North Carolinians should vote down a measure on this year’s general election ballot that calls for more restrictions on local governments’ ability to levy property taxes, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners says.
Commissioners passed a resolution at their regular meeting Tuesday opposing any constitutional amendment to limit the county’s property tax authority, saying it would make it harder for counties to respond to events like Hurricane Helene, provide basic government services and counterbalance the state General Assembly’s skimpy funding for public schools.
“As commissioners, we don’t have a lot of levers to pull in terms of where we can raise (revenue) to pay for the services we are required by law to provide,” Board Chair Amanda Edwards said.
The proposed state amendment would direct the General Assembly to pass laws limiting the amount by which local governments could raise taxes and says the laws may include exceptions.
Just what that limit might be is unknown. The General Assembly’s Republican majority voted to put the issue to a referendum, but the language legislators approved gives no specifics as to what restrictions would be enacted later.
Buncombe commissioners, all Democrats, unanimously turned their thumbs down on the idea Tuesday. Property tax revenue makes up 69% of the county’s general fund revenue this fiscal year. Commissioners this year approved raising Buncombe property tax rate from 54.66 cents per $100 valuation to 61.54 cents.
That change came after the legislature passed a law preventing Buncombe and some other counties from using results of this year’s property revaluation unless commissioners adopted a rate to bring in about the same amount of revenue as the year before. Commissioners elected to use 2021 property values and raise the tax rate instead.
Commissioner Drew Ball pushed for the resolution approved Tuesday, saying, “Helene showed us why budget flexibility in order to respond to extraordinary circumstances … is really, really important.”
The constitutional amendment is particularly worrisome because state government is underfunding schools, creating a need for the county to pick up the slack, Ball said. A significant part of Buncombe County’s budget increase this year went to more school funding.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said on X Sept. 1 that the amendment is needed “to stop out-of-control property tax hikes.”
“You worked hard to own your home. You shouldn’t be taxed out of it,” Hall wrote.
Fairview parade
Commissioners unanimously approved a letter supporting the Fairview holiday parade, a step necessary for the event to proceed.
Cory Wall, one of the parade organizers, said earlier this month that she had heard informally that commissioners might not OK the parade due to concern about the county’s liability or other issues. Fairview residents came to Board of Commissioners meetings Oct. 6 and again Tuesday to ask for approval.
“It’s more than just a holiday (event), it's about community, tradition and giving our families something to look forward to,” Wall told commissioners Tuesday.
Organizers have arranged for traffic control, insurance, law enforcement and will raise all of the money needed, she said.
The parade began in 2024 as a way to, as organizer Amy Mullen put it Tuesday, “bring happiness to our community” after Hurricane Helene.
The state Department of Transportation has authority to permit parades on state-owned roads like Charlotte Highway, where the Fairview parade is held, but wants to see local government approval before giving its permission.
Black Mountain clinic, plans ahead
Commissioners also:
–Signed off on a $480,000 state grant to go toward renovating a building on the west side of Black Mountain for a health care clinic to be operated by Appalachian Mountain Health, a nonprofit based in Asheville that provides care regardless of patients’ ability to pay.
Appalachian Mountain bought the building at 3160 A U.S. 70 in March, according to property records. Dogwood Health Trust, the foundation that received proceeds from the sale of Mission Health, will pay a required $24,000 match. There is no cost to county government.
The clinic is scheduled to open during the first quarter of next year, said Shantelle Simpson, Appalachian Mountain’s president and CEO.
–Heard progress reports on a countywide plan for pedestrian sidewalks and paths and a detailed plan to guide development, transportation and related issues in Swannanoa. Both plans are scheduled to come before commissioners for approval this winter.
Buncombe County has one of the highest rates of pedestrian deaths in the state, William High, the county’s lead transportation planner, told commissioners.
Sidewalks and paths for pedestrians and bicycle riders in the county are becoming more important as unincorporated parts of the county get developed, he said. Having a plan in place will help the county get federal funds for improvements and encourage NCDOT to build sidewalks when it makes major changes in local roads, High said.
The draft Swannanoa plan contemplates development restrictions in flood-prone areas, sidewalks along some key roads, improvements at intersections and easing regulations in some areas to allow more dense development, county planner Gillian Phillips told commissioners.
Some of those changes would require ordinances that would be effective countywide, she said.
More
Supporting documents from Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting are here. Commissioners’ next formal meeting is set for 5 p.m. Nov. 5 – a change from its usual meeting day – at 200 College St. in downtown Asheville. An informal briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. the same day.