Politics

Hearing today on $117 million county budget

Board of Commissioners fully funded the School Board budget, which was presented by Superintendent David Jones and School Board Chairman Ervin Bazzle.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 2, 2014

Four years after making across-the-board cuts, the Henderson County Board of Commissioners agreed last month on the details of a new budget that fully funds the School Board's request, increases funding for the Flat Rock Playhouse, initiates work on two rural community parks and anticipates a new health education building.

The 2014 budget drafting season, coming on either side of the May 6 primary that saw incumbents Michael Edney and Tommy Thompson re-elected and Larry Young defeated, was remarkable for its amicable approach.
The board accepted most of County Manager Steve Wyatt's recommendations but added an extra $2.5 million worth of spending before giving a tentative OK. The $117 million budget needs $8.7 million worth of reserves to balance. The fund balance is still $3 million above the 12 percent the Board of Commissioners has by policy agreed to hold in reserve.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget at 5:30 p.m. today in the assembly room of the Historic Courthouse.
Of the $2.4 million the commissioners added "some of that's one-time money but a lot of that is ongoing operations money," Wyatt warned. "You got elected to make these hard decisions. For the next several years, those operational costs come back year after year. So your base budget next year ... bumps those numbers, minus those one-time park type projects. That will be your starting point."
If the commissioners had to use new property tax money for the additional spending, it would have raised taxes by 2 cents. It did not have to because of the healthy reserves.
"You're good (financially). Next year you're fine, and then after that you'll have to look at the numbers and see how that plays out," Wyatt added.
Commissioner Edney added that the county department heads in recent years have turned in $3-4 million in unspent money, giving the county a cushion as it goes into the new fiscal year.
"You're in good financial shape," Wyatt acknowledged. "I'll say this. I wouldn't trade our position with anybody I now of. You're not borrowing money for operations. You balance the budget every year. You do a good job of trying to meet the needs and balance that out. I could argue with about anything in this budget on either side. Is it perfect? No."

Grappling with square footage

John Mitchell, the county's business development director, updated the commissioners on planning for the health sciences building. A planning team made up of representatives from BRCC, Wingate, Pardee, the city and county has been meeting to plan the facility. It toured existing classrooms, offices and medical facility that the three tenants currently use and visited buildings out of town. Construction is scheduled to start in December.
"What's the total square footage we're looking at right now, do we know?" Edney asked.
"Don't answer that question," Wyatt answered, half-kidding.
"It's getting smaller by the day," Wyatt said. "It started out kind of small and then it got huge. When the groups went on all these tours, every time we took a tour by the mileage added square feet. So right now, we're at about 78,000 square feet. But we're still in the process of weeding out."
Commissioner Larry Young said, "You know you got a height restriction."
"May have to get some help from Tom Apodaca on that," Wyatt responded.
Actually, a downtown height restriction Hendersonville voters adopted in 2007 applies to the central business district and would not affect the new building.
The city zoning ordinance allows for a 50-foot high structure in the office-institutional zone on Sixth Avenue at Oak Street. The building could go higher than that, City Planning Director Sue Anderson, if the county increased the front and side setbacks. The builder could go one foot higher for each additional two feet of setback. At roughly 12 feet per floor, the 50-foot limit could accommodate a four-story building.