Buncombe County board approves six‑month interim budget as state funding remains uncertain

The Buncombe County Board of Education on June 30 approved a six‑month interim budget resolution to keep schools operating through November while the state budget remains unsettled.

The interim resolution, presented by Tina Thorpe, will fund operations for the first half of the 2025–26 fiscal year and is based on the district's June 1 full‑year projection split in half, including projected salary and benefit increases and higher property and utility costs. "This will allow us to move forward and stay in operation through November," Thorpe said.

Board members pressed district staff for details about vacancies and fund balance as uncertainty persists at the state level. Thorpe said the interim plan budgets based on actuals and that positions that become vacant are budgeted and refilled only after they open. She also said the district had used fund balance to get through June 30 but that a final fund‑balance number is "not specified" because 13th‑month entries—insurance, utility timing and other adjustments—are recorded later.

The board discussed potential additional local revenue from Article 39. Thorpe said House Bill 309, described in the meeting as a local bill passed June 26, allows county commissioners to use some Article 39 funds for operational or capital needs for Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools, and that the district will coordinate with Asheville City Schools and county commissioners on proposals for how those funds might be used. "We will be pulling together both us and Asheville City Schools will be pulling together our needs and presenting what we need of that to cover operations," Thorpe said.

Superintendent Dr. Jackson told the board the district will prioritize student‑facing positions. "We will continue to prioritize our classroom and student facing positions going forward," he said, adding that a recent third‑party consolidation study found Buncombe County Schools to be "a very lean organization."

Board members asked about cash‑flow risk from federal funding timing; Thorpe said district staff are coordinating with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and that federal fiscal‑year timing (Oct. 1–Sept. 30) could create temporary cash‑flow management issues.

The board voted by voice to approve the interim budget resolution. No board member voiced opposition during the vote.

Less urgent budget items approved in the same meeting included Budget Amendment No. 8; the board briefly discussed that amendment and approved it by voice vote.