Buncombe school leaders warn state bill could redirect Article 39 funds and halt major repairs

Buncombe County Schools officials told the Board of Education on March 6 that proposed language in the state legislature could let county leaders use Article 39 sales-tax proceeds for operating or “any public purpose,” a change that school staff said would threaten roughly half of the district’s capital funding and could halt major building repairs.

The warning came at a special budget work session where district staff outlined the capital budgeting process, current facility needs and the potential impact if Article 39 funding is repurposed. Tina Thorpe (staff member) told the board, “Article 39 is approximately 50% of our capital budget each year.” Superintendent Dr. Jackson added urgency, saying, “We cannot spare 1 dime of our article 39 to not go towards facilities and repair.”

Why it matters: Article 39 sales-tax proceeds currently supply a large share of the district’s capital budget. District staff said the system faces about $436,000,000 in current capital requests from schools and departments and that annual infrastructure upkeep alone is roughly $26,000,000–$27,000,000. Clark Wyatt (facilities and maintenance staff) said deferred maintenance and aging systems are creating escalating costs: “If you wait too long, you could be replacing the entire roof structure, all the way down to the deck.”

District funding picture and immediate risks

District presenters described three main local capital revenue sources: Article 39 (the one-cent local sales-tax penny often called the school capital penny), Articles 40 and 42 (two separate half-cent sales-tax streams), and lottery capital funds. Thorpe told the board the lottery capital share averages about $300,000 per quarter. She said Article 39 accounts for about half of the district’s capital funding and then described how the remaining funds come from Articles 40/42 and lottery allocations.

Staff and board members explained the mechanics and recent changes that affect available dollars. The district reported that in the prior year the Article 39 pool totaled about $62,000,000 at the state level, of which Buncombe County Schools received approximately $17.1 million after the commission and debt-service deductions. District staff said debt service for bonds rolled into the Article 39 pool will consume a substantial portion of the total; staff cited roughly $25,000,000 in debt-service payments taken “off the top.” Thorpe said that, if Article 39 were not available for capital, the district’s capital budget would fall to roughly $14–$17 million annually (from an estimated $34 million if Article 39 remains available), a reduction staff said would be “consequential to the facilities of Buncombe County Schools.”

Scope of facility needs

Clark Wyatt gave detailed examples of deferred work and projects that would be affected. The district estimates about 4.5 million square feet of school buildings, 100 mobile classrooms and nearly $160,000,000 in roofing value. Wyatt said $50,000,000 in roofing work will be needed in the next five to eight years and that annual infrastructure replacement needs approach $26,000,000. He identified high-priority projects already underway or phased that could stop without additional funding:

- W.D. Williams — staff said $20,000,000 is still needed to finish the current project; work could stop if funds are not available. - Glen Arden — district consultant estimated $40,000,000–$45,000,000 to build a new school on that site; staff said renovation would be difficult and recommended new construction where feasible. - North Buncombe High School — staff said an additional $19,000,000 is needed to complete mechanical upgrades.

Wyatt described typical district strategies for constrained funds — phasing projects and repairing in sections — and warned that when systems exceed their useful life, replacement costs rise dramatically and long lead times for parts or equipment can make buildings temporarily unusable.

State bill details and timing

Staff repeatedly noted there is a bill under consideration in the state Senate that would change the wording governing Article 39 proceeds. Thorpe and Jackson said the currently posted language in the rules committee would permit the county to use Article 39 funds for “any public purpose,” which staff described as significantly broader than the historical capital-only use. Board members and staff said a revised draft had been requested that would permit use for “school capital and school operating purposes,” but they warned even that narrower version could supplant other operating or capital revenue and still harm the district. Thorpe said the bill is a local bill and could move rapidly; one board member said it was “on the fast track” and might be acted on within weeks.

Board reaction and next steps

Board members and staff focused on advocacy and planning steps. The district’s capital outlay committee begins its meetings the day after the March 6 work session and will run through March 28; those meetings will produce the prioritized capital book that the board will review at its April 25 budget session. Thorpe stated the district has compiled approximately $436 million in requests across all schools and departments and that the capital outlay committee typically takes several meetings to prioritize and balance those requests against the county projections.

No formal board action on the bill or on funding was taken at the March 6 meeting; the session was informational. Several board members urged continued advocacy with county commissioners and the School Capital Fund Commission. Board members also asked staff to provide updated projections to help the board and community understand likely impacts if Article 39 language changes.

Ending

District leaders closed by urging continued public awareness and board advocacy. Superintendent Dr. Jackson and facility staff asked the public and local officials to weigh the long-term cost of redirecting capital funds into operating uses, noting that deferred maintenance can produce far larger bills later and can interrupt school occupancy during repairs.