The Henderson County School Board approved a $36.32 million budget request Monday to forward to the county’s Board of Commissioners.
The school system’s appropriation request for 2021-22 includes $29.92 for current expenses, $1.5 million for capital outlay (annual maintenance/safety enhancements), and $4.89 million for capital outlay (maintenance, repairs, technology, safety.)
The budget request is a summary of the priorities detailed at the board of education’s budget workshop in April.
The School Board opened up a portion of Monday’s meeting to comments about the budget request, but no one signed up to speak on the matter.
The request will be forwarded to the commissioners for consideration for funding the local current expense and capital outlay funds.
Hendersonville High construction timeline: Projected completion dates by area
Construction of the new Hendersonville High School is nearly a year ahead of the original schedule, with a target completion date now in August 2022.
The Henderson County School Board was given news that the project was 11 months ahead of schedule during a construction update Monday.
Chief Administrative Officer Carl Taylor attributed the sped-up process to students being off campus during months of remote learning, as well as decent weather conditions.
The updated timeline for HHS shows the following completion targets:
May 22, 2021 – gyms (for graduation only)
Aug. 13 – new building (3.5 months ahead of original schedule)
May – 5
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals like platinum, palladium or rhodium, which are valuable to metal dealers. The main function of a catalytic converter is to reduce exhaust emissions.
A saw or wrench is typically to remove the part, depending on whether the catalytic converter is bolted or welded in.
Nonprofits in Henderson County and the surrounding area continue to be targets of such thefts. Catalytic converters were cut out of two vans outside of the Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County Tuesday night, the organization said in a Facebook post.
The Blue Ridge Humane Society was hit back in February. Several other nonprofits and businesses have been victims as well.
Property taxes in Hendersonville, water bills would go up under proposed budget
Hendersonville residents would see a 3-cent increase in their property tax bill under the city’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
The rate hike is included in the $20.54 million spending plan presented during a workshop Friday morning to City Council.
If passed, the property tax rate would increase from 49 cents per $100 to 52 cents.
The $20.54 million in proposed expenditures is broken down into more than $12 million in personnel/benefits for city employees, $5.48 million in operating costs, $1.25 million in capital outlay and $1.73 million in debt service.
Property taxes are expected to go up another 3 cents for the 2023 fiscal year, with the potential to increase another cent in the 2025 fiscal year. The 1-cent increase in 2025 is too far out to project, but could be an option.
For the third year in a row, Henderson County residents will not see a property tax rate increase.
County Manager Steve Wyatt provided a brief introduction for the 2021-22 fiscal year budget at Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
The budget proposal suggests keeping the tax rate at $0.561 per $100 of property valuation. Property taxes make up the largest source of revenue for the county, with sales tax coming in second.
The proposed budget calls for $166.7 million in expenditures, with education and public safety coming with the largest price tags. The proposed expenditures are over $5.1 million higher than the fiscal year 2021 budget of $161.5 million.