ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Asheville’s department heads have been told to get ready for a leaner year. In an Oct. 13 internal memo, City Manager DK Wesley directed them to plan for reductions in the fiscal 2027-28 budget, and she said those reductions will likely include service cuts.
Wesley pointed to three pressures at once: costs that keep climbing, revenue that is growing slowly, and questions hanging over state property tax law. Staff were scheduled to meet on the memo Monday, Oct. 26.
The ground rules are stricter than in past years. Operating budgets are expected to stay flat, and even increases the city cannot avoid, such as higher contract costs, will be treated as exceptions. Departments are being asked to cover those increases by trimming somewhere else.
New programs will be weighed one at a time, and only if they line up with a citywide strategic plan that City Council is expected to adopt in March 2027. A planning agenda attached to the memo says roughly 80% of city spending is mandated, leaving about a fifth of the budget as the realistic ceiling for any cuts.
The warning follows a hard budget season. Asheville started this year facing a gap first estimated at $30 million, raised its property tax rate by about 14% and passed the current budget on a 4-3 council vote. Sales tax income for the fiscal year that just ended also came in $1.37 million under what the city had budgeted.
Asheville operates under a council-manager form of government, so the manager builds the proposal and council sets the final plan. Mayor Esther E. Manheimer, who has led the city since 2013, and three council seats are on the November ballot, and Finance and Management Services Director Tony McDowell plans to retire at the end of the year.
City staff will work up savings proposals over the coming months, with any new funding requests due in January. No date has been set for council’s first public budget discussion.
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