Buncombe County Commission Approves Three Year School Funding Agreement

At the January 6th meeting, the Buncombe County Commission approved a funding strategy for Asheville and Buncombe County School systems. The agreement with an initial term of three years for K-12 school in collaboration with the County’s two school system.  

The funding will be based on a formula that will be equal to 37.76% of the sum of the 12 months of property and sales taxes from March to February prior (for example, March 2025 to February 2026, for the first year being Fiscal Year 2027). This formula would provide approximately $119 million to schools based on last year's revenues and growth is expected year over year. Funding would be split between the school systems based on their average daily membership (ADM), roughly 85% (BCS) to 15% (ACS). 

The agreement also states that funding public schools is primarily a function of the state legislature and future Boards of Commissioners can modify or terminate the agreement. You can read the entire agreement here. 

Additionally, if the percentage change from the prior year of certified enrollment is greater than 2%, the upcoming year’s base funding percentage will automatically increase by a half-percent. Should the certified enrollment drop below 2% between the prior and current years’ attendance figures, the upcoming year’s base funding percentage will automatically decrease by a half-percent.