Black Mountain Town Council unanimously approves $17 million budget
Property tax rate unchanged in 2022-23 as spending plan up 15%
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 13, 2022
Black Mountain Town Manager Josh Harrold presents his recommended 2022-23 budget to the town council on June 28. The $17 million spending plan was approved unanimously. Photo by Fred McCormick
The Town of Black Mountain, following a June 28 public hearing, adopted a $16.9 million budget and five year capital improvement plan for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The spending plan, which is up 15% from 2021-22 and maintains the current ad valorem tax rate for property owners, was approved by town council, 5-0.
Town Manager Josh Harrold initially presented his recommended budget, which includes increases for personnel, capital, debt and operating costs, in May. The document allocates funding for a 6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for all full-time employees, six new full-time positions within the town and classification and a classification and compensation study reviewing the current salary structure and its competitiveness within the hiring market.
“Across the nation, we’re going through the Great Resignation, which hasn’t had any direct effects here, but I think the fallout is beginning to show,” Harrold told the town council on Tuesday. “We’re having issues, as everybody else is, hiring employees to fill vacant positions.”
Employee retention and filling vacancies has been a theme in the board’s discussions during the budget process, which began in earnest with a day-long retreat in March. The COLA increases included in the town budget double the 3% raise employees received in 2021-22. The $170,000 budgeted for two new administrative positions - a project manager and human resources technician - is intended to alleviate workloads Harrold described earlier this month as “overwhelming.”
Prior to the budget hearing, the town council voted unanimously to approve retention bonuses of $2,500 for each of the town’s full-time employees. The $207,000 allocation will allow the town to adjust its payroll cycle.
“In order to do that with our new financial software we’ll be getting soon, we were going to hold checks back a week,” Harrold said. “But, the way things are going for everybody, with inflation, gas prices, food costs and everything, this is what I proposed.”
The adopted budget also addresses public safety concerns, including staffing, outdated equipment and aging vehicles, raised by Black Mountain Police Chief Steve Parker during his annual report in February.
The town will fund three new positions in the department this year and expend $580,000 for five new patrol vehicles and body cameras that integrate with the current in-car system.
The $9.5 million general fund, which accounts for 57% of the total budget, shows an 11% decrease from the current year. The difference is attributed to the creation of separate funds for fire, development and Powell Bill services.
The Black Mountain Town Council discusses the 2022-23 budget during a June 28 public hearing. Photo by Fred McCormick
The town’s $2.2 million water fund, up 10% from the previous year, includes $56,000 for an additional position within the department and a 6% increase in rates for consumers.
“The average person using 5,000 gallons per month, will see a monthly increase of about $2.50,” Harrold said.
The town will appropriate $604,000 to balance the budget, as Black Mountain’s ad valorem tax rate of 30.6 cents per $100 of valuation will remain unchanged in the coming fiscal year.
“Something we can be proud of is that we (have) the lowest tax rate in Buncombe County,” Harrold said.
The adoption of the budget clears the way for the town council to consider additional capital improvement projects through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was passed in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The town will receive a total of $2.6 million, which it plans to expend as revenue replacement, from the Federal government, and has committed roughly half to infrastructure improvements at the Lake Tomahawk dam and a water line replacement.
The town council, in its July 11 regular meeting, approved $480,000 of funding for renovations to the Grey Eagle Arena, the construction of dedicated pickleball courts at a site yet to be determined, sidewalks along Charlotte Street to U.S. 70 and the repaving of the parking lot surrounding the public safety building.
Town officials plan to discuss potential uses for the remaining $1.2 million later this year.
“We all feel the pain that everyone is feeling right now, with inflation and everything going on,” Vice Mayor Ryan Stone said, following the public hearing. “We are aware of what the employees are dealing with, and what we’re all dealing with, and we tried to address that the best we can.”
The approved budget, he continued, represents “progress for the Town of Black of Mountain.”