Take Action to Support Living Wages, Affordable Housing, and Better Transit in Asheville and Buncombe County!
It’s budget season for cities and counties across the state of North Carolina, which means our elected leaders are discussing how our tax dollars are being spent. You can work with us to advance Living Wages. Affordable Housing and Better Transit in Asheville and Buncombe County by reading over the advocacy priorities with the City and County and contacting our elected leaders.
3 WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Help to advance our transit priorities. Easily email Asheville City Council members and/or Buncombe County Commissioners using this joint Transit Action Alert put together in coalition with Mountain True and other organizations advocating for better transit.
- Email all of City Council at the following email address: [email protected] You can use the sample email message below or read through our budget priorities further down and create your own message.
- Email Buncombe County Commissions by copying and pasting the sample message below or creating your own. You can email them from this page.
Sample message for the City of Asheville:
Dear Asheville City Council,
I support the efforts of Just Economics, and I hope you will include funds in your budget to ensure more people are making a living wage, as well as advancing transit service improvements. Specifically, I hope you will lead by example as a major employer by paying City staff a living wage with a wage floor of at least $22.10/hr, work with the Asheville Fire Fighters Association to raise the wages of our fire fighters toward an hourly living wage, and work with the County to increase the frequency of the bus service in South Asheville. Asheville has become unaffordable for so many of our neighbors, and supporting living wage jobs and better transit leads to a more just and sustainable local economy. I hope you will consider these investments in living wages and better transit in this year’s budget.
Thank You,
(Your name)
Sample message for Buncombe County:
Dear Buncombe County Commissioners,
As you approach the upcoming discussions about the County budget, I hope you will consider the challenges faced by so many of our neighbors trying to make ends meet and do what you can to advance living wages and better transportation. More specifically please maintain a Living Wage as a wage floor for County staff, support Living Wages for education staff by increasing the local school supplemental funding in support of efforts by the Buncombe County and Asheville City Association of Educators, and work with the City of Asheville to increase the frequency of bus service to South Asheville. I support the efforts of Just Economics to help build a more just and sustainable local economy and hope you will consider funding living wage jobs and better transit in this year’s budget.
Thank You,
(Your name)
Fast Facts About Local Budgets: Cities and Counties in North Carolina get the largest share of their income from property taxes. The part of the budget that is not restricted by law is called the “General Fund”. Besides debt payments on major expenses like buildings and land, the City of Asheville’s 3 biggest general fund expenditures are public safety (police & fire), public works, and parks and rec, and the three largest expenditures at the county are education, human services, and public safety.
Our Budget Priorities for the City of Asheville include:
- Lead by example as a major employer by paying City staff a living wage with a wage floor of at least $22.10/hr. Just Economics’ Living Wage Rate is based on the cost of housing and is the minimum amount needed for a full-time worker without dependents to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the region (see our calculations here). The City of Asheville had been using the Just Economics’ living wage rate as their wage floor until recently. We believe that everyone deserves to make a living wage, City workers should be able to live in (or at least near) the city they serve, and the City should use our tax dollars to ensure their workers are making a living wage.
- Work with the Asheville Fire Fighters Association to raise the wages of our fire fighters toward an hourly living wage. Fire Fighters work 24 hours shifts and end up working almost 900 hours a year more than the typical 40 hour a week staff member. In 2020, the City Council increased firefighter hourly pay to ensure that they were being paid a living wage for every hour they work, but since then, pay for fire fighters has not kept up with the wage floor for other City staff. While an argument has been made that fire fighters sleep on their shift, one third of their calls come in through the night. The Asheville Fire Fighters Association is asking the City to work with them to raise wages so fire fighters are compensated fairly.
- Work with the County to increase the frequency of the bus service in South Asheville. The City of Asheville operates the bus system and was making progress on transit improvements recommended in the 2018 Transit Master Plan. However, since the beginning of the pandemic the City bus system has faced operational and funding challenges. We are asking the City to work together with Buncombe County to meet a high priority need that has gone unmet. The two South Asheville bus routes running down Hendersonville Road come every 90 minutes each, with parts of Hendersonville Road having service about every 45 minutes. The plan was to add bus service to the South Asheville routes, so the buses come more often like they do on the other major corridors to the north, west, and east of Asheville. You can make a difference by responding to the Asheville Regional Transit Coalition (ARTC) action alert here.
**Also, while it is this is not part of the budget process, the City of Asheville is updating their Affordable Housing Plan and hosting an input session for community feedback on the draft recommendations. This is an opportunity to engage in affordable housing advocacy. –March 27th at 6pm at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center downtown Asheville– City of Asheville to Host Community Feedback Session for Affordable Housing Plan – Asheville.com
***The City’s next budget work session is March 26th at 2:30. Click here for upcoming dates and information related to the budget process
Our Budget Priorities for Buncombe County:
- Maintain a Living Wage as a wage floor for County staff. We applaud the County for committing to living wages in recent years. The 2024 Living Wage Rate established by Just Economics is $22.10 (see our calculations here). We are asking the County to keep up with the Living Wage rate so their staff can keep up with the rising cost of living.
- Support Living Wages for education staff by increasing the local school supplemental funding. Public schools in North Carolina are underfunded by the state and dedicated education staff often pay the price. Because Buncombe County is such an expensive place to live, our schools are filled with many staff who are struggling to make ends meet and dealing with a high degree of burnout. Our County government provides supplemental funding to Asheville City and Buncombe County schools. Buncombe County and Asheville City Association of Educators are asking Buncombe County to increase the local supplement and help our local schools pay living wages and provide the kind of support that our education staff needs to give our students a quality education. You can check out and sign their petition here: Step Up for Our Schools – Action Network
- Consider public transit as part of the larger picture of affordability and work with the City to increase the frequency of bus service to South Asheville. While the City of Asheville runs the local bus system, Buncombe County has the opportunity to provide funding and work with the City to improve public transit in our community. So much of the more affordable housing in Buncombe County is outside of the City limits and many of the major manufacturers with living wage job opportunities are beyond the current bus routes. The County has the opportunity to partner with the City of Asheville to increase the frequency of the bus service to South Asheville and work toward continued partnership with the City to more efficiently connect public transit to jobs and affordable housing. You can take action with the county through the ARTC action alert here.
