Boone mayor warns of impact on budget from Helene-related revenue losses

Boone Mayor Tim Futrelle painted a bleak picture Wednesday of how Helene will impact the town’s finances in the coming year.

Futrelle took a moment for fiscal candor during a Boone Town Council meeting. He said there will be shortfalls following widespread closures from Helene’s floods, which swept through the area in late September.

The storm shut down the fall tourism season. Futrelle described October as the highest revenue-drawing month for the area.

“We are going to struggle financially in ways that we have not before and in ways that we had hoped we would not have to,” he said.

As a result, Futrelle said there are going to have to be “heavy and hard decisions” made during the financial year.

Separately, the council also voted to update the town’s development ordinance to make it easier to provide temporary housing during emergencies. Boone officials realized that the ordinance did not provide exemptions for temporary housing during Helene relief efforts.