ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The six people running for three Asheville City Council seats on Tuesday will inherit a budget picture the city itself calls tougher than last year, and they are offering very different ways to close the gap.
In an Oct. 13 memo, City Manager D.K. Wesley warned that slower revenue growth and inflation will likely force the city to ask every department for reductions, possibly including cuts to services. Council controls roughly $275 million in public money each year.
Property owners have already felt the squeeze. Asheville and Buncombe County have each raised tax rates three years running, and the combined city and county increase since 2023 comes to 23.22 cents per $100 of value, or about $813 a year more on a $350,000 home.
The most recent city budget passed 4-3. It set the rate at 50.78 cents, which was 6.5 cents above revenue-neutral, and it dropped 16.5 net vacant positions. Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley, the lone incumbent in this race to vote no, has urged a closer look at consulting contracts, duplicated programs and unfilled jobs.
Incumbent Maggie Ullman has backed a countywide quarter-cent sales tax for transit that she says would add $20 million to a $13 million bus program. Incumbent Sheneika Smith favors a food and beverage tax. Neither tax can happen without help from the state, and the transit tax would also need the county and voters.
Among newcomers, jeweler Jeffrey Burroughs wants a central city office that chases grants for every department. County Commissioner Drew Ball has floated ads on buses and more housing to grow the tax base, and former council member Keith Young has said property taxes should not be the automatic fix when budgets fall short.
Council has also started work on a strategic plan for city government. The city already keeps 13 separate plans on its website, from the 2004 Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan to the 2008 Affordable Housing Plan, not counting its 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
A proposed state amendment on the same ballot would have legislators put a cap on how fast property taxes can rise, a change that local governments say would make balancing future budgets harder.
Section: More Asheville NC politics news
Filed under: Asheville NC Politics News
