Buncombe County Board of Commissioners fired its tax assessor R. Keith Miller for a conflict of interest involving buying a South Carolina condominium with an employee under his supervision.
Tag: Al Whitesides
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Buncombe taking steps to make tax values more equitable
The county plans to spend $844,000 on new tax assessment initiatives over this fiscal year and the next. Actions include asking Buncombe residents to report improvements to their homes, buying software to double-check the valuations county staffers give to homes and reaching out to residents to help them challenge their property tax values.
Letter: Sierra Club criticism was baseless, unfair
“He heaps venomous scorn, most of it unfair and baseless, on an organization staffed exclusively by conscientious volunteers who selflessly devote their time and energy to doing what they can to preserve and protect the environment of Western North Carolina.”
Letter: We support progressive Branyon
“It is exactly because Bill is running as a progressive that we support him. Bill’s candidacy is about infusing new vitality into our stagnated democracy and bringing issues of vital concern to public attention.”
Letter: This Democrat respects views of moderates and progressives
“Then there’s Mr. Thomson’s concern that my candidacy will cause Buncombe County to lose its only African American commissioner. And though I agree this is an important issue, I felt it was more important to oppose Mr. Whitesides because he voted to subsidize the Pratt & Whitney plant by $27 million of our tax dollars — a plant that will be making parts for one of the most lethal weapons on Earth, the F-35 Lightning.”
Buncombe plans hiring push for next fiscal year
As presented to the Buncombe Board of Commissioners during a March 29 work session, County Manager Avril Pinder hopes to expand her current staff of over 1,600 employees by more than 70 in the next budget cycle, which starts in July.
