Buncombe commissioners to hear from public on proposed budget, welcome new member

Nonprofit agencies will make their case for funding from Buncombe County's upcoming budget for Fiscal Year 2018. A total of 46 nonprofits are asking for an aggregate of almost $11 million.

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will hear from the public about its proposed $400 million budget for fiscal year 2017 during its meeting on Tuesday, June 7. Commissioners will also swear-in and introduce Tim Moffitt, the Buncombe County GOP’s selection to fill the District 3 seat vacated by Miranda DeBruhl. Lastly, commissioners will hold a public hearing on a proposed zoning amendment.

Familiar face, new role

Kicking off the meeting will be Moffitt’s official swearing-in and introduction to the Board of Commissioners. Moffitt spent two terms in the State House before being defeated by Brian Turner in 2014. The District 3 seat will be up for election this November and Moffitt has not yet expressed his intentions about running for the two-year term. If he chooses not to run, Buncombe County Republican leadership has expressed confidence in the pool of available candidates. You can read more about the choices Republican leadership faces in regard to November’s District 3 and Chair races here.

Budget weigh-in

The county’s proposed budget has been finalized and commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed $407,169,686 spending plan. The budget holds the property tax rate at 60.4 cents per $100 of valued property with the caveat that property revaluations will arrive in mid-January and generate more revenue for the county. Last week, commissioners heard budget requests from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools. You can read about those proposals here.

Earlier in the year, commissioners heard budget requests from 48 local nonprofits totalling $7.2 million, which you can read about here.

Now it’s the public’s turn to chime in on the proposed spending plan. In advance of public comment, you can view County Manager Wanda Greene’s most recent budget presentation here.

Zoning amendment

Commissioners will hold a public hearing concerning the rezoning of a nearly 39-acre parcel of land known as Arlington Properties, adjacent to Piney Mountain Drive in East Asheville. County staff say the applicant is planning on building an apartment complex on the land, but needs additional approval to do so. Staff is recommending approval of the rezoning and the county’s Planning Board unanimously recommended approval. You can view the proposed zoning amendment here and read staff’s analysis here.

You can view the agenda for Tuesday, June 7, in its entirety here. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will meet on Tuesday, June 21 to vote on the proposed budget.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Dan Hesse
I grew up outside of Atlanta and moved to WNC in 2001 to attend Montreat College. After college, I worked at NewsRadio 570 WWNC as an anchor/reporter and covered Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners starting in 2004. During that time I also completed WCU's Master of Public Administration program. You can reach me at dhesse@mountainx.com.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

23 thoughts on “Buncombe commissioners to hear from public on proposed budget, welcome new member

  1. bsummers

    Kicking off the meeting will be Moffitt’s official swearing-in and introduction to the Board of Commissioners.

    Don’t tell Tim Peck. He’s been in silent denial of it since it was announced three days ago.

    Hey, Commissioner Moffitt – maybe you can go to bat for Buncombe County by using your GOP connections in Raleigh, & persuade them not to rob us of promised sales tax distribution.

    Senate is raiding local coffers to pay for tax cuts
    http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2016/06/03/senate-is-raiding-local-coffers-to-pay-for-tax-cuts/

    • Lulz

      “The county’s proposed budget has been finalized and commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed $407,169,686 spending plan. The budget holds the property tax rate at 60.4 cents per $100 of valued property with the caveat that property revaluations will arrive in mid-January and generate more revenue for the county. Last week, commissioners heard budget requests from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools. You can read about those proposals here.”

      Notice that this says property taxes are about to go up after the re-evaluations? Generate more revenue for what? You’re worried about bogus sales taxes? Yet don’t comprehend that people are about to lose their homes.

      • bsummers

        Again, I think you don’t really understand my comment. “Bogus sales taxes”? What does that mean? The State takes the sales taxes collected in various localities, and is supposed to return most of it – that’s a big portion of how local govts, operate. If the State decides to just, oh, I don’t know… not return some of that money, so they can spend it themselves (as the current Senate budget proposes), then that’s less money for cities and counties have to balance their budgets. Leading to… you guessed it – cuts in services, layoffs of workers, or local tax increases.

      • luther blissett

        “Notice that this says property taxes are about to go up after the re-evaluations?”

        Tell you what, giggles, why don’t you put your home on the market at its current assessed value?

        ” Generate more revenue for what?”

        Schools, mostly, who needs education lulz LOL ll1o1l etc.

    • Tim Peck

      It warms the heart to see Barry Summers taking an interest in county government.

      • bsummers

        Continued silence about Moffitt joining the Commission, both here and on the twitter. Interesting. Were you ordered to?

        • timpeck

          Look at the progressives scrambling to figure stuff out. What a hoot. LOL. I wonder what will happen next.

          • bsummers

            I don’t, either one. You blocked me after the last time I deconstructed one of your elaborate falsehoods, remember?

            OK, so no denial – that’s the working theory now. Did it go like this?

            “Look, Tim Peck. You’ve been great, really. But I kinda want to… well, win this time. Maybe not so much with the tweets, and the insults, and the treating anyone who disagrees with me like they’re morons… Tell you what. Maybe just stay off my side altogether this time? Thanks.”

          • bsummers

            And yet still not a word about Mr. Moffitt joining the County Commission. Great – thanks for the confirmation.

            You’ll be there for the swearing-in, right?

          • bsummers

            I see you’re still tweeting things about me while blocking me from your account. Some would call that cowardly.

          • Tim Peck

            “Some would call that cowardly”

            And some would not, dear boy. Have you ever considered that you are not important and a general nuisance? I mean, seriously, if this is your safe space, that would not exactly be a comment on my social media practices.

            But back to your favorite subject: Me.

          • Able Allen

            Okay, that’s quite enough of that. Please take twitter quarrels elsewhere.

        • bsummers

          I keep getting notifications that Mr. Peck has replied, but each time, his comment doesn’t appear. As he struggles to frame his response without insult or vulgarity, I just thought I’d let folks know that he is trying, bless his heart.

          • Tim Peck

            I knew you’d find something to celebrate eventually. It’s certainly not your intellectual contribution.

  2. Lulz

    LOL, these thieves do NOTHING for city residents. Either find a way to merge the two governments and stop being a welfare service for the unemployable or just go away and stop being a drain on the rest of us.

    • bsummers

      stop being a welfare service for the unemployable

      I wish you’d stop saying mean things about my friend Tim Moffitt.

    • NFB

      ” or just go away and stop being a drain on the rest of us.”

      Hmmm……watching the county trying to go without the huge tax base the city provides it. That could be fun!

  3. bsummers

    I really hope that someone on the Commission asks Mr. Moffitt to use his connections in Raleigh to see if he can stop the NCGA from stealing sales tax revenue from Buncombe County.

Leave a Reply to bsummers ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.