Final numbers: 1,200 homeowners get grant approval; governments pay nearly half a million
Andrew Jones
About the same number as initially applied for an inaugural 2021 Buncombe County homeowner grant program are actually slated to receive money: 1,200.
Dec. 28 was the last day anyone managing the program will take action on applications for its homeowner grant program, which kicked off in July and closed to new applications on Nov. 15.
So far, three local governments have spent $477,300 on the program.
Buncombe County spokesperson Kassi Day told the Citizen Times in an email a total 1,988 people total applied for the grant before applications closed on Nov. 15. Of those, 1,257 were approved and about 730 were denied, with only a handful of others pending a decision.
A "vast majority" of those denials were based on people "already receiving a tax exemption," according to Buncombe Economic Services officials.
The program is almost finished, and there are only a few outstanding applications to review on the first day government is open after the Christmas holiday hiatus, Day said.
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"Economic Services has determined the last day to take any action will be Dec. 28," Day said. "At this time we still have nine applicants we are waiting for information on. If we don’t hear back, those nine are very likely denials as we have made several attempts to get the needed information with no luck."
Further broken down, the numbers show a division between unincorporated county residents and municipal residents who participated in the project.
- 1,200 applicants were unincorporated county residents.
- 708 applicants were city of Asheville residents.
- 79 applicants were Woodfin residents.
The program saw Buncombe County budget $450,000 for the program, the city of Asheville $150,000 and the town of Woodfin $15,000.
Buncombe increased its spending cap from $300,000 by $150,000, so popular was the program.
As of the end of December, Asheville spent $89,800 on the program, Woodfin spent $10,400, and Buncombe spent $377,100.
Buncombe is administering the grants for the two municipalities.
An effort to help modest to low-income local homeowners tackle recently hiked property taxes, the grant pays out $300 for approved unincorporated county residents and $200 for Woodfin and Asheville residents, meaning the max amount one household could receive was $500.
Households already receiving tax deferment assistance, such as homestead exemptions, were not eligible for the grants.
Buncombe County Commission Chair Brownie Newman recently praised the program, noting it was the most successful of its kind in WNC and might even be revived for the 2023 budget year.
Charlotte and Durham both tried similar models but only saw 142 and 30 participants, respectively in 2020.
He stipulated that, if the program were to continue, it would likely need more staffing resources.
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Critics of the program voiced concerns the money was difficult to access because of the application process .
Grant applicants the Citizen Times reached out to did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The grants are only one facet in a larger, multipronged effort to assess and address high and potentially inequitable property taxes throughout Buncombe.
These include a newly formed Ad Hoc Reappraisal Committee, which met for the first two times in November, and December and a $850,000 Dogwood Health Trust grant to UNC Asheville that will see multiple groups collaborate to examine property tax issues in 18 WNC counties.
Andrew Jones is Buncombe County government and health care reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow or reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter. Email him at arjones@citizentimes.com.