Woodfin council reviews fiscal 2025-26 expansion budget; keeps tax rate, adds communications tool and $20 bulky-item fee

Woodfin Town Council met in a special work session on Tuesday, May 13, to continue planning the town’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget. Staff presented a recommended expansion budget of $669,623 that would require roughly $208,000 from the general fund balance, recommended keeping the property tax rate at 33 cents per $100 of assessed value and outlined several one-time and recurring additions including a new communications platform, park repairs and personnel adjustments.

The presentation came as town staff told council members that costs and reimbursements from storm damage related to Hurricane Helene remain unsettled. Sherry Powers, the staff member who presented the budget, said FEMA will likely cover most storm-related costs but that timing and final approvals are uncertain, and she urged the council to “act in a with a sense of caution because there are a lot of unknowns that could dramatically affect a small town with limited budget capacity.”

Why it matters: The expansion items and pending FEMA decisions affect the town’s near-term spending flexibility and could change whether reserves or additional fund-balance allocations are needed. The council will formally receive the proposed budget next week, set a public hearing in June and is scheduled to vote on adoption in June.

Staff overview and FEMA uncertainty Sherry Powers walked the council through an expansion package that excludes FEMA-reimbursable storm response costs so the town could compare year-over-year operating changes more meaningfully. The recommended expansion package totals $669,623 and includes both recurring (payroll, some software subscriptions) and one-time items (park and restroom work), with staff estimating about $208,000 from fund balance would be required to fund the expansion as proposed.

Powers said the town expects most storm-related costs to be federally reimbursed but cannot yet be certain of the final amounts or timing. She said bids for repairs (for example, Silver Line Park work) could come in higher than FEMA’s initial estimates, and the town will submit competitively bid contracts as required by federal and state procurement rules. She estimated the town would likely know more by early fall after FEMA’s review period.

Tax rate and revenue context Staff recommended keeping the town’s property tax rate at 33¢ per $100 of assessed value. Powers said assessed valuation for the town rose from about $1,000,271,000 last year to a projected $1,314,000,000 this year despite appeals across the county related to hurricane damage. She noted that even with an unchanged Woodfin rate, residents could see higher overall property tax bills because Buncombe County and neighboring municipalities have proposed tax increases.

Major expansion items discussed - Communications platform (TextMyGov): Staff proposed adding TextMyGov (with GoGov mentioned as an alternative) to improve citizen alerts and integrate with the town’s permitting/work-order software (IWORK). Powers said the vendor could begin setup July 1 and that the system can integrate with IPAWS for emergency alerts and support geographically targeted messages. The platform would also support two-way reporting for residents in future phases.

- Silver Line Park restrooms: Completion cost estimates for restrooms at Silver Line Park were presented at about $426,000. Staff included a $192,572 transfer from the general fund in the expansion package to finish the restroom construction; staff noted the project has been reviewed previously and that timing may overlap with other storm-repair work.

- Parks and paving: The expansion budget includes $15,000 for repairs at Roy Pope Park and $176,000 to pave Taylor Street (the full paving project was deferred from the current year because of the storm).

- Public safety and personnel costs: Staff recommended a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for employees, slightly above the December-to-December CPI-W of 2.9%. Powers estimated that a 3% COLA would cost approximately $102,421 to the general fund (including payroll taxes and retirement contributions). Staff also described personnel adjustments in the police department: an evidence technician returning to full time and a part-time front-desk position (unbenefited) estimated at about $24,960 annually, plus anticipated costs if officers advance under the department’s career-ladder incentives. Public works staff were recommended for a market-based step increase totaling about $24,497 across positions.

Fee schedule and bulky-item pickup Council and staff discussed multiple fee schedule updates (permit fees, picnic shelter rates, stormwater utility reductions and fees for forthcoming flood review). A lengthy discussion focused on bulky-item and white-goods pickup. Staff noted the town historically provided some free pickup days and previously charged $265 per truckload for large collections; they proposed a per-item fee to deter illegal dumping and repeated curbside abandonment.

After debate, council members converged on a $20 per-item fee as a compromise to discourage abuse while preserving broader access. Council members discussed continuing twice-yearly free bulky-item collection days and monitoring program results; staff said they would report back midyear with metrics and could bring an amendment if needed. Powers described this as a council direction during the work session rather than a formal budget adoption.

Process and next steps Powers reminded the council that the proposed budget will be presented again at the council’s regular meeting next week, when staff will also set the public hearing date (the public hearing and final vote were described as planned for the June meetings). Because this was a work session, council members did not adopt the budget; staff said they will return with a formal ordinance and vote in the required timeframe under North Carolina statute.

Ending Council members thanked staff for the work and confirmed the remaining schedule: the proposed budget presentation next Tuesday, a public hearing in June, and adoption before the statutory deadline. Staff emphasized continued caution because of outstanding FEMA and storm-related uncertainties and said they will update council as reimbursements and bid results become available.