis was placed on basketball. I can remember that we always beat Shelby, Because we had been playing basketball all summer long. They would be playing football and wouldn’t have but a week or so to practice befor they played us. We always beat them. Lloyd Little the coach said, “I don’t want to play Lattimore anymore because that have been playing ball all summer.” They stopped playing us after my sophomore year.

Q: Did Lattimore have a rival school when playing basketball?

A: Well, I guess our biggest rival was Fallston because they always had a good team. They had a real good coach Blain Baxter. Fallston was the number one rival.

Q: What other teams in the immediate area did you play?

A: Mooresboro was never much any competition. Boiling Spring never was much competition. Polkville never was much. Piedmont at Lawndale had a tremendous coach. Casar had a real good coach. Belwood was somewhat up and down. They beat us my senior year. I fouled out in the first half, so I wasn’t able to give much support in that game.

Q: Did you have any kind of mascot and what colors did your team use?

A: I guess it was royal blue. You didn’t have but one set of uniforms. You didn’t have a home and away uniform. You had the same uniform wherever you went. You wanted to have something with a little bit of contrast with the other teams.

Q: Did you have certain number that you liked?

A: No, I think number 6 was the one I had most of the time.

Q: What was your coach like?

A: From my first year, Red Towery was the coach. Red got involved in farming, and was not teaching at Lattimore. He had taught up at Polkville and was a coach up there. When he came to Lattimore, he had already started farming in Lattimore pretty big. He coached us on the side. Red bought a farm down around Sumter, and he left when I was a rising junior. Ray Towery had always come to the practices with Red, and he was put in charge. He was kind of our coach, but we coached ourselves a lot too. Ray coached us my junor year, and then my senior year, Pop Simmons was hired as the coach. He was well-known in the area for his coaching ability primarily in baseball with Shelby American Legion. He coached us my senior year. He coached both the boys and the girls. You didn’t get a pep talk before the ball game because the coach was out there coaching the girls.

Q: What would be an example of a typical score of a close game back then?

A: A good close game with a lot of competition would be in the 50’s. I can remember that most of our closer games were around 50 points.

Q: What is the most points you ever scored in a game?

A: 55 points. My teammates helped me a lot. I’ll tell you a little bit about that. I was in a scoring race with a fellow from Grover. We were neck and neck in who could score the most points. This might have been the next to last game of the season against Bethware which never had a good team. At the end of the half, I think I had 22 points. At the end of the third quarter, I had 33 points. Between the third and fourth quarters, Pop Simmons said, “Ok, we are going to move Buddy inside. I want you other boys to hit him with that ball and let him shoot the jumper.” And they did. They started feeding me inside and I was shooting that little ole’ six or eight-foot jumper and ended up with 55 points. I scored 22 points the last quarter.

Q: Do you hold the record for the most points in a season or game?

A: It is still a record in Cleveland County for the most points scored in a game. 55 points.

Q: Does any particular game stand out in your mind?

A: The one that stands out the most for me in all of my games is a game we played before Christmas. It started snowing and we were playing Piedmont/Lawndale at Lattimore. They were good. They had a boy by the name of Roger Pearson. He would get on me, and it was like he was glued on me. It was nip and tuck up until about the middle of the fourth quarter. Piedmont was leading us for most of the game. I got Roger in foul trouble, and he fouled out. Well, I took off then and started scoring since I could get free. We ended up beating them at the last second by one point. It was a thrill to beat them because they were so good. I can remember the county tournament coming up, and I was dreaded having to play them. If they won and we won, then we would have to play them. Luckily, Fallston beat them and upset them. That made us play Fallston, and I knew we could get Fallston. We beat Fallston and went on to beat Grover in the championship.

Q: Did you ever have any disruptions or fights at the games?

A: We never did while I was playing, but I can remember a fight in the “old tin can” over here. Bill Lovelace was involved in it. He was a freshman going up for a layup and a boy from Number Three just horse-collared him. They went down on the floor and got up swinging at each other real good, and everyone else got into it. It was a mess! I remember Toy Stockton getting two boys under his big ole’ overcoat and hauling them off the court.

Q: Where was the “old tin can” located?

A: It was down next to the railroad tracks on the Fire Department’s property in the far left corner. A good many scuffles took place in there, and they always kept it locked. But some of them made a hole in the floor and crawled up through the old wooden bleachers to get in there to play ball.

Q: Did they charge people to attend those games?

A: They charged. I don’t remember what it was. It seemed like it might have been fifty cents.

Q: How did you travel to your away games?

A: We didn’t have any bus. You just got somebody who had a car who could get there. We would go in various people’s cars to get there. There were a number of times that I drove Doc Bridges big ole’ Roadmaster Buick. He would let us have his car and I would take a group of player. That was riding uptown!

Q: What are the differences between the game then and now?

A: Coaching is much better. The players are more athletic. You didn’t have people to dunk the ball back then. If someone had used a zone press defense, we would have never been able to get the ball up the court.

Why a Website for the Town of Lattimore?

Those who live in Lattimore know it is a special place. It is full of history and has a rich heritage in the western part of Cleveland County. It is hoped that you will make regular visits to our website for the following reasons.

Information on town meetings and public hearing, special announcements, and event information will be posted on the website. Want to know what is on the agenda for the next town meeting? Needing more information on our annual 4th of July celebration? How about registering for a craft fair? We will make it available here.

Articles on this history of the town and the area will be posted on the blog. Lattimore used to be the intersection for two major railroads. A soldier who died in World War 1 was mourned and remembered by the placing of the obelisk monument by the Price Community Center. Cotton used to be king in western Cleveland County. From time to time, we will try to whet your appetite for Lattimore history.

You will be able to report street lights that are out and ask questions via the website? If you have a question or need some help from the town, you can reach us via the contact form on the website. If you can’t contact the Town Hall during normal business hours, just submit a request via the website.

In the days to come, we will seek to improve www.lattimorenc.gov to better serve the residents of Lattimore!