From Staff Reports 

Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools “will finish the year with 4 percent less funding from the county than they anticipated,” requiring belt-tightening. 

Because of recent budget cuts, mid-year, ACS will have to slice its spending by $718,000 ,and BCS, by $3.97 million.

“Dr. Rob Jackson, BCS’ superintendent, said this 4 percent cut more than halfway through the fiscal year is equal to a 10.4 percent cut over the final five months,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Jan. 22.

Following is a statement from Jackson:

“I do not anticipate any job loss. 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.” 

Jackson added, “We will work with our Board of Education and school team to continue to search for more potential savings.”

However, he noted that dipping into the school system’s reserve funding is not sustainable.

Jackson added, “This is just one in a series of cost-cutting moves, totaling $17.6 million, the county has made to account for a projected revenue loss of between 15 and 25 million dollars this fiscal year.”

News 13 added, “As of November 2024, unemployment numbers total more than 10,000 and occupancy tax is down nearly $6 million compared to last year.

“Sales tax numbers are down another $1 million as of October, compared to last year.

“The county is in a hiring freeze, with the exception of 911 staff, and has reduced capacity in animal shelters and deferred scheduled maintenance among other directives.

“Buncombe County is also spending its reserves for the first time in over two decades.”

Buncombe County Commissioner Drew Ball cautioned,.“If we get too low in our county reserves, then that could impact our bond rating and that hurts everything from our schools to our parks to housing to county operations so it’s really important that we are prudent with our county funds right now and that we’re not spending money that we don’t have. For Buncombe County, it’s an issue of cash flow.

“Buncombe County cannot save Buncombe County by itself; we need federal and state dollars to help us through this. Until those state and federal dollars start flowing, we’ve got enough money in the bank to protect county services and protect our schools for the long run,” News 13 quoted Ball as saying.