Special to Iredell Free News
Angela Wokatsch Matthews has announced her campaign for a seat on the Iredell County Board of Commissioners.
“Iredell County is my home. I was born in Statesville, grew up here, and have operated my businesses here,” she said in her official campaign announcement. “My focus as an Iredell County commissioner will be on governmental transparency, healthy economic growth, conserving our resources and lowering our county tax rate.
“I have over 25 years experience as a CPA and what we need now more than ever is someone with accounting and financial expertise to better manage our $323 million county budget,” she added. “Raising taxes to fix budget holes is not a good solution in a time of record high inflation.”
Three seats on the five-member board will be on the ballot in the November 5 general election. The primary is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5.
A Republican, Matthews ran for county commissioner in 2022. She finished sixth out of 10 candidates in the May 2022 Republican primary.
Matthews attended Catawba College in Salisbury, where she earned her B.A. in Accounting. She also passed the N.C. Certified Public Accountant Exam and currently holds a CPA license. She owns a CPA firm in downtown Statesville and provides individual tax preparation services, as well as a variety of business accounting services.
In her announcement, Matthews said she was running for county commissioner to help offer solutions to the growing pains the county is experiencing
“I am not a politician, I am a small business owner, a taxpayer, and a mother. I care about my community and the future of all our residents,” she said. “It is time for strong leaders to step forward and make the hard decisions. Our current leaders have failed to honor the wishes of the voters who elected them.”
Following a significant increase in property values, Iredell County property owners will be facing what Matthews described as “the largest tax increase” in county history in 2024. County commissioners rolled back the tax rate from 53.75 cents per $100 valuation to 50 cents, but tax revenues are projected to increase by 25 percent.
“I believe that governments should tax only to raise money for their constitutional functions and spend that money wisely,” she said. “I am opposed to big government and tax increases. I will advocate to keep money in the taxpayers’ wallets.”
Matthews said her experience as a CPA would be an invaluable resource to the Board of Commissioners and the county. She studied governmental accounting in college and understands how the budgeting and financial reporting processes work. She currently provides accounting services for a governmental entity. As a lifelong county resident, she said she understands the wants and needs of residents.
She served on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont as treasurer for seven. She has also provided accounting help and services to several other local nonprofits, including Yokefellow Ministries, Iredell Christian Ministries, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Pregnancy Resource Center and the Foundation of Hope Ministries. She also volunteered her time to serve as an auditor for the Miss Statesville Pageant for many years.
Matthews has three children Abby, Chanler and Camden. Her daughter, Abby Trent, is the current representative for District 3 on the Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education.
Candidate filing begins Monday, December 4, and runs through Friday, December 15.
Go mom!!
I can only imagine the smear campaign Micah is gonna put together. The rift between them might actually turn out to be a positive thing for her. Either way, there’s gonna be some dirt slangin. Still hope she loses though. A lot of her beliefs are crazy to me.
Say you’re going to fight to lower our County Tax rates? If so, you got my vote! Need a spot for a sign?…I have room in my front yard!
What services does she intend to cut with lower taxes? Iredell already has the lowest tax rate around. Will the board really support another tax cut? I doubt it.
It’s not about the low rate; it’s all relative when you factor in over-inflated property values. Matthews has an overly ambitious plan. She reminds me a lot of former commissioner Renee Griffith. If Matthews would come up with specific areas to cut spending and distances herself from QANON conspiracy theories, she could be a viable candidate.
Ms. Angela Matthews’ stated campaign positions appear to be consistent with the conservative political ideology that I believe our county and nation needs.
While everyone favors the lowering of taxes as a campaign promise, I would like to learn specifics of her strategy to cut the predicted 25% increase in property tax revenues that she mentioned. It’s a given that property tax revenues will increase because of the recent inflation of property values. As a budgeting and governmental accounting expert, what are Ms. Mathew’s priorities in allocating what will be a significant increase in county property tax revenue? At the same time, has she earmarked any expenditures that should be decreased?
What is her position on commercial growth in our county, and has she considered offering incentives to businesses to bring high paying jobs to our county? What about residential growth? Is there a plan to alleviate the considerable traffic problems down county.
Crime seems to be increasing and terrorism may actually become a real possibility. Does Mathews favor increasing the budgets and staffing of the sheriff’s office?