►
Description
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners FY2024 Budget Work Session on April 25 2023
A
B
You
good
morning,
Welcome
to
our
budget
work
session,
review
our
timeline.
We
held
our
retreat
in
December,
we
held
a
capital
work
session
on
March
13th
by
our
work
session
regarding
expendures
on
March
28th.
We're
now
here
at
our
Revenue
estimate
work
session
in
two
weeks.
We'll
have
our
final
work
session,
in
which
we
will
hear
from
our
education
partners
and
those
fire
districts
who
are
requesting
a
rate
increase
at
the
May
16th
meeting.
We
intend
to
provide
a
recommend
budget
accompanied
by
the
budget
message.
B
Today's
agenda
will
begin
with
discussing.
What's
in
your
packet,
we
will
have
follow-up
on
grants
from
our
last
work
session.
Our
elections,
director,
Corrine
Duncan,
will
provide
information
about
the
budget
request
for
Express
vote.
We
will
then
dig
into
our
budget
portion
of
the
agenda,
beginning
with
a
projection
of
where
we
expect
to
finish.
The
current
fiscal
year
discuss
revenues
for
fiscal
year.
2024.
B
B
In
your
packet,
you
will
find
an
updated
list
of
position,
requests
with
recommendations
for
positions
to
be
added
to
the
fiscal
year.
24
budget
also
included
as
an
update
from
our
tax
assessment
department
on
progress.
Regarding
the
recommendations
from
the
ad
hoc
reappraisal
committee,
you
will
find
the
most
recent
draft
five-year
Capital
Improvement
plan
with
the
newly
estimated
cost
of
moving
front-facing
offices
to
35
Woodfin.
B
B
Four
grants
can
be
funded
with
opioid
settlement
funds
to
include
the
behavioral
health
planning,
Grant
jail
and
prison,
re-entry
Grant
mobile
medication,
assisted
treatment,
Grant
and
the
safer
together
Grant.
This
will
fund
three
County
positions
and
nine
positions
through
contracted
Services,
as
well
as
providing
operating
dollars
for
opioid
response.
B
B
B
C
C
They
the
their
printers
that
they,
the
the
sourcing
for
those
printers
became
challenging
for
that
company.
So
they
decided
to
switch
to
a
different
type
of
printer,
which
meant
that
they
weren't
going
to
serve
those
printers
anymore
and
also
the
the
toner
the
parts
to
those
printers.
They
can't
get
those
anymore.
C
C
C
Oh
thank
you.
Thank
you.
Avril.
The
estimated
lifespan
is
15
years
for
the
this
equipment
and
it
would
serve
all
the
early
voting
locations
for
all
the
election
types.
So
the
municipalities
of
the
primary
and
the
general
for
voters.
It
reduces
check-in
time
at
the
locations
and
it
increases
accuracy
by
eliminating
hand,
marking
mistakes,
so
sometimes
people
will
Mark
too
many
ovals
or
they
will
put
a
check
or
an
x
on
the
oval,
or
sometimes
they
forget
to
flip
over
the
ballot.
So
this
will
will
eliminate
those
factors
which
is
fantastic.
C
C
C
All
auditing
procedures
remain
unchanged,
so
we
can
talk
about
the
voter
experience
when
they
check
in
they'll
be
issued
a
paper
ballot
that
looks
like
this.
It's
a
piece
of
paper
and
the
voter
will
then
take
their
ballot
to
a
voting
booth
and
instead
of
a
pen
being
there,
the
express
vote
machine
will
be
there.
They'll
insert
the
ballot
into
the
machine
and
they'll
make
their
selections
on
the
screen.
Then
they'll
be
prompted
to
review
it
electronically
and
once
they're
happy
with
those
selections,
they'll
print
it,
and
then
they
can
review
their
selections.
C
C
So
they
use
it
for
all
in-person
voting,
it's
certified
by
the
State
Board
of
Elections,
it's
vetted
by
the
Buncombe
County
Board
of
Elections
and
supported
by
Buncombe
County
I.T
director,
as
we
discussed
earlier,
the
Commissioners
approved
it
for
Ada
purposes
four
years
ago
and
it's
easy
set
up
for
poll
workers
elect.
We.
We
also
have
someone
on
staff
who
has
implemented
this
in
another
County,
so
we
have
in-house
knowledge
for
implementing
it
and
it
reduces
paper
consumption
by
half
it's
smaller.
It's
also
cost
less
and
then
a
great
benefit
of
expressvote.
B
B
To
recap:
our
fiscal
year:
2023
budget,
we
are
looking
at
our
amended
budget
at
April,
17
2023.
This
excludes
changes
made
at
our
April
18th
meeting,
which
totaled
two
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
parking
services,
revenue
and
expenditures,
our
budgeted
expenses,
total
408.9
million
dollars
and
386
million
dollars
in
revenues.
B
To
balance
the
budget
we
budgeted
appropriate
fund
balance
and
the
amount
of
15.8
million
dollars.
In
September,
we
appropriated
an
additional
5.2
million
dollars
for
obligations
for
goods
and
services
that
were
not
received
in
fiscal
year
22.
and
in
February
we
transferred
1.8
million
dollars
to
the
capital
fund
per
the
fund
balance
policy.
This
totals
22.9
million
dollars
of
appropriate
fund
balance.
B
Sales
tax
is
down
about
1.1
million
dollars
from
our
budget
reminder
that
our
sales
tax
receipts
lagged
by
three
months.
So
this
projection
is
based
only
on
our
receipts.
For
the
year
through
January,
intergovernmental
revenue
is
coming
in
1.4
million
dollars
over
budget,
mostly
due
to
a
three
million
dollar
excess
in
Medicaid
hold
harmless
payment.
B
Expenditures
are
projected
at
95.4
percent
of
budget
at
a
total
of
390.2
million
dollars
from
the
graph
depicted
here.
You
see
that
we
are
projecting
salaries
and
benefits
to
be
underspent
by
9.9
million
dollars.
Program
support
under
spent
by
3.5
million
dollars
and
operating
under
spent
by
2.9
Million
Dollars.
B
Since
the
last
time
we
met,
we
were
see
reviewed
the
list
of
recommended
positions
and
cut
22
positions
as
well
as
staggered.
Some
start
dates
of
new
positions.
To
begin
later,
in
the
fiscal
year
which
saved
3.5
million
dollars,
we
have
reduced
the
salary
budget
to
account
for
lap
salary.
As
we
know,
we
will
not
be
100
percent
staffed.
B
B
B
So
we
know
that
we're.
We
know
that
we're
not
100
staffed
at
any
given
time
so
rather
than
budget
a
hundred
percent
of
salaries
and
and
know
that
we're
going
to
give
some
back
because
there
is
lap
salary,
because
there
are
people
who
aren't
here
and
in
positions
we're
not
going
to
budget
the
full
100
percent
of
of
salaries,
we're
budgeting
about
94
of
salaries
based
on
historical
labs,
and
so
that
accounts
for
us.
Reducing
the
salary
and
benefits
budget
by
9.1
million
dollars.
A
B
A
B
So
this
brings
us
to
the
total
of
budgeted
expendures
for
the
fiscal
year.
24
second
pass
budget,
our
expansures
total
425.4
million
dollars
with
salaries
and
benefits
at
182.6
million
dollars.
Program
support,
which
includes
education,
is
budgeted
at
139
million
dollars.
Operating
expendures
are
budgeted
at
63.9
million
dollars.
Debt
Service
is
budget
at
21
million
dollars.
Transfers
and
other
financing
are
budget
at
13.5
million
dollars.
Capital
outlay
is
budget
at
4.5
million
dollars
and
we
have
budgeted
contingency
at
one
million
dollars.
B
So,
looking
at
the
comparison
with
the
fiscal
year,
23
amended
budget
by
function,
the
overall
increase
in
expendures
is
4.1
percent
more
than
than
the
current
year.
This
is
your
budget
by
function
as
the
number
one
priority
Center
our
December
budget,
Retreat
Public
Safety
sees
an
increase
of
6.9
million
dollars.
A
Any
thoughts
you
would
share
on
that
I
mean
what
kind
of
thing
about
our
you
know.
Our
unallocated
fund
balance
is
a
sort
of
all
contingency
in
a
way
right.
The
funds
that
we
have
available
to
spend
on
things
something
happened
that
we
weren't
forecasting
so,
in
addition
to
the
unallocated
fund,
balance,
there's
sort
of
this
million
dollars
that
we're
not
planning
to
spend
but
could
spend.
So
how
do
you
all
think
about
that
number.
D
I
think
it's
low,
but
but
quite
honestly,
when
we
do
the
budget,
we
can't
spend
contingency
unless
we
come
back
to
you,
and
that
is
for
those
unforeseen
things.
We
had
it.
When
we
did
covid,
we
were
able
to
use
our
contingency.
You
gave
us
the
option
to
use
that
money
right
out
the
bat
without
touching
and
looking
at
fund
balance.
We've
had
it
again
when
we
had
the
hurricane
Fred
or
a
tropical
storm
Fred.
D
When
we
were
able
to
come
to
you
and
said,
give
us
some
funds
set
aside
this
money,
so
we
can
start
right
away
addressing
the
needs
in
our
community.
So
that's
what
we
use
contingency
for
we
have
not
looked
to
use
it
from
fund
balance
and
appropriate
fund
balance.
We've
always
tried.
We
have
that
as
a
secondary
safety
net,
but
we've
always
looked
at
that
contingency
number
as
opportunity
to
quickly
deploy
and
start
working
on
items.
B
As
well,
I
believe
that
in
Pat
in
Prior
years,
a
lot
of
departments
had
contingency
baked
into
their
departmental
budgets
and
we-
and
we
have
worked
with
departments
over
the
last
couple
years
to
ensure
that
contingency,
any
contingency
is
here
at
the
county
level,
so
that
if
departments
do
run
over
budget,
then
then
they
might
look
for
contingency
from
us,
so
that
so
we
really
have
reduced
operating
budgets
to
just
what
they
need
to
operate.
As
opposed
to
historical.
B
So
we
are
going
to
transfer
those
dollar
similar
to
what
we
do
with
conservation,
easements
and
affordable
housing.
We're
going
to
take
those
dollars
and
put
them
in
fund
220
for
our
special
projects
fund,
which
is
a
multi-year
fund,
so
that
in
in
the
case
that
there
are
unspent
funds
at
the
at
the
end
of
the
year,
they
will
be
able
to
be
utilized
in
the
prior
in
the
in
the
future
year
and.
D
The
Pre-K
committee
has
recommended
that
the
money,
if
they
don't
allocate
it
this
year,
they
had
some
shortages
and
staff
and
I
couldn't
spend
all
their.
That
means,
if
it
stays
in
the
education
fund,
it
would
fall
back
to
general
fund,
so
they're
asking
that
that
money
be
set
aside
similar
to
we
do
for
affordable
housing.
Are
we
due
for
from
conservation
easement
that
that
money
can
be
set
aside
in
a
multi-year
fund?.
F
Yeah
just
to
provide
a
tiny
bit
more
context
again
when
the
fund
was
established.
It
didn't
have
that
multi-year
structure
around
it.
So
since
fiscal
year
20
about
541
000
has
been
returned
and
rolled
back
into
the
general
fund
and
we're
looking
at
probably
about
145
000.
That
is
poised
to
be
returned
this
year,
as
as
County
management
said,
it's
factors
often
related
to
sort
of
hiring
cycles.
G
What
we're?
Finally,
the
big
problem
we
have
in
early
childhood
is
getting
qualified
people
and
that's
why
we've
got
to
work
with
Buncombe,
Tech
and
other
schools
to
make
sure
we
can
beef
up
our
training,
because
in
several
instances
it
what
Inca
knows
that
Emma
we
opened
state-of-the-art
facility
there,
but
I,
don't
I'm,
not
sure
we're
up
to
capacity
yet
because
we
don't
have
the
trained
personnel
and
that's
what
doing
this
will
give
us
some
flexibility
and
to
take
advantage.
You
know
in
the
future.
F
B
H
F
D
F
H
B
In
our
second
pass
budget,
you
see
property
tax
as
usual
the
largest
revenue
Source
here
at
250.4
million
dollars.
This
is
four
percent
growth.
Over
last
year,
we
are
budgeting
sales
tax
at
48.9
million
dollars
in
Revenue
around
five
percent
over
our
projection
for
this
year,
intergovernmental
revenues
budget
at
51.6
million
dollars
sales
and
services
at
22.2
million
dollars,
transfers
are
budgeted
at
seven
million
dollars.
B
Sales
and
services
sees
an
increase
of
4.3
million
dollars,
I'll
be
discussing
some
drivers
on
the
next
slide.
Transfers
are
decreased
by
5.4
million
dollars.
We
see
approximately
two
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
additional
permits
and
fees
Revenue
and
the
increase
of
2.7
million
dollars
in
other
revenues
is
Bond
proceeds
from
going
out
to
debt
for
vehicles
this
year.
A
B
So
to
dig
in
some
of
the
drivers
impacting
our
Revenue
changes
here
you
see
a
list
of
departments
in
which
there
is
an
increase
or
decrease
of
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
or
more
in
Revenue.
Our
largest
increase
Revenue
in
departments
is
ambulance.
Revenue
increasing
that
Revenue
budget
by
almost
two
million
dollars,
tax
collections
revenue
is
driven
by
the
five
percent
collection
fee
for
occupancy
tax
collection,
Health
and
Human.
Services
sees
an
increase
of
1.2
million
dollars,
mainly
due
to
increased
Medicaid
Revenue
permits
budgets.
B
B
It
will
affect
us
it
and
so
we're
still
waiting
on
the
state
to
pass
their
budget.
We
do
know
that
that
expand.
If
we
do
need
to
expand
and
staff.
The
state
has
tastly
said
that
they
will
cover
additional
costs
in
the
first
couple
years
of
that
expansion,
so
that
we
shouldn't
see
a
county
cost,
but
we
have
not
heard
the
details
of
of
that.
Yet.
G
B
B
We
have
not
drawn
down
a
lot
of
revenue
from
the
state
because
we
have
held
on
to
Too
Much
fund
balance
in
our
911
fund,
and
so
the
state
decides
that,
if
you
have
held
on
to
Too
Much
fund
balance,
then
they
will
not
distribute
more
monies,
so
we're
exploring
ways
to
to
upgrade
facilities
and
he's
exploring
ways
to
draw
down
more
Revenue
in
that
book.
In.
B
So
we
take
the
state
funding
for
9-1-1
and,
yes,
that
is
in
a
separate
fund
Okay.
So
in
the
general
fund,
our
Personnel
costs
and
most
of
our
operating
are
in
the
general
fund
for
9-1-1,
but
any
of
the
state
funding.
We
we
keep
in
a
separate
fund
that
that
is
budgeted
annually,
but
does
have
fund
balance.
If
we
don't
spend
all
the
all
the
funding.
B
B
B
A
A
D
A
B
B
B
So,
sales
tax
revenue,
recalling
that
this
Revenue
lags
by
three
months.
This
is
the
most
difficult
Revenue
stream
to
forecast
in
budget.
While
we
budget
10
over
our
forecast
for
fiscal
year
22
and
this
year's
budget,
it
appears
we
will
come
up
short
on
this.
The
budget
for
fiscal
year
24
set
at
a
modest
five
percent
increase
over
our
projection.
This
increases
more
in
line
with
pre-pandemic
year-over-year
changes,
an
article
46
taxes
present
for
your
reference
and
this
tax
fund's
operating
in
capital
projects
for
AB
Tech.
A
Recognizing
it's
hard
to
predict
nobody's
got
a
crystal
ball,
but
the
I
mean
there
is
a
lot
of
you
know,
conjecture
that
there
could
be
a
mild
recession
later
this
year.
So
if
there
is,
would
this
likely
be
overly
optimistic
if
that
does
occur?
If
this
is,
where
more,
you
know
a
typical
increase,
when
you
don't
have
a
recession,
if
you
do
have
a
mild
recession,
then.
B
D
D
D
B
Yes,
this
is
just
as
a
recap.
We
discussed
this
last
time,
but
this
is.
This
is
education
year
over
year
and
the
agreement
we
made
in
2019
to
can
to
increase
per
the
unrestricted
Revenue
rate
year
over
year,
and
you
can
see,
with
the
exception
of
2020,
you
have
contributed
more
than
that
rate
to
the
schools.
The
10
million
dollars
does
reflect
a
10.3
percent
increase
over
last
year.
D
D
Park
is
not
here,
brownie,
so
I'm
going
to
go
to
you
and
Terry
the
Clean
Water
fund
that
was
brought
forward
by
commissioner
Wells
and
then
I
think
I
got
an
email
recently
from
Parker
about
another
hundred
thousand
dollars
for
the
green
bank.
So
if
you
guys
want
to
speak
to
that,
that
hundred
thousand
is
not
in
the
numbers.
Yet
we
would
need
to
get
consensus
to
go
ahead
and
move
that
one
forward.
A
Looking
at
you
know
all
the
different
programs
that
are
out
there
from
the
non-profit
environmental
Community
to
the
State
Environmental
agencies
and
all
the
work
that
they
do
around
water,
quality,
monitoring
and
protection
in
Buncombe,
County
and
thinking
about
this
question
you
know,
there's
a
lot
of
different
actors
in
This
Arena
and
the
county
has
a
role
too.
Of
course,
in
our
Planning
and
Zoning,
we
regulate
development
so
to
prevent.
You
know
runoff
and
things
like
that
into
creeks
and
reverse
so.
A
But
what
could
we
do
to
make
a
meaningful
difference
in
terms
of
improving
water
quality
in
Lincoln
County
part
of
what
we
kind
of
came
away
from
is
that
you
know,
there's
been
a
lot
of
really
good
planning
work
done
around
different
watersheds
in
Buncombe
County,
but
there
hasn't
been
the
resources
in
place
all
the
time
to
actually
Implement
these
really
good
plans,
and
so
part
of
our
part
of
our
thinking
is
well.
Let's
put
some
funding
towards
actually
implementing
these
well
thought
out.
A
Plans
that
are
out
there
for
one
of
the
watersheds
is
the
Swannanoa
River
Watershed
Cane
Creek
is
another
one.
So
anyway,
it's
you
know
it's
a
pretty
modest
recommendation.
I
mean
we're
not
going
to
fully
Implement
all
these
ideas
just
with
this
level
of
funding,
but
it
would
allow
us
to
kind
of
start
contributing
towards
since
we're
being
a
partner
and
implementing
some
of
the
kind
of
low-hanging
fruit
types
of
our
already
identified
projects.
A
E
Yeah
and
part
of
that-
and
we
had
several
meetings
on
this
with
lots
of
discussion
around
this
topic.
Part
of
this
also
really
allows
leveraging
so
those
partner
organizations
to
pull
in
a
lot
more
funding
with
this
small
amount
of
funding
and
a
hundred
thousand
of
it
was
specifically
for
that
water
fund
and
then
I
think
it's
the
other
42
is
specifically
our
Buncombe
County
Soil
and
Water,
with
their
sole.
Their
cost
share
program
that
they're
pulling
in
for
the
state.
E
A
That's
going
to
be
strongly
supported
through
the
passage
of
the
inflation
reduction
act
last
fall,
which
you
know
invested
in
lots
of
different
clean
energy
incentives
and
programs.
But
it's
there's
funding
specifically
to
create,
what's
referred
to
as
a
national,
green
Bank
initiative,
which
will
then
be
kind
of
administered
at
the
state
level.
So
there's
a
group
of
people
working
on
development
of
this
North,
Carolina
I,
think
they're,
calling
it
the
North
Carolina
clean
energy
fund,
also
known
as
the
North
Carolina
green
bank
and
the
the
the
basic
idea
is.
A
This
will
create
a
financing
platform
to
help
families
and
businesses
to
be
able
to
finance
all
of
these
great
new
Clean,
Energy
Technologies
that
are
becoming
available
in
the
marketplace.
From
you
know:
electric
vehicles
to
renewable
energy,
to
high
efficiency,
heat
pumps
and
all
these
different
kind
of
really
great
new.
Well,
in
some
cases
new.
A
E
You
know
whether
it's
the
the
heat
pumps,
the
the
hot
water
heaters,
all
the
as
well
as
the
Renewables
and
all
that
that
they
already
know
about,
but
I
think
this
is
going
yeah,
a
very
small
amount,
because
that's
a
loan
loss
Reserve
that
then
actually
will
allow
the
banks
to
have
what
about
a
million
that
they'll
be
able
to
invest.
That's.
A
The
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
for
a
loan
loss
Reserve
will
allow
the
creation
of
this
pilot
project
with
over
a
million
dollars
of
funding
from
a
credit
union
or
banking
partner
that
they
would
be
working
through
to
implement
this,
and-
and
it
does
have
this
kind
of
like
the
pilot
project
and
I-
think
the
larger
Green
Bank.
In
addition
to
all
the
clean
energy
benefits,
it
does
have
this
kind
of
strong
focus
on
on
community
equity
and
how?
Basically
you
know
for
very
affluent
folks-
you
know
electric
vehicles,
solar
energy,
it's
great
stuff.
A
But
the
question
is:
how
do
you
make
this
accessible
to
people
from
all
kind
of
financial
backgrounds?
So
a
lot
of
it's
focused
on
kind
of
opening
up
this
Market
to
you
know
Working
Families
and
smaller
businesses
in
the
community,
as
the
primary
kind
of
clients
of
who
would
work
through
the
green
bank.
So
all
right,
that's
our
story,
so
yeah
we
want
to.
We
want
to
recommend
we.
A
D
A
D
D
D
A
And
when
you
say
about
a
balanced
budget
again
in
your
mind,
that
would
be
within
a
forecasted
fund.
Balance
appropriation
more
in
the
17
to
19
million
neighborhood
right
I
mean
because
any
of
it's
technically
balanced
right
because
we're
just
going
to
say
we're
appropriating
unbalance
to
balance
the
budget.
But
you
think
realistically,
it's
going
to
be
more
likely
to
be
balanced
at.
A
A
Well,
I
would
say
you
know.
Yes,
you
know.
Definitely,
if
that's,
if
that's
you
know
the
neighborhood
that
you
think
we
need
to
get
into,
then
you
know
I
would
be
supportive
of
you
know
further
work
on
this
and
I
assume
a
lot
of
this
around
how
this
gets
phased
in
over
the
course
of
the
the
year
right
so
but
I
would
I
would
I
would
encourage
that
the
you
know
the
one,
the
one
other,
the
one
other
issue
I
wanted
to
talk
about
a
little
bit.
A
This
was
in
one
of
the
pieces
of
information
that
staff
circulated
was
the
question
around
the
living
wage
policy
and
how
much
additional
funding
would
be
needed
to
get
the
county
to
to
get
all
of
our
employees
through
living
wage
based
on
the
inflation
changes.
I
mean
this
is
a
number
that's
grown
quickly
with
inflation
right.
So
it's
part
of
all
that
the.
A
So
thank
you
for
going
into
some
more
detail
around
that
question.
I'm
pulling
up
the
memo
right
now,
so
the
staff's
analysis
is
that
there's
with
the
current
cost
of
living
adjustment,
it
would
only
require
an
additional
129
thousand
dollars
to
get
the
county
to
to
there's
66
employees
64
employees
that
would
still
be
below
the
living
wage
standard
under
the
currently
proposed
budget.
Well,.
B
A
B
A
H
A
You
know
and
I'm
happy
to
kind
of
be
somewhat
flexible
in
the
timing
of
how
we
do
that
and
not
saying
we
have
to
be
there
on
the
first
day
of
the
new
fiscal
year,
but
I
would
like
to
have
you
know
the
goal
that
to
get
to
get
100
of
our
employees
to
the
living
wage
standard.
So
I'll
speak
up
for
that
and
I
understand
that.
There's
compression
issues
that
go
along
with
that
so
anyway,
but
I'm
I'm,
supportive
of
continuing
to
look
at
that
and
and
I
know
with
that.
A
You
know
a
lot
of
the
other
positions
that
would
be
affected
by
the
inflation
are
also
positions
that
we're
really
struggling
with
retention
on
so
I
mean
in
a
way
kind
of
focusing
on
doing
some
more
in
those
areas
seem
like
something
that
we
need
to
be
doing
anyway
and
I
think
this.
We
will
be
doing
more
to
try
to
address
the
compensation
for
those
folks,
though,
so
that
we
improve
retention
and
to
attract
more
employees
to
fill
the
vacancies
right.
All.
H
D
One
thing
that
is
in
the
budget
and
I
know
the
sheriff
would
probably
be
reaching
out
on
this
he'd
ask
about
an
additional
three
dollars
for
the
detention
offices
and
sworn
officers.
We
did
include
the
three
dollars,
but
my
compromise,
which
I'm
not
sure
we
have
agreement
on,
but
my
position
of
what's
in
this
budget
is
first,
you
apply
to
Cola
and
if
there's
a
difference
for
folks,
then
you
get
the
additional
to
get
to
three.
So
it's
inclusive
of
the
cola
to
get
to
three.
It
is
not
three
dollars
and
top
of
the
code.
A
H
D
We
will
take
a
look
at
that
twenty
dollars
and
ten
cents
to
make
sure
all
of
our
positions
are
there.
I
do
want
to
look
at
that
compression.
That
would
happen
if
we
don't
address
compression
so
give
us
some
time
to
go
back
and
take
a
look
at
that.
But
knowing
that
that's
your
goal,
we
can
work
towards
that
sure
enough.
F
F
D
We're
good
on
the
current
year,
money
starting
to
to
roll
is
what
you're
asking
for
versus
starting
my
more
I.
Didn't
radical
proposal
right,
I
didn't
I
did
see
cleric
consensus
on
starting
July
1
at
b-rolled.
It
all
and
it
never
falls
out,
but
I
want
to
make
sure
that
we're
clear
on
current
year,
the
100
000
or
so
that
you
think,
is
going
to
be
left
over
the.
D
F
D
F
But
the
thing
I
do
want
to
hear
I
just
want
to
make
sure
we're
all
on
the
same
page
about
is
rolling
over
this
year's
return
funds
and
that
those
the
other
piece
just
to
make
sure
again
we're
being
very
serious,
is
that
the
committee's
recommendation
was
that
that
return
bucket
could
be
deployed
at
other
points
in
the
fiscal
year.
It
would
bring
forth
a
recommendation
to
us
right.
Okay,
great
awesome.
Thank
you.
A
A
D
D
A
A
D
K
So
the
things
that
we
are
looking
at
I
think
the
County's
entrance
and
part
of
the
scope
would
be
to
look
at
the
governance
structure,
whether
we
move
forward
as
two
separate
systems
adjust
how
we
operate
together
or
if
some
kind
of
joint
system
for
all
are
part
of
the
services
would
make
sense.
That
would
be
a
major
component
of
interest
in
this
type
of
a
scope,
also
looking
at
how
we
might
collaborate
again
between
the
two
entities,
either
in
a
joint
or
a
separate
structure.
K
K
A
look
at
Capital,
just
our
assets
and
making
sure
what
we
have
is
right
size
for
the
system.
There
are
other
components
that
may
become
options,
but
that's
part
of
the
discussion
is
what
is
necessary
and
what
might
be
an
option
of
interest
to
you
know
either
the
city
or
county,
so
those
could
be
built
as
options
in
a
scoping
exercise,
but
really
also
a
major
component
is
the
financial
aspect.
So
again,
regardless
of
governance
structure
and
everything
that
comes
out
as
a
recommendation.
K
K
D
And
the
other
piece
that
we've
been
asking
about
was
you
mentioned?
It
briefly
was
operations
the
actual
system,
what
we
have
on
the
ground?
How
do
we
scale
that
up?
Do
we
have
delivery?
So
we
have
more
frequency
of
buses.
How
do
we
increase
ridership?
Those
kind
of
just
operational
questions?
We've
been
asking
to
get
scoped
in
this
as
well.
A
A
You
know
I've
been
supportive
of
the
idea
of
doing
this
study
because
and
the
idea
of
really
looking
at
you
know
should
we
should
we
create
a
joint
transit
system
for
Asheville
and
Buncombe
County,
as
as
the
Asheville
area
continues
to
grow
and
urbanize,
but
because
of
you
know,
state
laws,
the
city
limits
are
not
changing.
You
know
the
city
limits
are
not
growing
organically,
along
with
the
population
growth
in
the
urbanization
of
our
area.
A
So,
as
the
main
you
know,
as
the
largest
Transit
service
provider
in
Western,
North
Carolina,
the
city
is
you
know,
of
course,
the
city
taxpayers
are
funding
the
services
within
the
city
limits,
but
over
time
of
that,
that
will
be
an
increasingly
kind
of
arbitrary
kind
of
limitation
on
the
service
delivery
for
transit
in
our
area.
So,
for
all
these
different
reasons,
I
felt,
like
you
know,
for
the
future.
Looking
at
some
kind
of
joint
system
really
is
a
pretty
good
idea.
A
But
it's
an
idea
that
you
know
there
hasn't
been
much
conversation
about
at
the
county-wide
level,
and
you
know
in
my
feedback
to
the
to
the
to
the
city.
Officials
was
that
you
know
I'm
sort
of
skeptical
that
that
would
be
supported
at
the
county-wide
level.
Just
because
you
know
we're
not
we're
not
Mecklenburg,
County
or
Wake
County
we're
a
very
high
percentage
of
our
residents
live
in
areas
that
would
be
served
by
transit.
A
lot
of
our
residents
live
in
load.
A
You
know
much
lower
population
density
areas,
rural
areas,
areas
that
wouldn't
be
served
by
transit,
so
it
might
be
a
much
harder
pitch
to
raise
taxes
on
everyone.
First
service
that,
like
a
lot
of
folks,
would
not
realistically
be
using
and
I
think
they've
I
think,
as
those
conversations
have
been
had
I
think
they've
kind
of
recognized
that
this
is
not
in
any
way
kind
of
like
hey.
We
do.
This
study
leads
to
passage
of
a
sales
tax
like
that's.
That
may
never
happen,
or
it
may
be
years
and
years
into
the
future.
A
So
so
so
part
of
my
sense
is
that
you
know
with
the
recognition
that
additional
funding
for
transits
more
likely
to
be
appropriated
by
the
city
of
Asheville
and
Buncombe
County,
like
those
as
part
of
our
budget
process,
that's
where
funding
would
likely
come
from
in
the
near
term
if
we're
going
to
improve
Transit
and
with
all
these
other
competing
demands
that
we
have
on
our
budget.
You
know
we
do,
and
so
does
the
city.
You
know
the
amounts
of
additional
funding
that
we
could
appropriate
for
this
purpose.
A
You
know
are
probably
modest.
You
know
with
all
that
said,
I
mean
my
sense
from
this
from
the
city.
Is
that
if
we're
not
going
to
have
some
major
new
funding
source
that
the
there's
not
a
lot
of
enthusiasm
for
creating
a
joint
system
at
the
city
level,
unless
you
know
if
it's,
if
it's
just
if
it's
something
we're
operating,
that
looks
a
lot
like
what
we're
operating
today.
That
was
part
of
my
sense
from
the
feedback
from
the
city
manager.
Would
you
share
that
or
I
mean
my
concern?
D
And
we
can
talk
about
that
scope
a
little
bit
more
to
make
sure
that
we
are
all
aligned.
I
do
feel
that
they
have
pulled
back
a
little
bit
from
the
revenue
sales
tax
conversation
about
this
study
and
more
about
operations.
When
we
talk
less,
they
were
also
focused
on
operations
and
how
do
we
drive
ridership
and
how
do
we
make
it
more
attractive
and
how
do
we,
roll
out
more
Capital,
Investments
I,
think
they
were
looking
at
it
more
broadly
than
just
on
the
revenue
side.
A
But,
but
not
very
interested
in
the
governance
changes
was
my
sense.
I
mean
there's,
you
know
the
city
manager
said:
why
would
we
form
an
authority
if
we're
just
running
something
that
looks
like
what
we
have
a
you
know,
a
system
of
the
size
that
we
have
today.
So,
if
that's
one
of
our
main
interests,
but
it's
not
very
much
interest
to
the
city
I'm,
just
kind
of
concerned
that
we
don't
have
a
shared
purpose
for
one
we're
doing
this.
G
G
A
I
mean
well
I,
guess
my
other
question
I
mean
I
I
do
think
the
city's
interested
in
looking
at
the
operational,
like
you
know
the
the
routes
and
things
like
that,
I
guess:
I
guess.
My
other
question
is
you
know
the
city.
Did
the
transit
master
plan
in
2018
I
mean
it's
only
a
few
years
old
I
mean
they
went
through
this
whole
process
to
look
at
those
exact
questions,
but
they
gave
up
with
a
new
plan.
G
A
Changed
and
it's
only
a
few
years
old,
so
why
why,
if
that
I
mean,
if
we're
basically
saying
we
don't
think
that
plan
answered
these
questions,
okay,
fair
enough,
why
did
it
not
and
and
are
we
going
to
go
through
the
same
process
and
have
the
same
results
like?
Why
was
that?
If
was
that
a
failed
process?
And
if
so,
what
would
be
done
differently
this
time?
F
Mean
I
will
say
that
I
that
I
do
think
there
are
like
very
pressing
important
questions
around
Transit
and
its
intersections
with
affordable
housing
and
other
things
like
early
childhood
and
grocery
stores
and
workplace.
You
know
areas
where
there's
a
higher
density
of
employees
going
to
so
it
does
feel
like
there
are
very
pressing
questions
around
Transit
and
access
in
front
of
us
as
a
community
and
I
and
I
would
share.
F
I
would
share
the
reservations
about
appropriating
this
level
of
funding
into
a
feasibility
study
if
it
wasn't
sort
of
laser
focused
on
and
and
we
had
full
alignment
with
the
city
going
into
it
on
exactly
the
questions
that
that
we're
looking
at.
As
you
know,
you
kind
of
scan
what's
happening
in
some
other
communities.
There's
interesting
stuff
happening
around,
like
Rideshare
fleets
being
deployed
in
parallel
to
buses
and
kind
of
looking
at
offering
different
kinds
of
options
to
folks,
especially
people
who
rely
on
this.
F
F
To
that
one.
So
I'm
not
averse
to
investing
resources.
It's
not
getting
to
good
understanding
better
how
to
respond
to
what
the
community
is
needed.
But
I
am
concerned
that
a
process
that
sort
of
Orient
or
already
oriented
towards
this
assumption
that
what
the
solution
will
rest
in
the
form
of
more
buses,
more
routes,
Etc.
It
misses
some
opportunities
that
are
there
around
Innovation
and
and
looking
at
other
approaches,
we
could
be
taking.
J
I,
like
her
that
I'm
also
interested
in
as
brownie
mentioned,
the
governance
structure
there
that
that's
worth
considering
I.
Think
at
this
point
and
to
Jasmine's
point,
we
have
a
comp
plan
coming
out
and
a
lot
of
work
being
done
by
our
planning
folks.
That
will
inform
what
this
could
look
like.
So
as
long
as
we're
all
on
the
same
page
within
city
and
county
about
that.
I
I
appreciate
a
commissioner
Beach
ferrara's
comments
specifically
around
affordable
housing.
That's
something
we
discuss
regularly
as
part
of
that
committee.
My
greater
concern
is
if
we
are
going
to
invest
in
this,
that
we
ensure
that
we
get
out
of
it,
what
we
anticipate
getting
out
of
it
versus
a
2018
study.
I
F
I
mean
one
thing:
I
hear
is
clarifying
whether
we
are
in
perfect
alignment
with
the
city,
not
just
on
what
this,
what
the
elements
of
this
usability
study
would
be,
but
on
what
happens
after
the
feasibility
study,
which
is
really
the
heart
of
the
matter?
Is
this
going
to
get
us
to
a
springboard
for
which
there
will
be
a
context
for
joint
action
moving
forward?
Or
is
this
going
to
get
us
to
an
impasse
where
we're
kind
of
stuck?
A
Yeah
good
discussion,
I
think
for
myself,
like
I'm
glad
we've
had
some
of
the
conversations
with
the
city
officials,
because
I
think
it's
kind
of
highlighted
some
areas
that
we
potentially
may
not
be
on
the
same
page
I
mean
I
remain
open
to
this,
but
I
would
like
to
I
mean
for
myself
I'd
like
to
just
have
some
more
conversations
with
our
city
colleagues
to
just
kind
of
talk.
Those
issues
through
and
kind
of
see
like
are.
We
are
we
really
kind
of
thinking
about
this
in
ways
that
are
so
different.
A
It
may
not
be.
You
know
a
good
fit
because
we
might
not
have
the
right
shared
assumptions
going
into
it,
or
perhaps
we
could
Bridge
some
of
those
and
kind
of
get
more
on
the
same
page.
So
I
don't
know
for
myself,
I'm
not
prepared
to
say
I'm
for
it
or
not
for
it
today.
I
think
it
just
needs
a
little
more.
We
need
some
more
conversations
to
think
these
issues
through
to
and.
D
D
F
A
Maybe
just
one
other
question
on
the
the
transit
study
issue,
the
you
know,
I've
shared
with
the
city
officials
that
have
talked
to
me
about
it.
You
know
the
question
around
the
sales
tax,
because
I
do
think
that
originally
that
was
kind
of
a
big
impetus
around
all
this
is
like.
Oh,
let's
do
this
study
and
like
let's
show
what's
possible
and
then
we'll
build
on
some
momentum
for
doing
a
county-wide
quarters
and
sales
tax
increase
approved
by
the
voters
and
I've.
A
You
know
and
I've
just
shared.
You
know
not
necessarily
against
it,
but
just
sort
of
my
skepticism
that
that's
something
that
would
win
county-wide
voter
approval.
You
know
just
to
increase
transit
services
and
but
I
guess
I
just
want
to
I,
don't
want
to
share
perspective
if
that's
not
kind
of
a
the
thinking
of
the
larger
commission.
You
know
when
we
looked
at
the
conservation
bonds
and
the
affordable
housing
bonds,
we
went
through
a
you
know,
pretty
in-depth
process.
To
really
look
at
that.
You
know
what
would
be
the
purpose
of
it.
A
Is
this
something
that
we
think
is
politically
viable?
You
know
partnering
with
trust,
Republic
land.
They
did
a
lot
of
research
around
kind
of
the
Public's,
the
community's
willingness
to
vote
for
these
Investments,
and
that
was
it
was
a
really
good
process
which
obviously
led
to
a
great,
a
great
result
and
good
programs.
So
there
hasn't
been
any
such
process
like
that
for
the
sales
tax.
A
What
I've
been
relaying
is
just
more
of
my
gut
level
concerns
or
kind
of
thinking
around
it,
but
I
just
wanted
to
see
if
any
other
Commissioners
have
a
I,
don't
know
a
different
perspective
or
if
there
is
support
for
kind
of
looking
at
a
sales
tax
referendum,
because
if,
if
there's
not,
then
I
do
think
that
that
would
be
helpful
for
those
City
officials
to
know
that
we
don't
see
that
as
being
something.
That's
like
a
a
near-term
likely
initiative
that.
G
Would
be
out
there
I
think
one
of
the
hurdles
you
have
with
the
tax
for
the
transportation
system
is
the
past
history
of
what
the
city
has
done
and
it's
just
the
2018.
look
at
that
study
and
as
you
go
back,
they've
talked
about
transportation
for
as
long
as
I
can
remember,
but
they
don't
do
anything.
E
F
I
Particularly
having
you
know,
some
of
those
areas
further
into
the
county
where
public
transportation
does
not
reach
I,
would
hate
asking
folks
to
support
something
that
you
know,
isn't
going
to
directly
benefit
their
day-to-day
in
this
and
doesn't
appear
to
have
that
opportunity
coming
down
the
pipe
at
any
time
in
the
near
future.
Either.
A
J
F
A
Agree-
and
so
that's
I
think
that's.
The
important
point
is
that
we
need,
if
we
do
do
something
together
around
studying
improved
service
levels,
we
just
need
to
realize
that
we
would
likely
be
going
into
that.
If
there's
not
the
sales
tax
option,
it
would
basically
be
you
know
in
our
budget.
We
would
need
to
plan
to
invest
more
funding
into
Transit
and
I
agree
with
commissioner
Whitesides
that
you
know
I
think
there's
a
lot
of
sense
of
like
hey.
A
You
know
how
have
the
services
really
changed
for
the
better,
but
it
is
you
know
it
is
a
very
expensive
service
right,
the
city,
the
city,
actually
spends
more
on
Transit
than
most
other
Metro
areas
around
North
Carolina,
on
a
per
like
on
a
per
capita
basis.
The
city
spends
invests
more
in
transit
than
most
places,
but
it's
just
you
know
it's
with
the
population
density
of
our
community.
I
mean
it's
just.
It
was
challenging
to
provide
very
high
level
very
high
service
levels
in
a
community
with
relatively
low
population
density.
A
Compared
to
you
know,
larger
cities,
where
you
see
transit
systems
that
operate
at
a
very
different
level
of
service.
To
you
know
it's
a
different
land
use
pattern
that
they
have
to
to
to
work
with.
So
all
right,
thank
you
for
letting
me
get
back
there
for
just
a
minute
from
the
staff,
any
other
items
we
need
to
talk
about
this
morning
now.
D
Unless
there's
any
other
guidance
that
you
want
to
give
us
as
we
move
forward,
we
finalize
in
the
intent
it
would
be
on
May
on
May,
2nd,
May,
9th
yeah,
fire
districts
and
education.
Partners
would
come
so
you'll
hear
from
a
B
Tech
Asheville,
Prime,
Asheville,
City
schools
and
welcome
County
Schools.
D
We
also
have
I
believe
five
fire
districts
that
are
currently
asking
for
a
tax
increase,
so
you
hear
from
those
five
fire
districts
as
well
and
then
just
following
after
that
was
there
another
budget
message
will
be
coming
forward,
so
we
will
be
looking
to
finalize
any
input,
any
things
that
you
need
to
see
us
cut
our
ad
from
our
budget
between
the
9th
and
the
16th.
Well,
we
have
a
finally
balanced
budget.