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Buncombe elections office outlines municipal billing model, training and polling-site reviews
Summary
At a regular meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Elections received office updates from the elections director about holiday closures, training, municipal filing dates, ADA site surveys, and a proposed updated agreement and billing model for municipalities; the board did not take formal action on the proposed municipal agreement at the meeting.
Director Duncan told the Buncombe County Board of Elections that the office is ‘‘starting to get active again’’ and reviewed a schedule of upcoming events, training and operational tasks.
Duncan announced that county offices will be closed for the Juneteenth holiday on June 19 and that staff will attend the Intergovernmental Organizations Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 20 to present on elections and emergency management operations after Hurricane Helene. She also reminded the board about treasurer training at 35 Woodfin on June 26 and said municipal candidate filing for Woodfin Water and Sewer and other municipal filings will run July 7 (8 a.m.) through July 18 (noon) because the usual July 4 filing date falls on a holiday.
Duncan said board orientation is scheduled for July 8 and the swearing-in and selection of the new board secretary will occur at noon July 22 at the Buncombe County Courthouse. She noted that State Board of Elections conference attendance is a required training for board members and that the office plans two meetings in August (Aug. 5 and Aug. 19) to begin early-voting planning and poll-worker appointments.
On operational readiness, Duncan told the board the county’s budget for election services was approved and that the elections office was not required to make further reductions. The office is completing ADA accessibility surveys at all 80 polling locations plus early-voting sites; Duncan said roughly three-quarters of those surveys are finished and that staff prioritized reviewing sites to be used in the upcoming municipal election cycle.
Duncan described a multi-year project the office has worked on to update intergovernmental agreements with municipalities and to create a new, data-driven billing model. She said the draft agreement uses actual cost data from the past four years to produce earlier and more accurate estimates for municipalities. Under the proposed approach, odd-year municipal elections would be billed 100% to the municipality because they are the only elections in odd years; costs in even years would be split according to the model. Duncan said a draft agreement is in the county legal review process and will be brought back to the board for public discussion; she also said the office will consult directly with municipalities and invite them to meetings so changes are not a surprise.
Board members asked about outreach to municipalities and the timing of implementing any new billing. Duncan said she would not recommend implementing new billing immediately for the City of Asheville and suggested waiting until fiscal year 2027 so municipalities that already set their budgets would have time to incorporate the change.
No formal vote or other binding action on the municipal agreement was taken at the meeting; Duncan said staff will return with the draft agreement after legal review and with a public outreach plan for municipalities.
Ending: The board scheduled its next meeting for July 22 at noon at the Buncombe County Courthouse; Duncan said the 35 Woodfin conference room is not ready for the foreseeable future, so meetings will remain at the current location.
