The Henderson County Board of Commissioners voted to discontinue their contributions to Pisgah Legal Services. The organization offers pro-bono services to low-income clients. The vote honored a request from Chair Mike Edney who claimed the organization gets over-aggressive in trying to recover attorneys’ fees.
PLS was only going to receive $16,745 in public funding from the county next year. Edney considered it a drop in their bucket. Furthermore, as the aftermath of the recession continues, Edney said governments will need to get more in the habit of refraining from gifting taxpayer contributions to nonprofits.
PLS Executive Director Jim Barrett claimed the nonprofit organization expects to lose $100,000 from public coffers this year, and the number of people living in poverty in Buncombe County has increased by fifty percent over the last ten years. (Why do arguments on the other side so frequently sound non-sequitur?)
