MARSHALL - Madison County residents could see a 7-cent local tax increase if the county doesn't come up with roughly $30 million in additional money needed for its Public Service Complex.
The Public Service Complex is a proposed 80,000-square-foot facility to include a judicial center at 500 Medical Park Drive in the field behind the health department in Marshall. It will consolidate governmental, social and judicial services into a single facility, including Department of Social Services, clerk of court, inspection, child support, county administration, information technology, as well as county offices such as register of deeds, zoning and planning, board of elections and a commissioner meeting space.
"In 10, 15 or 20 years, our names will be
forgotten, and history will have passed us by," Commission Chair Michael Garrison said at an Aug. 7 groundbreaking ceremony, adding that the building will serve as a memorial, a monument and testimony for the county's resilience through Tropical Storm Helene and what it's endured over the years.
"Our community is steeped with humble mountain folks that are rugged, courageous and willing to take on new endeavors. This is one of them. This Public Service Complex ... every bit of it is for the people of Madison County."
Asheville-based contractor Vannoy Construction is performing the construction alongside LS3P, also based in Asheville, and the county.
County Manager Rod Honeycutt said in the Madison County Board of Commissioners meeting Sept. 8 the county met with the Vannoy team Sept. 8. The estimated cost is now $89 million, down from the original $98 million projected in July 2025. Honeycutt added there are additional cost savings decisions possible, including scrapping natural lighting in the cupola, which would save an estimated $500,000.
"Realistically, I think we could see $85-$86 (million) by the time we're done," Honeycutt said. "You'll see that price come down, as long as we keep moving."
Tax increase?
In an Aug. 13 conversation with The News-Record, Honeycutt said funding for the project comes entirely from Helene infrastructure funding, and the county's primary goal is to have no county taxpayer dollars into the project.
The project also proposes bringing a greenway from Medical Park Drive to the county fairgrounds property near Tillery Branch Road.
Although the county is roughly $30 million short of its funding goal for the project, Honeycutt said the team is confident it will reach its goal.
In the Aug. 13 conversation, The News-Record asked Honeycutt his response to some residents wondering why the county broke ground on the project despite not having secured full funding.
"Right now, we're pouring millions of dollars to maintain buildings that are Band-Aids. Let's put that money into a facility that is something we're proud of, something than investor, and the public can come to," he said. "There's too many positives to outweigh the negatives."
Honeycutt said the main goal for the project is to not place an increased burden on the taxpayers, but added that the county has until July 1, 2027 to find the roughly $30 million needed for the project.
If it can’t find the money, the county would need to borrow it from a financial institution, he said.
"If no more money came in, and we had to fund it right now and go to a bank, we're looking at (a tax increase of) 7 cents," Honeycutt said in the commissioners' Sept. 8 meeting.
“That would be a burden we don't want to put on the taxpayers," Honeycutt said in the Aug. 13 conversation with The News-Record. "We're trying everything we can to avoid that."
There are three options the county is pursuing for in its courthouse funding, including:
- $10 million grant through Renew NC, the state's long-term disaster recovery effort.
- $6 million grant through the state Office of State Budget and Management.
- Additionally, the state General Assembly has made a verbal commitment to three funding allocations, Honeycutt said. The state has given the county roughly $50 million across two cycles, and the county has requested an additional $28 million in its upcoming next budget allocation.
In the commissioners' Sept. 8 meeting, Honeycutt said every month the county delays the project would result in a 3% price increase due to rising material costs, including metal. The building is project to cost $60 million, while the other nearly $30 million is reserved for site preparation, he said.
"I know a lot of people ask, 'Why now?' That's 36% over a year if we would have waited before we fund that," Honeycutt said.
Phase One of the project is complete, and Phase Two is nearing completion, Honeycutt said. Phase Three will consist of site construction, while Phase 4A — a project $29.3 million installment — will consist of cement laying and mechanical engineering employment.
Historic courthouse not used since Helene
When Hurricane Helene hit the region on Sept. 27, 2024, heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding of many rivers, including the French Broad, which devastated Marshall, destroying homes, roads, bridges and businesses. Helene killed more than 100 people and caused nearly $60 billion in damage across the state.
The historic courthouse, owned by the county, has sat unused since Helene. The Marshall Town Board applied for a $10 million state grant to explore taking ownership of the building and transforming it into a cultural events center.
The former courthouse, the historic building in downtown Marshall, built in 1907 and likely the oldest operational in the state at the time, was damaged in Helene's floods. The county is using a temporary facility at 258 Carolina Lane in Marshall.
In February 2022, the county commissioners formed a courthouse work group to outline plans for the courthouse after the county received $3.8 million in funding in then-Gov. Roy Cooper's biennium budget, Senate Bill 105.
Then, in October 2023, the county poured in a number of renovations at the courthouse after Lord Aeck Sargent architect Karen Gravel said a space-needs team concluded that the most appropriate model for the courthouse is the "bare minimum" model.
Among the repairs and renovations were new flooring and interior paint, mold remediation, a new metal stairway for emergency egress and a retractable ladder, all of which were recommendations that came from recommendations presented to the commissioners by Madison County and Yancey County District Attorney Seth Banks.
Garrison and Commissioner Matt Wechtel have pointed to the lack of maintenance on the courthouse.
"That building was neglected for many of those years," Wechtel said. "We've spent a ton of money trying to get that building up to par. It wasn't ADA compliant in many ways. It was an unsafe building, because there was only one way in and one way out in the event of a drastic event."
"We started out with a nonpartisan group, they all came together and decided that this old courthouse just wasn't going to continue to suffice, which was already defined in the 1970s," Garrison said. "So, it was no new news, we just finally had to step up and say we're going to deal with it."
Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Madison Co. courthouse funding deficit could lead to tax jump. How much?
