Buncombe County is preparing to change what Fire Marshal Kevin Tipton called a “quiltwork of fire districts” into a singular blanket of emergency coverage.
At Tuesday night’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Tipton presented a proposal to establish a unified fire tax district, which would cover the entirety of the county outside of Asheville, Black Mountain, and Weaverville. Buncombe currently has 20 different fire tax districts across its unincorporated areas and the municipalities of Biltmore Forest, Montreat, and Woodfin.
Property tax rates to support those districts vary widely, from 8.36 cents to 22.70 cents per $100 of assessed value. The owner of a $400,000 house in the Asheville Special District would thus pay $334.40 annually for fire protection, for example, while the owner of an identically valued home in the French Broad District would pay $908.
Tipton emphasized that taxpayers receive different levels of service depending on where they reside as well. Outlying districts like Broad River generally have higher fire tax rates, but they also have slower average response times.
“The rural departments that have the highest tax rate unfortunately have the shortest staff. Most of them have the oldest apparatus,” Tipton explained. A report accompanying his presentation noted that 40 county fire trucks are more than 20 years old, with a projected total replacement cost of more than $63 million.
Tipton said that establishing a single tax rate across the county, pooling that revenue, and distributing it to fire departments based on their needs would improve their financial sustainability. Twenty other North Carolina counties, including Transylvania and Jackson, already employ a similar approach.
Eventually, he continued, a unified tax district would help raise all of Buncombe County to the same basic standards of service established by its fire chiefs as an aspirational goal: 22 firefighters on the scene of a structure fire within 10 minutes in suburban areas, and 25 minutes in rural areas, 80% of the time. Only a handful of departments currently meet those standards, and Tipton said the timeline for reaching the goal would depend on the county’s fiscal situation.
It’s unclear, however, what financial impact the change will have on county taxpayers. Tipton did not share any details about a potential tax rate for the new unified district, and no commissioners questioned him on the topic.
“We will not know the exact impact of this effort on individual property taxes until the FY27 budget is adopted and tax rates are finalized,” reads a response in an FAQ about tax implications on the Buncombe County Fire Services’ website.
County Manager Avril Pinder is scheduled to provide commissioners with a recommended budget that includes a fire tax rate on Tuesday, May 5. That presentation will take place after commissioners’ scheduled vote on approving the unified fire district Tuesday, April 21. A public hearing on the issue will also take place April 21.
Other tidbits
- Commissioners unanimously approved a letter of support for the Buncombe County Board of Education, which has requested flexibility from state government in setting the school year calendar. The school board argues that the current calendar’s late start, no earlier than Monday, Aug. 24 this year, disadvantages students by pushing first-semester tests after the winter break and shortening prep time for Advanced Placement exams. Although both the state House and Senate approved calendar flexibility measures last year, language differed between the two bills, and neither ultimately passed. In the absence of legislative action, many school boards have started to adopt illegal calendars; the law does not specify any punishment for districts that break the law.
- The board approved a $278,000 contract with Asheville engineering firm McGill Associates to design a backup generator installation at A.C. Reynolds High School. The equipment will support the high school’s gyms, locker rooms, and cafeteria, allowing the building to serve as an emergency shelter during power outages.The county did not share a cost estimate for installing the generator itself. Similar projects are slated for T.C. Roberson, North Buncombe, and Enka High Schools as funding becomes available.
- The county’s Helene Resource Center, which helps storm survivors navigate government recovery programs, will move to an appointment-only basis starting Monday, March 30. Residents in need of assistance can call 828-250-6100 or email HeleneRecovery@BuncombeNC.gov to set up an appointment. Additional case management and support services are available through the Buncombe County Long-Term Recovery Group at 828-393-5628 or info@BuncombeLTRG.org.
- Buncombe declared Tuesday, March 24, as Agricultural Awareness Day. An accompanying proclamation, read by Commissioner Terri Wells, affirmed the county’s goal to preserve at least 20% of its land as farmland or open space by 2030. To that end, commissioners allocated about $604,000 for conservation easements on more than 283 acres in Fairview and Black Mountain.
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. Due to the county’s spring break, however, the board’s next regular meeting will take place Tuesday, April 21.
The commissioners will hold a budget worksession at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 24, in the first-floor conference room at 200 College St. See the full recording and agenda of the March 17 meeting.
