Community garden faces cuts in proposed 2020-21 budget
‘Challenging times’ ahead as Town of Black Mountain navigates an uncertain fiscal year
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 9, 2020
The Dr. John Wilson Community Garden could lose its two sole part-time employees in the 2020-21 fiscal year, as the Town of Black Mountain begins to brace for the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Fred McCormick
The message from town manager Josh Harrold in the overview of his proposed budget warns of “challenging times” for Black Mountain in the 2020-21 fiscal year, and possibly for “years to come,” as the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold. While the full scope of the financial implications for the town has yet to come into focus, its impact is beginning to take shape.
Harrold presented his recommended budget to the board of aldermen in a May 22 workshop, unveiling a plan that includes proposed cuts to the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden. The board, which will meet for a second budget workshop at 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 10, will hold a public hearing on the proposal later this month.
“The biggest impact (of COVID-19) will be in sales tax revenue, which makes up 18 - 20% of our general fund budget,” Harrold said in a June 3 interview. “That is collected at the state level and distributed back to the counties and municipalities. In Buncombe County, the largest sales tax revenues go to the county and the City of Asheville, and we receive a small percentage in comparison.”
Widespread business closures began in mid-March, as state and local governments implemented stay-at-home orders in an effort to slow the spread of the contagion. The directive, which included barring non-essential businesses from opening their doors to the public, continued through April and most of May. The abrupt disruption of commerce complicated the budget process, which began in February, according to Harrold.
“When those businesses are shut down, of course you don’t have people buying their products, so you don’t have people spending money in the county and generating sales tax revenue,” he said. “One of the issues with sales tax revenue is that there is a lag between when it’s spent, when it’s collected and when it’s distributed back to jurisdictions. That lag is around three months, so one of the troublesome issues is trying to project what those revenues are going to be going into next fiscal year without knowing the real numbers.”
Typically, sales tax revenue is projected based off of historical data, according to the town manager, but the unprecedented closure of local businesses makes the 2020-21 fiscal year difficult to predict.
“This is going to affect every jurisdiction differently,” Harrold said. “Jurisdictions that are really dependent on tourism, as we are in this county, will see a major impact on sales tax revenue.”
The $11.8 million budget is broken down into three categories: the general fund, water fund and golf fund. The general fund, which accounts for $9.4 million of the overall budget, allocates money for the town’s seven departments and governing board. The majority of the general fund ($6,437,906) is dispersed to the town’s police, fire and public services departments.
Cuts recommended for community garden
Operating costs within the general fund are proposed to be cut by 8.29% in the upcoming fiscal year, while allocations for the town’s recreation department face a proposed 23.35% decrease. A 16.3% reduction in personnel expenditures for the department was created by Harrold’s recommendation to eliminate the four part-time positions associated with the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden. Two of those four positions are currently filled by garden manager Diana McCall and pollinator garden coordinator Emily Sampson, while the other two remain vacant.
The 3.5-acre community garden, which is situated on the south side of Veterans Park, was established in 2004. It was later relocated to its current site, which currently rents 82 plots and is supported by nearly 100 volunteers. McCall, who has been managing the garden since 2006, has continued to operate the program, with the implementation of safety protocols, throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
The garden produced more than 4,500 pounds of nutrient-dense produce in 2019 with the assistance of nearly 800 volunteer hours and has donated more than 40,000 pounds of produce to the community since 2008. In addition, it offers educational resources for members of the community who are interested in agriculture and partners with a wide range of local organizations, including Warren Wilson College, UNC Asheville, Gardens that Give and many more.
While the community garden provides a “great service” to the citizens of Black Mountain, according to Harrold, his recommendation to eliminate the positions was based on available resources.
“When you get to the point that there is no more to cut from operating expenses, you have to look at personnel,” Harrold said. “As we looked at the budget, we wanted to look at what part-time positions were absolutely essential to keep in place, from an operational standpoint.”
As the town looks to adapt to changes brought about by the global health crisis, Harrold was forced to consider reallocating resources within the parks and recreation department. If the recommendation to eliminate the community garden positions is approved, he plans to assign the duties associated with the garden to current full-time employees of the department whose roles have been impacted by the cancellation of programs.
“Our parks and recreation department heads a lot of programs, and a lot of those programs aren’t happening this year because of COVID-19,” he said. “We’re not holding summer camps, we’ve closed the pool for the season, our sports programs are on hold and we’re not renting out the Lakeview Center or Grey Eagle Arena for events. In a typical year, our full-time parks and recreation staff run those programs, but this year they are not.”
Garden plays a crucial role in the community
The 3.5-acre Dr. John Wilson Community Garden, located on the south side of Veterans Park, could lose funding for part-time staff, including its manager, in the Town of Black Mountain’s upcoming 2020-21 budget. Fred McCormick
The garden plays a significant role, according to Ali Casparian, founder and executive director of Black Mountain-based nonprofit organization Bounty & Soul, one of the garden’s many community partners. Bounty & Soul distributes free produce to area residents facing food insecurity. Demand for the organization’s services have risen dramatically during the COVID-19 crisis, causing Casparian to express concern over the recommendation to cut McCall’s position from the budget.
“The relationship between Bounty & Soul and the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden is a crucial one,” she said. “It’s not just about growing food, it’s about the experiences that take place in that garden, and that’s a big part of what Diana does.”
The connection between Casparian and McCall predates the founding of Bounty & Soul. They met when the garden manager would bring fresh produce to the now-defunct Welcome Table of Black Mountain. With the launch of Bounty & Soul, and its mission to provide access to fresh produce and wellness education, the relationship between the organization and garden quickly evolved.
“We would send volunteers over to the garden to help harvest,” Casparian said. “Diana expanded the capacity for growth in that garden, and as a result, the food it produces has increased tremendously over the years.”
Currently, the community garden supports Bounty & Soul by requiring gardeners to reserve a percentage of their harvests to be donated to the nonprofit Additional crops grown in unassigned plots are also harvested for Bounty & Soul. Casparian estimates that roughly 40% of the boxes of produce that are distributed by Bounty & Soul are grown locally, and the vast majority of that food comes from the community garden. However, those contributions represent only a small portion of the support Casparian’s organization receives from the garden.
“It’s not so much the volume of food that the garden contributes, it’s the specificity of what is produced there,” Casparian said. “We source items from that garden that we can’t find other places, and we’re able to use that to educate our clients on how those things benefit their overall health.”
The garden supports education, awareness of food insecurity and community-based solutions, complementing the Bounty & Soul model, according to Casparian.
“Our model is based around community supporting community, and the garden is a pivotal part of that,” she said. “It goes well beyond the produce they donate to us. Collectively, they’ve given us over 25,000 pounds of food, but what often gets missed in that is that most of our produce consists of things like leafy greens and things that don’t weigh a lot. But, that amount of nutrition-dense produce is significant to us and the clients we serve.”
While Casparian understands that the economic impact of COVID-19 will force municipalities around the country to make budgetary changes, she expressed concern over the timing of eliminating McCall’s position in the garden.
“Food insecurity will be a growing problem as a result of COVID-19, and Diana’s role is one that requires someone that is highly qualified to do what the community needs,” she said. “Her experience is deeply embedded in this community, and the relationships she’s developed within this community are absolutely key. Diana is sought by people from all over the state to speak at conferences and we have her right here in our backyard. That’s a gift and a treasure that we have.”
More discussion on community garden to come
As elected officials consider the recommended budget for the upcoming fiscal year, emails and phone calls expressing support for community garden continue to come into the town. The board of aldermen will host a budget workshop on the virtual meeting platform Zoom tomorrow at 5 p.m. The board will meet again at 5:30 p.m., Monday, June 22, for a public hearing before adopting the budget, which will go into effect July 1.