Hendersonville Faces $53M Wastewater Gap as Revenues Beat Budget
City Council • HendersonvilleOctober 28, 2026
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Hendersonville's flood-resilient wastewater plant is about 60% funded, and the city still needs roughly $53M to finish it. At the Oct. 28, 2026, council meeting, staff delivered that update alongside better news: no lead pipes found in sampling, FY26 revenues running ahead of budget and new public dashboards that track city spending.
- $53M funding gap remains on the wastewater plant expansion and flood mitigation project
- No lead service lines found after sampling 478 lines across the water system
- FY26 revenues estimated 2.4% above budget, and fund balance clears the 25% policy floor
- Open Checkbook dashboard now lets anyone review staff PCard purchases
- New free online map lists 43 food services, filterable by bus route and eligibility
A $126M Plant, Half a Rescue Plan
Why it matters: The wastewater treatment facility project is the city's biggest-ever utility undertaking. Its unfunded balance could force higher water and sewer rates or delay other capital projects.
Where things stand: Utilities Director Adam Steurer laid out a two-part project. Flood mitigation is estimated at just over $100M. Expanding the plant from 4.8 million to 6 million gallons per day will cost about $25M. Design is 90% complete.
The money so far: The city has secured about $72.8M. That includes roughly $34M in grants and $39M in low-interest loans, among them $35M at a 2.34% rate. A $20.1M award came from the Federal Economic Development Agency.
That still leaves a hole. "We still have a need of about $53 million left to go," said Steurer. Staff are pursuing FEMA Public Assistance and hazard mitigation funding to close it.
Scale check: Another speaker during the presentation put the project in perspective. "This is 5 times the amount of our largest water project we've done to date," the speaker said.
Lead search comes up empty: The update also covered the federally required lead service line inventory. Crews sampled 340 randomly selected lines of unknown material, plus 138 lines flagged as high risk. "We have not found any lead pipes in our water distribution system," said Steurer. The sampling gives the city 95% confidence that fewer than 1% of lines may contain lead. The EPA accepted the inventory report, and residents can look up their address on an online map.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Council took no action on the update. For now, staff plan to keep current rate projections in place and review the capital improvement plan (CIP), the city's multiyear schedule of major projects. Ratepayers have the most at stake. If federal disaster dollars fall short, the $53M gap will have to come from rates, more borrowing or other projects in the CIP.
What's next: Biosolids drying work at the plant is expected to be substantially complete in early February. Watch for FEMA funding decisions and the CIP review. Both will show whether the current rate projections hold.
City Finances Run Ahead, Now Searchable
Why it matters: The city's core financial ratios meet or beat its own policy targets. New dashboards also put city spending data, down to individual staff card purchases, in front of the public.
Where things stand: Budget and Evaluation Director Adam Murr tied the report to the financial sustainability focus of the FY27-FY29 strategic plan. Over the past three months, his office issued memos on major revenues (July), the general fund model (August) and the capital improvement plan (September).
The headline numbers:
- Estimated FY26 revenue across advertised funds is $65,875,353
- That compares with a revised budget of $64,525,057
- Unassigned fund balance is estimated at 25.63%, against a 25% minimum
- The debt service ratio is 13.7%, below the 15% target
- The operating ratio is 7.1%, and the capital ratio is 0.8
The transparency push: Murr walked through a redesigned budget dashboard, Power BI dashboards and an NC Commerce economic data tool. He also showed the new Open Checkbook dashboard, which he said "lets anybody go through and look at any staff's PCard transactions."
Council members welcomed the tools. "It's so helpful to just have updated and easy to access information," one council member said, noting the dashboards help answer constituent questions.
The other side: Councilmember Melinda Lowrance pressed on reach. "Is the public using this dashboard?" she asked. Murr acknowledged a blind spot: "I have no way of checking the number of users," he said, adding that usage could be investigated. Another speaker pointed to use of the city's parking and housing dashboards.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Council took no action. The strong fund balance and debt ratio give the city some cushion as it confronts the wastewater gap. For residents, watchdogs and reporters, the Open Checkbook dashboard is a new accountability tool. Whether people actually use it remains an open question.
A Map for Finding Food Help
Why it matters: The pressures on household food budgets keep stacking up: the end of COVID-era SNAP allotments, Hurricane Helene, SNAP reductions and grocery inflation. A new tool aims to remove the first obstacle to getting help.
Where things stand: Chris Merritt, Senior Program Officer at the Community Foundation of Henderson County, presented the result of a yearlong project. "The largest barrier for people to access those food services is finding them," said Merritt.
The free site, hcfoodfinder.org, requires no login. It maps about 50 logged services, 43 of them public. Users can filter by hours, eligibility, food types, non-food items, Spanish-speaking staff and proximity to bus Routes 1-3. The vendor Fast Roots updates the data every six months, and the foundation can make edits as needed. A separate researcher view with census heat maps is designed for nonprofits.
The other side: One council member praised the tool. Another raised the digital divide: "What if the residents do not have access to technology?" Merritt pointed to intermediaries: "We have a public library, we have caseworkers, we have churches that have computers," he said, along with referrals.
On language access, Merritt said, "The map itself is translatable into any language." The site can be translated through a web browser, but the data on staff languages covers only Spanish.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: This was a presentation, and council took no action. Food pantries, caseworkers and nonprofits gain a shared directory and planning data. Residents without internet access will still depend on libraries, churches and caseworkers to reach the map.
Minor Items
- We Are Hope Week: Mayor Barbara G. Volk proclaimed Nov. 9-13, 2026, as We Are Hope Week, recognizing student-led substance misuse prevention with the HOPA Rx coalition in Henderson County schools.
- Consent agenda: Approved by voice vote with no discussion. Items included technical corrections to the Chapter 52 utilities code, a sole-source purchase of Axon products and police fleet vehicles.
- Closed session: Council voted by voice to meet privately with the city attorney on Public Service Company of NC (Enbridge Gas) v. Moore and Son Site Contractors, Inc. and the City of Hendersonville, case 25-CV-002532-440 in Henderson County Superior Court, and to discuss a personnel matter.
Looking Ahead
The We Are Hope coalition invited residents to a student banner display at the Henderson County Courthouse on Friday, Nov. 13. On the utilities side, the next milestones are FEMA funding decisions for the wastewater plant and the completion of biosolids drying work, expected in early February.