Mitchell County proposes $28.16 million budget, raises fire tax amid storm recovery

Mitchell County’s manager presented a proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget totaling $28,160,596 and told the Board of Commissioners the plan reflects extraordinary storm-related costs and a need to rely on fund balance and future reimbursements.

The budget message said the proposal includes a $2,271,173 fund-balance appropriation (carryover of $734,001.74, leaving a net appropriation of $1,536,999) and assumes a 97% tax collection rate. The county manager said the current amended FY 2024–25 budget is about $38,581,599, with more than $10 million of that figure tied to expenses from Tropical Storm Helene.

The proposal keeps the property tax rate at 56¢ per $100 valuation and raises the fire tax by 1¢ per $100 valuation, effective July 1, 2025. The manager said the fire-tax change is expected to generate about $210,829.97 for volunteer fire districts and listed projected additional allocations for districts including Bakersfield, Fort Mountain, Bradshaw, Spruce Pine and Parkway. Based on a 2022 average property value cited in the presentation, the manager said the change will add roughly $19–$20 per year for a typical homeowner.

Why it matters: the county framed the budget as a roadmap for long-term disaster recovery after the September 2024 storm, with one-time and ongoing expenses for infrastructure, facilities and emergency systems. Commissioners and staff repeatedly pointed to the county’s need to front costs and await federal and state reimbursements.

Key fiscal and recovery details presented

- Proposed FY 2025–26 total: $28,160,596; fund-balance appropriation: $2,271,173 (carryover $734,001.74). - Current amended FY 2024–25 budget: $38,581,599; storm-related spending accounts for over $10,000,000. - Property tax rate: maintained at 56¢ per $100 valuation; fire tax increased by 1¢ per $100 valuation to support volunteer fire departments. - The manager said FEMA reimbursements are pending and that the county has received about $10,600,000 so far, mostly for debris removal. - County finance reported roughly $44,500,000 in recoverable work still to be processed with FEMA and other programs, and that several reimbursement requests totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars are in various stages of state/FEMA review.

Staff and commissioners described debris and recovery programs as active but slow. The county manager and finance staff said contractors are in place for PPDR (private property debris removal) and that vegetative debris and a yard for yard debris are available to residents. The manager reiterated that the county must often pay upfront and be reimbursed later, and that FEMA’s review process can be slow.

Public comment and volunteer coordination

A volunteer who identified herself as Paige urged the board to speed private-property debris removal and to reschedule a delayed town-hall meeting so residents can get information and access to resources. The volunteer said she is assisting a dozen Mitchell County families who lack internet access or literacy needed to complete online applications and that some residents were told debris removal would not start until June. The county manager responded that a town-hall meeting had been rescheduled in April, that PPDR submissions have been made to FEMA, and that the county has a volunteer resource center (managed by Stephanie Pittman) and a multi-agency case-management team available Wednesdays.

Programs, grants and other recovery tools cited

- The county manager noted an existing volunteer resource center (volunteermitchell@gmail.com, (828) 660-0818) and said staff would connect residents to it. - County staff described a state no-interest cash-flow loan program and a pending federal loan discussion; staff said they requested up to $10,000,000 from a $50,000,000 state pool. - The manager highlighted two programs newly available to residents: North Carolina’s private bridge and road program (for washed-out private bridges/roads) and NRCS/Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) assistance for severe erosion threatening homes or infrastructure. - The manager said the county will deploy an emergency-notification mobile app intended to launch in July and that HyperReach remains available for texts and emails.

Votes and next steps

The board did not adopt the budget at this meeting; the manager set a public hearing for June 2, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. The board approved several disaster-related contracting steps elsewhere on the agenda: a not-to-exceed notice-to-proceed (NTP) for debris contractors and other contract management actions (motions carried by voice vote). The manager and finance officer said additional FEMA reimbursements and grant decisions will affect the final budget and that a budget amendment is likely before June 30.

Ending note

Commissioners thanked staff for compiling the budget amid recovery work and encouraged residents and volunteers to use the county’s volunteer resource center and the county-manager contact (manager@mitchellcountync.gov) for assistance with recovery applications.