Get to know County Commission Republican Candidate Cason Gardner
Cason Gardner discusses growth, taxes, transparency and county spending as he seeks a seat on the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners.
Cason Gardner is one of eight Republicans running in the primary for three seats on the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. Here are his answers to questions from The Cabarrus Compass.
1. Please tell us about your background and your connection to Cabarrus County. How long have you lived in the county, and what ties do you have to the community?
My name is Cason Gardner, I am a Concord native and a proud lifelong resident of Cabarrus County. I graduated in May 2024 with honors from Catawba College with a degree in Economics & Finance. Shortly after graduating, I began working as a financial analyst for a startup wealth management firm in Concord and ran for Concord City Council in 2025. I am also very involved in the young adult group at Pitts Baptist Church in Concord.
2. What motivated you to become involved in public service and to run for the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners at this time?
Having grown up in a conservative household, I learned at a young age the importance of being involved in our government and chose to run because I saw a need in my community. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a government “for the people, by the people, & of the people”; this vision does not work if the people are kept in the dark or simply stop caring about what their government does.
I intend to encourage active engagement between the community and the county commissioners to ensure the people have transparency & a say in the choices of their government.
3. What qualifications, skills, or experiences do you believe best prepare you to serve as a county commissioner?
While I have not held an elected office before, I have educated myself on the inner workings of government at all levels from a very young age & have been involved in local government since middle school. This included lobbying for bills in the State Capitol, organizing meetings with various elected officials, participating in mock general assemblies, electioneering for various candidates, and serving alongside the Board of Commissioners as a Cabarrus County Youth Commissioner from 2016-2020.
I also ran for Concord City Council in 2025 and am well-versed in Parliamentary Procedure, the rules that govern official governmental proceedings, placing as a national finalist at the 2024 Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference.
4. What role do you believe county government should play — and should not play — in economic development, land use, and public-private partnerships?
County policies and investments regarding economic development must be handled responsibly, the county must balance the needs of its residents with policies that attract businesses to Cabarrus. Given our county’s close proximity to an international airport & the financial capital of the Southeast, I do not believe that any tax dollars should be given to private companies, such as Eli Lilly.
Having said that, we must ask how much the county pays for infrastructure upgrades in anticipation of the growth that comes with economic development, or should we make incoming businesses cover those expenses?
This can be evaluated multiple ways. First, I would work to build the county’s relationships with state & federal agencies to update & improve our roads so that they can safely handle a reasonable increase in population, as well as upgrading our school system, sewer system, & other key infrastructure before allowing major developments, such as the proposed Concord Farms development in Concord, to continue.
Second, we need to build relationships with local business owners and other companies interested in bringing job opportunities to the county to ensure they can provide the most beneficial economic activity & jobs to our cities with minimal impact on existing infrastructure.
Third, we need to maintain strong relationships with business owners to ensure that more job opportunities are provided as our infrastructure improves, thus driving an increase in population and daily visitors to the county. However, we must also value the public’s opinion on these matters.
5. In your view, what are the most significant issues currently impacting Cabarrus County residents, and why?
I believe the most significant issues impacting our county currently are the budget, growth, school system, & the costs of living.
The schools in this county are overcrowded & understaffed, a fact that is unacceptable when you consider that more than 25% of the county’s overall budget is applied to the school system. We must work with the school board & state officials to evaluate where improvements can be made to improve the quality of education our county’s students get.
Our county is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, which puts a strain on our aging infrastructure. This causes a safety issue for our residents by increasing traffic, making our roads wear out more quickly, and increasing the strain on our sewer system, which is currently in an expansion phase that will take several years.
The costs of living are at an all-time high right now & is continuing to rise. According to the NC Housing Coalition, our county is the sixth most expensive county in the state, out of one hundred, with nearly 30% of residents being cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing), with 19% of homeowners & 51% of renters facing difficulty affording their homes. Cutting wasteful spending to balance the budget will help lower taxes and the costs of living.
6. According to the U.S. Census, Cabarrus County’s population has grown from approximately 178,000 in 2010 to about 250,000 today. How would you approach managing continued growth while preserving quality of life for residents?
Our county is barely able to keep up with the current growth rate. If elected, I would work with my fellow commissioners & our municipality leaders to institute moratoriums on built-to-rent neighborhoods & major developments, such as the proposed Concord Farms project in Concord, as well as end the giving of tax breaks that encourage companies to do business in our county.
Doing this allows our county commissioners time to work with our municipality leaders & state officials to update and expand our existing infrastructure, including roads, schools, & the sewer system, which needs to be updated to handle anticipated growth before allowing major developments to continue in Cabarrus.
7. What do you see as the county’s most urgent infrastructure or capital needs over the next several years, and how should these needs be addressed?
I believe our roads, sewer system, & school system all need to be addressed in the coming years. Our sewer system & school system are currently undergoing expansions & upgrades, which will continue for the next several years.
I think the next step is to work with our state officials to improve the safety & maintenance of our roads, which should be addressed by attaining infrastructure improvement grants & focusing on higher-trafficked areas first. We will continue to support the ongoing sewer system & school system improvement projects by prioritizing the most time-sensitive projects first & seeking grants to fund them.
8. If elected, which area or function of county government would you prioritize for increased attention, and what specifically would you hope to improve?
The budget. As the only person in my race running my campaign under the $1,000 threshold & self-funded, I take finances seriously and Cabarrus County’s ongoing budget issues sicken me. According to the NC Housing Coalition, our county is the sixth most expensive county in the state, out of one hundred, with 19% of homeowners & 51% of renters facing difficulty affording their homes.
If elected, I will work tirelessly with my fellow commissioners to balance the county budget, cut wasteful spending, & consolidate redundancies. This county should not be nearly $100 million in debt, considering the significant economic activity & growth it has seen in recent years.
We must find ways to lower taxes & increase housing affordability, which includes ending tax breaks to large corporations in our county, such as Eli Lilly, which has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion and continues to receive massive tax breaks from the county.
9. What is one decision or action taken by the current Board of Commissioners that you believe was handled well, and one area where the board should improve?
I believe that the most recent decision handled well by the current Board of Commissioners was the revision & clarification of the public comment guidelines in the aftermath of settling a lawsuit filed by James Campbell regarding the Board of Commissioners’ removal of him during the public comments portion of their meeting on April 15, 2024.
However, the Board of Commissioners needs to improve the way it evaluates the budget, especially with the county consistently running a deficit.
10. Do you support maintaining current tax rates, lowering them, or making changes to the county’s tax structure? Please explain your position.
I believe we need to lower the county’s current tax rates & eliminate the tax breaks the county offers to incentivize companies to do business in Cabarrus. Our county is the sixth most expensive county in the state, out of one hundred, with nearly 30% of residents being cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing).
We cannot have families taxed out of their homes & ending tax breaks to large companies, such as Eli Lilly, will help do that, especially since companies will come to Cabarrus regardless of incentives due to the county’s close proximity to an international airport & the financial capital of the Southeast.
11. County budgeting involves difficult trade-offs, and projections show a roughly $13.7 million deficit in FY 2027. If elected, how would you approach setting spending priorities, evaluating potential reductions or revenue options, and closing the projected deficit while maintaining essential county services?
My first step would be to do an in-depth analysis of all employee roles & see where redundant roles can be cut. Second, we need to see if we can consolidate any county departments together, such as combining finance with the Budget Evaluation & the Infrastructure and Asset Management Departments. Third, we should reconsider the school budget; the current school budget accounts for over 25% of the entire county budget, which I find completely unreasonable when considering that most funding for schools is supposed to come from the state.
Finally, we need to work on selling the ACN building and filling office space in other county-owned buildings before buying more property for county use, such as the EMS headquarters on Cabarrus Avenue, which often appears empty. There is a lot of evaluation that needs to happen to balance the budget & lower the costs of living, but this would be a good start.
12. If elected, what would be your top priorities during your first year in office, and how would they align with your approach to budgeting and financial management?
My top priorities are increasing government transparency & accountability, followed by balancing the budget.
I would work to increase government accountability & transparency by releasing statements on the decisions made by the commissioners, working with my fellow commissioners to organize quarterly seminars to inform the public of updates regarding county policies & offer a more in-depth opportunity for citizens to voice their concerns, and working with the other commissioners & state officials to end closed-door sessions.
Balancing the budget would take working with my fellow commissioners to carry out an in-depth analysis of all county departments to find redundancies that can be consolidated & cut, thus reducing wasteful spending.