“If a new budget is not ‘revenue neutral’ by lowering the rate of taxation the appropriate amount, then you are slapped with a tax increase from your blind side.”
Both Buncombe County and the city of Asheville have resolved that, by the end of 2030, government operations will be powered entirely by renewable energy. With less than eight years until that deadline, what progress has been made toward the energy goals?
Barbara Smith speaks with Xpress about her work as a Girl Scout over the last eight decades, her recent lifetime achievement award and her favorite Girl Scout cookie.
Issues of racial and economic equity dominated the debate over residential valuations, with critics arguing that Buncombe’s practices are unfair to low-income residents and communities of color. While those issues aren’t immediately apparent with commercial property, suggests ad hoc committee member Ori Baber, other deficiencies with county assessments likely do carry over from the residential side.
Award-winning poet and Burnsville resident Pat Riviere-Seel speaks with Xpress about her life as a poet and the unique perspectives all writers bring to the page.
According to data presented by Tim Love, Buncombe’s director of economic development and governmental relations, the county’s poverty rate went up from about 11.5% in 2018 — its lowest point in a decade — to about 13.9% in 2020, the latest year for which information was available. Poverty in both North Carolina and the overall U.S. fell over the same period.
Performers and organizers discuss the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on comedy and how shared laughter is more powerful now than ever.
Opportunity zones offer tax breaks to investors who put money to work in areas designated as economically depressed — including parts of every Western North Carolina county. The latest edition of Xpress’ WTF feature takes a deeper look into the significance and consequences of the program.
YMI Cultural Center hosts its latest Brother’s Brunch. Also: New Origin Brewing celebrate its one-year anniversary; Foothills Meats announces new plans; and more!
North Carolina has 53 cases of monkeypox as of July 29, according to a dashboard on the NCDHHS website. There have been no reported deaths from monkeypox in the U.S.
The Orange Peel will host Local Punk Showcase on its main stage Thursday, Aug. 4, highlighting four Asheville punk bands — Busy Weather, Cloud City Caskets, The Deathbots and Pink Eye.
Enka Partners of Asheville requests an amendment to the conditional zoning on 45.5 acres on Enka Heritage Parkway to allow for new site plans. Because a tenant expected to lease the space — widely suspected to be online retailer Amazon, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times — backed out, the plans have been redesigned to call for over 585,000 square feet of spec space.
A local attorney pens a new children’s book. Plus, UNCA hosts the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, a new art exhibit highlights creatures of the Serengeti and the Mount Mitchell Crafts Fair returns to Burnsville’s town square.
“The core of any democracy is participation by we the people in stating our preferences through the ballot box.”
Representatives from the city and county recognize their respective spending must be intentional in focus and coordinated with each other’s work.
