Preparations, cleanup and repairs from Tropical Storm Helene are costing local governments in Buncombe County tens of millions of dollars with many more months to go in the recovery effort.
The City of Asheville has spent or dedicated more than $21.7 million so far, the majority on contracts with companies to repair the mangled water distribution system, according to documents obtained by Asheville Watchdog.
The expenditures range from food for emergency workers to drones to survey damage to emergency road repairs to access the badly damaged water treatment plants.
The city expects full reimbursement for the costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Buncombe County, which covers a much larger geographic area, did not provide a breakdown of its storm-related costs. Neither the county nor Asheville has posted its expenditures online, despite pledges from both governments for transparency in public spending.
More than $20.5 million went toward contracts, according to the documents. Asheville also spent $1.2 million between Sept. 25 and Nov. 7 on an assortment of needs, from fast food for workers to side-by-side ATVs for crews to access the water system.
While the price tag is large and growing, the money isn’t coming out of local taxpayers’ pockets, according to the city.
“Per the presidential declaration, all Helene-related expenses in FEMA categories A & B are 100% reimbursable for the first 180 days after the disaster; so yes, we anticipate all of these expenses to be reimbursed by FEMA,” said city spokesperson Kim Miller, who worked with the city’s Cost Recovery Support Group to answer The Watchdog’s questions.
As of Nov. 13, there is no public facing dashboard showing how much Asheville is spending on storm recovery. Asked whether such information would be provided to the public, Miller said city leaders are discussing how to proceed.
“I don’t yet have specifics as to information distribution, but I can say conversations are underway, in alignment with our policy of transparency, to determine the best format with which to share this information with the community,” Miller said.
City Councilmember Kim Roney, who has consistently advocated for spending transparency over the years, said the city was working with an emergency management consulting firm, Hagerty Consulting Inc., to create a public dashboard. The city has entered into a $1 million agreement, part of the $20.5 million it has spent on contracts, with Hagerty Consulting for a broad range of recovery advice services.
“I continue to support transparency and public engagement, including civic tools like public-facing budget/project dashboards,” Roney said. “I understand staff and the Hagerty (Consulting) firm are in process on such tools.”
Councilmember Sage Turner said the spending list is far from complete, even 44 days after it started.
“City spending is as expected, a mix of supplies, repairs, meals, and contracts,” Turner said. “This list will continue to grow in the years ahead and hopefully FEMA will help cover most of these costs. I don’t know where we’d be right now if not for FEMA and state assistance. I’m especially anxious for the rental & mortgage assistance and businesses stabilization funds to be listed on here as paid out; residents desperately need our help to stay housed and in business.”
The Watchdog also asked Buncombe County for specifics on its Helene recovery spending.
The county did not provide a list of expenditures because it is not fulfilling public records requests until Nov. 18 due to “staff issues and other needs.”
“Finance is tracking all spending,” county spokesperson Kassi Day said. “Staff is still in discussions about what the report-out structure will look like – dashboard, report, folder, etc.”
Purchases at major retailers, restaurants
The city of Asheville made more than 450 expenditures since Sept. 25, according to the spending documents.
Many of these were purchases at major retailers and online stores — including Walmart, Discount Shoes, Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, Northern Tool, Target, Walgreens and Ferguson Plumbing, and totaled nearly $100,000.
Others were made at restaurants and grocery stores — Chick-fil-A, Bojangles, Papa’s & Beer, Ingles and Publix for instance — and totaled roughly $8,000.
“These expenses are all emergency protective measures including but not limited to tarps, hand trucks, safety vests and cones, storage totes, and other parts/materials/supplies needed,” Miller said.
As to the food expenditures, she explained, “All expenses were the direct benefit of emergency responders from the City and other supporting organizations.”
An access road by the North Fork Reservoir was washed out and had to be repaired. The largest contracts the city has entered were related to road, pipe and emergency reservoir repairs. // Photo provided by City of Asheville
According to a Watchdog analysis of the data, Asheville spent the most money, $288,000, with Confer & Associates LLC for “food service for emergency responders from the city and other supporting organizations.”
It also spent $162,325 with Ferguson Enterprises Inc., which sells plumbing supplies and HVAC parts.
Among other large expenditures were buys totaling $53,607 at Indidar Enterprises for side-by-side ATVs “for the water department to access system,” according to Miller, and $51,215 at Airworx LLC for a drone system.
City has entered into 85 contracts
Asheville has entered into 85 separate contracts related to Helene, ranging from $10 million to $100.
The largest contracts were related to road, pipe and emergency reservoir repairs along with disaster management and consulting services:
Tennoca Construction Co. – emergency road repair to access water system – $10 million
T. P. Howard’s Plumbing Co. Inc. – emergency pipe repair and replacement for water department – $2 million
T&K Utilities Inc. – emergency pipe repair and replacement for water department – $2 million
Cotton Logistics Inc. – potable water and shower trailers – $1.4 million
Hagerty Consulting Inc. – disaster recovery management services – $1 million
Phillips & Jordan Inc. – emergency repairs to North Fork and Bee Tree reservoirs – $1 million
Some companies entered into more than one contract with the city, according to the documents.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-01 08:16:00
(The Center Square) – Taxpayers in North Carolina will face an average tax increase of $2,382 if the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires at the end of the year, says the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
Results of analysis were released Thursday morning by the nonprofit organization billing itself a “nonpartisan research and educational affiliate of the National Taxpayers Union.” Its four state neighbors were similar, with South Carolina lower ($2,319) and higher averages in Virginia ($2,787), Georgia ($2,680) and Tennessee ($2,660).
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of eight years ago was a significant update to individual and business taxes in the federal tax code. According to the Tax Foundation, it was considered pro-growth reform with an estimate to reduce federal revenue by $1.47 trillion over a decade.
Should no action be taken before Jan. 1 and the act expire, the federal standard deduction would be halved; the federal child tax credit would decrease; higher federal tax brackets would return; the federal estate tax threshold will be lower; and some business tax benefits will be gone.
The foundation, in summarizing the impact on North Carolina business expensing, says the state conforms to Section 168(k). This means “only 60% expensing for business investments this year and less in future years. State policymakers could adopt 100% full expensing, particularly since the state conforms to the Section 163(j) limit on interest expense and the two provisions were meant to work together.”
The foundation says business net operation loss treatment policies in the state “are less generous than the federal government and impose compliance costs due to lack of synchronization with the federal code and are uncompetitive with most other states.”
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation also says lawmakers “should at least be conscious of any retroactive provisions when selecting their date of fixed conformity.” North Carolina is among 21 states conforming to the federal income tax base “only as of a certain date” rather than automatically matching federal tax code changes – meaning definitions, calculations or rules.
The foundation said nationally the average filer will see taxes raised $2,955. It estimates an increase for 62% of Americans. The biggest average increases by state are in Massachusetts ($4,848), Washington ($4,567) and Wyoming ($4,493) and the lowest are in West Virginia ($1,423), Mississippi ($1,570) and Kentucky ($1,715).
Individual wages, nationally, are expected to go down 0.5%, reducing economic growth by 1.1% over 10 years.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The content primarily reports on the potential impact of the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, relying heavily on analysis from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, which describes itself as a nonpartisan organization but is known to advocate for lower taxes and limited government intervention, positions typically aligned with center-right economic policies. The article uses neutral language in presenting facts and data and does not explicitly advocate for a particular political viewpoint; however, the emphasis on tax increases and business expensing challenges following the expiration suggests a subtle alignment with pro-tax-cut, business-friendly perspectives associated with center-right ideology. Thus, while the article largely reports rather than overtly promotes an ideological stance, the framing and source choice reflect a center-right leaning.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 21:25:00
(The Center Square) – Authorization of sports agents to sign North Carolina’s collegiate athletes for “name, image, and likeness” contracts used in product endorsements is in legislation approved Wednesday by a committee of the state Senate.
Authorize NIL Agency Contracts, known also as Senate Bill 229, is headed to the Rules Committee after gaining favor in the Judiciary Committee. It would likely next get a full floor vote.
Last year the NCAA approved NIL contracts for players.
Sen. Amy S. Galey, R-Alamance
NCLeg.gov
“Athletes can benefit from NIL by endorsing products, signing sponsorship deals, engaging in commercial opportunities and monetizing their social media presence, among other avenues,” the NCAA says on its website. “The NCAA fully supports these opportunities for student-athletes across all three divisions.”
SB229 spells out the information that the agent’s contract with the athlete must include, and requires a warning to the athlete that they could lose their eligibility if they do not notify the school’s athletic director within 72 hours of signing the contract.
“Consult with your institution of higher education prior to entering into any NIL contract,” the says the warning that would be required by the legislation. “Entering into an NIL contract that conflicts with state law or your institution’s policies may have negative consequences such as loss of athletic eligibility. You may cancel this NIL agency contract with 14 days after signing it.”
The legislation also exempts the NIL contracts from being disclosed under the state’s Open Records Act when public universities review them. The state’s two ACC members from the UNC System, Carolina and N.C. State, requested the exemption.
“They are concerned about disclosure of the student-athlete contracts when private universities don’t have to disclose the student-athlete contracts,” Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, told the committee. “I feel very strongly that a state university should not be put at a disadvantage at recruitment or in program management because they have disclosure requirements through state law.”
Duke and Wake Forest are the other ACC members, each a private institution.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article primarily reports on the legislative development regarding NIL (name, image, and likeness) contracts for collegiate athletes in North Carolina. It presents facts about the bill, committee actions, and includes statements from a state senator without using loaded or emotionally charged language. The piece neutrally covers the issue by explaining both the bill’s purpose and the concerns it addresses, such as eligibility warnings and disclosure exemptions. Overall, the article maintains a factual and informative tone without advocating for or against the legislation, reflecting a centrist, unbiased approach.
SUMMARY: Donald van der Vaart, a former North Carolina environmental secretary and climate skeptic, has been appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Republican Treasurer Brad Briner. Van der Vaart, who previously supported offshore drilling and fracking, would oversee the state’s transition to renewable energy while regulating utility services. His appointment, which requires approval from the state House and Senate, has drawn opposition from environmental groups. Critics argue that his views contradict clean energy progress. The appointment follows a controversial bill passed by the legislature, granting the treasurer appointment power to the commission.
