Swannanoa resident Susan Kask begged the county to raise her taxes at last night’s Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting.
“An excellent education system isn't free,” she said during the public hearing about the fiscal year 2025-26 budget. “So, please raise my taxes and invest in our schools and community. No, I am not wealthy, but I am willing to pay for our future.”
Kask was one of more than 20 education advocates who spoke about the need for more resources in public schools, though others urged the county to hold the line and avoid raising taxes while residents are struggling financially in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
The coming year’s proposed budget, which totals $624 million, would fund Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools at $20 million less than superintendents requested.
Even without more schools funding, commissioners said they would need a 3.26-cent property tax increase to maintain current government programs and services and furnish a 3% cost-of-living raise for employees.
If approved by commissioners, the annual property tax bill for a home valued at $350,000 would increase by $114.
In a presentation on Tuesday night, County Budget Manager John Hudson shared that in order to fully fund the schools’ budget requests, the tax rate would need to increase to 7.52 cents per $100 of valuation, which would bring the tax bill of a home valued at $350,000 from a $114 annual increase to a $263 annual increase.
Without this funding, the schools won’t be able to maintain the same level of staffing and services, and cuts would be likely, according to Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman and Buncombe’s schools Superintendent Rob Jackson.
Sawyer Johnston, a teacher at Koontz Intermediate School, said the effects of Hurricane Helene create even greater needs for students.
“They shudder when it thunders. They become anxious when it rains too hard, for too long and they worry that another disaster and Western North Carolina is a matter of when and not if,” he said.
Johnston argued that schools need more funding, not less.
“These children need stability. They need readily available mental health services. Their families need to drop them off at school each day, secure in the knowledge that teachers are confident and focused, not demoralized and overwhelmed.”
Still, a handful of residents argued against the push for more taxes. Resident Abigail Carson described the idea as a “gut punch.”
“I'm deeply worried about the proposed tax increase. My husband and I are both in our 20s, and we each work two jobs just to get by. We don't have a lot of extra money each month, and when unexpected things come up, we have to cut things from our budget to make it work. And frankly, the county should do the same,” she said.
“Raising taxes right now in this economy, and at this point in our recovery feels out of touch with what real people, especially young people, are facing on the ground," she said.
While the state pays the majority of school expenses – around 60% in Buncombe County – local government increased its supplement for public schools each year.
Education is the county’s top budget line item. Buncombe County increased funding for schools by around $24 million over the last four years – while state education allocations have fallen, and local public school enrollment has dropped around 5%.
North Carolina ranks at the bottom for public education funding, according to a study from the Education Law Center.
Representatives from Asheville and Buncombe Schools are hosting a town hall next Tuesday, May 27, 5 p.m. at AB-Tech Community College to discuss the matter further. County commissioners will vote on the budget at their June 3 meeting.
Other tidbits
- Swannanoa, an unincorporated town in Buncombe, got the green light from commissioners to form the Swannanoa Small Area and Resilience Plan Steering Committee. The 11 to 13-member committee will receive $98,000 from the county over two years to create a community recovery plan, where it will address everything from flood resilient development to transportation planning.
- Commissioners voted to accept $135,000 in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds from the City of Asheville for its Helene Household Assistance Program. The program has helped more than 600 households so far, averaging between $2,000-3,000 in rental assistance for households who make at or below 80% of the Area Median Income.
Every first and third Tuesday, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meets at 200 College St., Room 326, in downtown Asheville, beginning at 5 p.m. See the full recording and agenda of the May 20 meeting.
