ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Buncombe County commissioners on Tuesday voted to cut the budget for Asheville City and Buncombe County school districts by almost $4.7 million.

The move was one of several FY25 expenditure reductions commissioners made because of the financial impacts of Topical Storm Helene. The budget changes were part of the county’s $17.6 million expenditure reduction plan after Helene-related financial impacts.

“We realize our community continues to feel the ripple effects from Helene and understand our county leaders had to consider a measure they would have rather not considered,” Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Dr. Rob Jackson said.

Commissioners reduced FY25 education appropriations by $718,577 for Asheville City Schools and $3,971,874 for Buncombe County Schools — totaling $4,690,451.

“We will work to mitigate the reduction from directly affecting classroom instruction. I do not anticipate any job loss,” Jackson said. “The Buncombe County Commission employed a third-party consultant to take a deep look at staffing in our school system. It found and stated in the school consolidation feasibility study that Buncombe County Schools is a lean, efficient operation. We will work with our Board of Education and school team to continue to search for more potential savings.”

But the cuts may not be permanent. County officials said if or when federal or state Helene funding comes in, the county may be able to repay the school districts.

“Our intention is, if we are able to get this [state] funding, this is when we can be able to use this to reimburse both the schools and the county proportionally to be able to put some of that funding back,” Commissioner Terri Wells said in a news release.

Per North Carolina law, a reduction to the local current expense funds of K12 education partners can only take place where “prevailing economic conditions” cause a general reduction in county expenditures.

“This can’t be a zero-sum game with our budget,” Commissioner Drew Ball said in the news release. “We are in a crisis together. This is less a budget cut than it is that funds never materialized because of this disaster we all experienced together.”

But, some in the community disagreed with the board’s budget moves.

“What an absolute joke, don’t pull from the schools!” one person posted on Facebook. “The vote passed 5-2 after 45 minutes of public comment and hours of deliberation and conversation between commissioners, superintendents and others. 45 Minutes to take $4.7M”

According to a county news release, other budget amendments included:

Reduction to tax reappraisal funding, future conservation easements

The board approved a budget amendment to reduce $921,342 in FY25 General Fund transfers from:

  • Reappraisal Fund ($325,000): The 2025 reappraisal was delayed to January 2026 following the storm’s impacts
  • Special Projects Ordinance for Future Conservation Easements ($596,342)

Declared Disaster Recovery (DDRF) Grant Fund Allotment to Buncombe County

The board approved a budget amendment of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds received by the City of Asheville to be allotted to Buncombe County’s Helene Recovery Housing Assistance Grant program. The City of Asheville has received supplemental funding from the CDBG Declared Disaster Recovery Fund to provide rental assistance to City of Asheville residents. An interlocal agreement between the City of Asheville and Buncombe County has been initiated to distribute $624,000 of these funds via the county’s Helene Recovery Housing Assistance Grant program. Ten percent ($62,400) of this grant will be used for the administration of the program. The grant program application window was Dec. 5 to Dec. 18 and is now closed, but housing assistance funds continue to be distributed to residents who applied.

Accessible Parks Grant Funding

The board approved a budget amendment to accept $500,000 from the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources awarded to Buncombe County Parks and Recreation as part of the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Accessible Parks grant. These funds will be used to replace the existing playground at the Buncombe County Sports Park with an ADA-accessible playground as well as improving drainage conditions at the park. Matching funds have been budgeted through the Enka Recreation Destination project. This will be the county’s first accessible park playground.

Audit Contract Amendments

The county’s financial audit for the year ending June 30, 2024, is finished, and during the audit, it was found that more work was needed because additional grant programs had to be reviewed. This extra work increased the cost of the audit by $23,000, bringing the total to $215,000.

The audit took longer than expected due to delays caused by Hurricane Helene. To finalize the report, the contract needs to be extended through January 31, 2025. This extension allows time to handle any remaining paperwork but doesn’t change the financial report’s content.

Auditors Mauldin & Jenkins presented results to the Board during the meeting. The County is required by law to have an independent audit every year to ensure finances are in order and comply with federal and state grant rules. The Board approved the amended FY24 external audit contract and accepted the audit as presented.

The board held two public hearings:

Additional Fund Request for Transformation Village

After a public hearing, the board approved a resolution to request additional funds of $2.8 million from the North Carolina Department of Commerce for the Transformation Village expansion project. In August 2024, Buncombe County accepted $1 million from the N.C. Commerce through CDBG’s Recovery Housing Program to support ABCCM’s Transformation Village, a four-story, 64-unit building with half of those units dedicated to women and mothers with children in recovery from substance use.

“Prior to Hurricane Helene there was a need for recovery housing with wrap-around support, and now there is an even greater need to rebuild lost infrastructure,” states the request for board action.

These additional funds will help increase the number of new beds available in recovery housing while focusing on utilizing available funds and resources to rebuild lost infrastructure.

Rezoning Land from Residential to Commercial

The board approved a rezoning request from Barney Danzansky of Equity Development Group to change the zoning of 10.35 acres of land at 14 Hitching Post Lane from R-2 Residential to CS Commercial Service. The rezoning request was found to be consistent with the Buncombe County 2043 Comprehensive Plan.