Buncombe County subcommittee reviews nearly $3.8M in housing‑service applications

The Buncombe County Affordable Housing Subcommittee reviewed applications requesting nearly $3.8 million in FY27 funding for rental assistance and administrative support, staff said during a presentation to the panel.

Jake, a county staff member presenting the packet, said the batch covers 11 non‑construction applications from about 10 organizations and focuses on tenant‑based rental assistance, administrative support and emergency repair‑adjacent administrative funding. "It's going to be between 10 different organizations," Jake said as he opened the overview of requests.

Among the tenant‑based requests, Community Health and Wellness Solutions asked for $100,000 to serve about 100 households, with a $20,000 administrative set‑aside. Evelyn Charities requested $600,000 to impact roughly 400 households and said the project is part of a broader $3.6 million effort projected to reach 2,400 households; the organization asked for about $30,000 (≈5%) in administrative funds and described an appointment‑based intake system to manage high demand.

Smaller requests included Ark of Buncombe County seeking $45,000 to serve residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the Salvation Army of Asheville requesting $150,000 to reactivate a post‑storm rental assistance program that has run out of funds. Staff told the subcommittee the Salvation Army could not specify an expected year‑end waiting list because the program is currently inactive.

Staff noted administrative set‑asides varied across applicants, driven by organization size and the absolute dollar request: small organizations may seek higher percentages of admin support to cover essential overhead. A committee member asked how projects would scale if external leverage funds did not materialize; presenters replied rental assistance is "pretty scalable" and awards can be reduced proportionally so per‑household support remains similar.

Jake recommended the subcommittee consider full and partial awards for the tenant‑based requests, saying all four applications presented meet program guidelines, show healthy financial positions and appear ready for implementation. The staff presentation said remaining administrative‑support applications would be discussed at a special call meeting on the 17th.

What happens next: staff will follow up with applicants about willingness to accept partial awards and provide additional information ahead of the subcommittee's funding recommendations. The subcommittee did not make final funding decisions at this meeting.