Over the past four months, Asheville city officials have worked hard to close an initially estimated $30 million gap between revenues and expenses in next year’s budget. Yet during a public hearing at Asheville City Council’s Tuesday meeting, residents urged them to keep working before they adopt City Manager DK Wesley’s proposal.
The proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget, released earlier this month, would balance Asheville’s finances through a combination of service cuts and a roughly 15% increase in property taxes. As emphasized by Lindsay Spangler, the city’s budget and performance manager, the plan would cover rising employee salary and healthcare costs but would not fund any new city programs.
Multiple commenters argued that the budget didn’t go far enough toward supporting Asheville’s staff. Vicki Meath, the executive director of Just Economics, noted that the lowest-paid municipal employees don’t earn the area’s $24.10 hourly living wage. meaning they can’t cover market rent for housing on less than a third of their income. “Folks that are doing work for the city and making this city work are not able to afford to live in the city that they work,” she said.
Other speakers raised concerns over plans to reduce open hours at the city’s community centers. By cutting support to pre-pandemic levels, Spangler had estimated in a March presentation, Asheville would save about $424,000 per year.
But eliminating those hours would impact organizations such as the Asheville Table Tennis Club, which operates out of the Tempie Avery Montford Community Center. Wilko Eschebach, the group’s treasurer, said the budget proposal would close the center on Saturdays, when the club hosts its popular tournaments and youth programs.
After the hearing, Mayor Esther Manheimer said she appreciated the community’s feedback. She added that the limitations of state law make it particularly challenging for cities to achieve sustainable finances. For example, she noted, Asheville doesn’t have permission to levy a separate tax on prepared food and beverages or charge a higher tax rate on vacation homes.
“We’re basically having to balance a budget a little bit with our hands behind our back, because we have these limited resources, and we’re trying not to place too heavy of a burden on our residents,” said Manheimer.
Council members plan to vote on adopting the fiscal 2026-27 budget on Tuesday, June 9. Other presentations and videos from the city’s budget process to date are available online.
Other tidbits
- Council held a public hearing on plans for roughly $1.05 million in recurring grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. James Shelton, Asheville’s community development division manager, noted that the city had asked internal department leaders to apply for funding for the first time this year; $500,000 would be set aside for Asheville’s water department to replace lead pipes. Shelton acknowledged that several area nonprofits that had received allocations from the same grant funds in previous years, including Homeward Bound WNC, Mountain BizWorks, and OnTrack WNC, would not be funded as a consequence of that large award. Homeward Bound CEO Simon Dwight said his organization hadn’t found another source to replace those funds. “We’re not cutting at fancy services at the moment — we’re cutting at bone,” he said.
- Walter Ear, Asheville’s capital management director, updated Council on upcoming city projects. Major efforts include a $7.5 million renovation of the downtown Municipal Building, which houses the city’s fire and police headquarters. Nearly $4.8 million will go toward repairs in Biltmore Village, including replacement of sidewalks, curbs, and ramps.
- Asheville approved another $255,000 in spending on its “Litter and Cleanliness Program,” meant to address issues such as homeless encampments and discarded needles. Although the program was initially funded using pandemic-era federal grants, it will now be mostly supported with city taxpayer dollars.
- Council shifted the schedule for its policy, finance, and infrastructure work sessions, which will now regularly meet on the fourth Tuesday of every other month beginning in July. Assistant City Manager Jade Dundas said the move would better align Council with the volunteer Helene Infrastructure Recovery Board, allowing for more timely information sharing.
Asheville City Council regularly meets every second and fourth Tuesday at the Council Chamber on the second floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, beginning at 5 p.m. The next regular meeting will take place Tuesday, June 9. See the full recording and documents from the May 26 meeting.
