Public Invited to Speak on Proposed 2024-25 County Budget

Asheville, North Carolina – May 30, 2024

Your chance to address the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on its proposed 2024-25 budget, including a 2.55-cent property tax hike, has arrived. Commissioners will hold its annual public hearing on the budget at its meeting Tuesday, June 4 before voting on the budget later in the month. County Manager Avril Pinder’s proposed $441.9 million general fund budget amounts to a $5.1 million spending increase and includes more than $125 million going toward the county’s largest expenditure, education.

To help pay for the 1% increase over last year’s spending, commissioners are considering raising the property tax rate to 52.35 cents per $100 of taxable value, its highest level since 2021. If the budget is passed Tuesday, June 18, the new tax rate would mean the owner of a home valued at $400,000 will pay $2,094 in taxes to the county, $102 more than last year. The proposed budget includes 30 new positions over the course of the year, including 13 in public safety, eight of them paramedics once new EMS bases open. If approved, the proposed budget also includes a 4.89% cost-of-living raise for all county employees.

Child Deaths in 2022

There were 29 child deaths in Buncombe County in 2022, nine more than the previous year, according to an annual report on child mortality. The Community Child Protection Team and the Child Fatality Prevention Team put the joint report together. It identifies different causes of death in Buncombe County and includes recommendations for how these incidents can be avoided in the future. Most of those children — 17 — were under the age of five, and 12 were infants less than a year old, according to the report.

State of the Airport

In lighter news, commissioners will also hear an update on the status of Greater Asheville Regional Airport’s growth in its annual State of the Airport report. President and CEO Lew Bleiweis will update commissioners on construction of the airport’s air traffic control tower, new terminal and growing number of annual passengers. More than 2 million passengers were served in 2023.

Capital Improvement Policy

Commissioners will also consider approving changes to its capital improvement policy, including development of a 7-year capital improvement plan starting in fiscal year 2025-26. The county will establish annual transfers to a capital reserve fund to better plan for capital improvement projects going forward, according to a presentation from Finance Director Melissa Moore.

Consent Agenda

The consent agenda for the meeting contains nine items, which will be approved as a package unless singled out for separate discussion. Highlights include:

• Contract not to exceed $1.2 million for engineering services for a new access road and existing roadway improvements on the site of the county’s Ferry Road development.
• Intergovernmental agreements between the county, county fire departments and municipalities within the county for IT and data entry support.
• Resolution making the Town of Woodfin the direct grant recipient of The Tourism Development Authority’s Tourism Product Development Fund grant.

The full agenda and supporting documents for the meeting can be found here. There will be a briefing meeting before the regular meeting at 3 p.m. The agenda was not posted as of press time. In-person public comment will be taken at the start of the regular meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. in Room 326 at 200 College St., Asheville; no voicemail or email comments will be permitted. Both the briefing and the regular meeting will be livestreamed on the county’s Facebook page and be available via YouTube.