On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on the rezoning of more than 760 acres of land owned by Biltmore Farms adjacent to the Pratt & Whitney plant.

On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on the rezoning of more than 760 acres of land owned by Biltmore Farms adjacent to the Pratt & Whitney plant.
At about $32.47 million, actual sales taxes through the end of the 2020 fiscal year were still down 3.2% from the budgeted target of more than $33.53 million. But during an April 7 budget work session, Budget Director Jennifer Barnette had projected sales tax revenue at just $30 million due to the impacts of the coronavirus, a decrease of more than 8.9%.
As outlined in a presentation available before the meeting, Buncombe’s 26 county-owned buildings have an average age of nearly 50 years, with total maintenance costs running over $789,000 in each of the past two fiscal cycles. The county hopes to hire an outside firm to evaluate those buildings against Buncombe’s needs.
The report notes that the county approved nearly $19.57 million in capital spending for the last fiscal year, including more than $7.95 million for Buncombe County Public Schools. However, less than $1.12 million has been spent to date on those school needs, with just over $1.87 million spent on other county projects.