The Buncombe County Board of Education passed an increased funding request of $13.5 million from the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners at its May 2 meeting based on a “vast number of assumptions and projections,” according to BCS Chief Financial Officer Tina Thorpe.
Commissioners will consider a new seven-year contract with global waste management company FCC Environmental Solutions, which — if ultimately approved at a meeting later in May — will be the county’s first new hauler since WastePro was hired in 2009.
The big question heading into the April 24 meeting of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority was whether affordable housing projects would qualify for financing from the agency’s new $10 million grant fund. The answer was “not really.”
County expenditures are expected to grow by more than $8 million next year, to $444.9 million, said Buncombe County Budget Director John Hudson.
Asheville-based nonprofit MountainTrue and others await responses from the U.S. Forest Service after filing a flurry of legal actions since the federal agency finalized its Pisgah-Nantahala Forest Plan last year.
As a deadline nears for the Community Reparations Commission, pressure mounts for the group to finalize its recommendations for how the City of Asheville and Buncombe County governments can make amends to their Black residents.
Republicans and unaffiliated voters who cast a Republican ballot in the March 5 primary election have some unfinished business in choosing which candidate will run against Democratic opponents for two state races in November’s general election.
Council members voted 6-0 on April 16 to oppose the request, which bubbled up after the town implemented a stormwater fee last summer to comply with the state-issued permit it was in danger of violating.
As state funding falls with enrollment and $1 million in COVID-era federal funding ends, the district is facing a $5.7 million gap before new funding requests and projected savings are considered, Superintendent Maggie Fehrman reported to the board April 15.
It’s been 10 years since Asheville City Schools displaced its once successful majority-Black alternative program from its home on Montford Avenue. At least one longtime educator calls that the worst decision the district has made this century.
If the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approves a contract next month with global waste management company FCC Environmental Services, whose U.S. headquarters is in Texas, residents will see an almost $5 a month increase on their trash bills next year.
The Buncombe County Association of Educators delivered a three-pronged request to the Buncombe County Board of Education at its April 11 meeting that had the support of nearly 1,200 teachers and more than 100 community allies.
Buncombe joined representatives from eight other municipalities and counties around the state to form a language access collaborative, which met throughout 2023 to develop a language access plan.
The county derives 62% of its more than $400 million budget from property taxes, which relies on the accurate assessment of thousands of properties, a process that happens every four years in Buncombe County. State law requires counties to perform reappraisals at least once every eight years.
Until recently, local school districts had largely avoided the national wave of book bans. Despite some activists making noise in local school board meetings last summer, there had been no formal requests to remove books from school libraries in Asheville City or Buncombe County schools. But by November, 20 books had been challenged by a group of parents at Enka High School.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on April 2 to invite private developers to partner on a $59.1 million complex for 200 affordable units at 50 and 52 Coxe Ave., directly across from the Asheville Regional Transit bus station and Rabbit Rabbit music venue.
At its meeting on Tuesday, April 2, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider launching a pilot program that could transition up to 20 units from STRs to affordable long-term rentals for residents in its first year.
County staff reported sales tax revenue growth continues to slow from a peak in 2022 and occupancy tax collections are down 3% year-to-date compared with last year. That, along with expiring funding from the American Rescue Plan Act has the county projecting essentially a no-growth budget.
Woodfin Town Council voted 6-0 at its March 19 meeting to approve the changes, creating a zoning overlay district to create more leniency around where manufactured homes are allowed.
At a Community Reparations Commission meeting March 18, the Carter Development Group identified four themes and outlined 10 “high priority” recommendations for actions local governments should take to cease harm to their Black residents.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 5-1 to pay Charlotte-based education consultants Prismatic Services about $300,000 to provide a comprehensive report, including an analysis of the risks and benefits of consolidating Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools.
