County gives additional funding to A-B Tech, eliminates college's deficit

ASHEVILLE - Buncombe County will provide an additional $300,000 in funding to A-B Tech, eliminating the college's deficit and avoiding the possibility of layoffs to balance the budget.

Commissioners unanimously approved the extra funding during their Aug. 20 meeting, bringing the county's total annual Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College appropriation to nearly $7.1 million this fiscal year. Most of the additional money will go toward the college's telecommunications costs previously paid by the state, while $50,000 would fund a 1% salary increase for the college's county-funded positions.

The money would be transferred from funds intended for the public safety training center, according to county staff reports.

"We have spoken with the public safety training staff and do believe this would be doable in the fiscal year 2020 cycle," Budget Director Jennifer Barnette said.

While the college receives funding from the state and Madison County government, about 12% of A-B Tech's total budget comes from the county's annual contribution.

County funds cover mostly costs associated with operations and some maintenance, including nearly 60 full- and part-time positions. 

Because the county granted less than what A-B Tech requested for this fiscal year, the college made some $450,000 in cuts to shrink the deficit. Several vacant positions have been frozen; energy-saving measures will be implemented; and the college will consider reducing the number of employee cell phones it funds, among other moves.

MORE:

► Voters were promised a sales tax would be for A-B Tech projects alone. That didn't happen.

► Buncombe County used A-B Tech sales tax to pay salaries for Wanda Greene, Jon Creighton

► A-B Tech President Dennis King to retire: 'It has been my great honor to serve'

Dennis King: Budget will be balanced

A-B Tech President Dennis King previously had suggested that layoffs were possible if the county didn't provide additional funding. He cited eliminating an overnight police presence on campus as an example — a statement he told commissioners prior to their vote that he regretted.

"It's my belief that we will have the budget balanced for the entire fiscal year," he later said at the meeting.

The frozen positions are "still on the books" and officials hope to fill them once the budget allows, King said.

The additional funding from the county still does not restore the college to pre-2013 funding levels, despite Buncombe using quarter-cent sales tax to cover its annual A-B Tech appropriation. 

A-B Tech previously had been funded with some $8 million from the county's general fund. A 25% cut handed down by commissioners came as the county quietly transferred more than $15 million of sales tax revenue to its own coffers.

Voters were promised that the revenue would go toward campus construction and nothing more. Instead, it was used to cover the county's contribution to A-B Tech — and some $450,000 went toward salaries, including those of corrupt administrators Wanda Greene and Jon Creighton.

After years of misspending, county and college officials reached an agreement explicitly allowing the use of the revenue to cover the annual appropriation and to increase maintenance funding.

Discussion among commissioners to possibly reimburse the college for the revenue that was spent on salaries never was further addressed.

The agreement on the tax revenue is expected to be passed by the state General Assembly as a local bill, but that has yet to happen.