After more than an hour of public discussion, 20 minutes of backroom meetings, and a 4-3 vote, Asheville City Council did approve a budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Yet the process revealed frustrations and disagreements among elected officials about how to handle city government’s finances.
The final budget comes in at about $275.6 million, supported by a property tax rate of 37.69 cents per $100 of assessed value. That rate is slightly lower than the 37.84 cents per $100 initially proposed by City Manager DK Wesley but is still 4.8 cents over the revenue-neutral tax rate, an increase of about 14.6%.
Asheville’s staffing, salaries and services remained largely unchanged from Wesley’s May 12 proposal. As supported by a majority of Council, consisting of Mayor Esther Manheimer and members Bo Hess, Sheneika Smith and Maggie Ullman, the main exception was resuming a 1% match for city employee retirement contributions at an estimated cost of $530,000.
Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley and Council member Sage Turner both advocated for greater fiscal discipline to address Asheville’s challenges. Mosley said she’d pushed Council to consider an “austere” budget and sought further reductions in city services. Turner said that the city needed to start cutting costs in the face of long-term projections that estimated ever-larger budget gaps over each of the next five years, growing to over $36 million in fiscal 2030-31.
Turner also shared her vexation at how Council members had instructed staff during the budget process. “If this budget doesn’t move forward tonight, it’s because we haven’t communicated with each other enough, or something, to get to the same place to be able to direct you better,” she told Wesley.
Meanwhile, member Kim Roney said she opposed the budget based on its failure to adequately fund certain priorities. She called for all municipal staff to be paid a living wage, proposed that cuts to community center hours be reversed, and sought more support for the city’s nonprofit strategic partners.
The Council members who ultimately approved the budget appeared to hammer out a compromise behind closed doors. After debate on Ullman’s initial budget motion reached an impasse, Maheimer called a recess and retreated to a conference room adjoining the Council Chamber. Other members of Council then rotated in and out of the mayor’s room, never meeting in a group of four or more to avoid reaching a quorum and violating North Carolina’s open meetings law.
When they reconvened in public as a full body, Council members held no additional discussion on the budget. Hess, who had said “I just don’t think we’re there yet” prior to the recess, made the motion that was ultimately approved.
The new budget goes into effect Wednesday, July 1. Previous presentations and videos from the city’s budget process are available online.
Other tidbits
- The city held a public hearing on reallocating $19.2 million of federal money, part of a $225 million grant to help Asheville recover from Hurricane Helene, toward repairing single-family homes. As previously reported by BPR, Council had originally set aside just $3 million for that purpose, enough to repair about eight properties. Of the eight speakers, only one supported the proposal; others, including members of the Buncombe Affordable Housing Network, urged Council to spend the funds on new multifamily housing instead. The city’s volunteer Helene Housing Recovery Board also voted 6-4 recommending against the reallocation. Council will take its own vote Tuesday, June 23.
- In a 6-1 vote, Council authorized up to $9.5 million of CDBG-DR funds to support a 126-unit affordable housing development in East Asheville. Members had failed to back the project when it was initially presented to them May 12, but Manheimer said that Mountain Housing Opportunities, the nonprofit coordinating the development, had since worked to address concerns. Turner remained opposed, saying that more of the Helene recovery money should go toward single-family home repair.
- Council approved a $1.46 million budget amendment to support the Eagle and Market Street Enhancements project. Dana Frankel, Asheville’s downtown planning manager, told Council during a June 4 briefing that work would include accessible sidewalks, lighting, public art, and a physical gateway from Pack Square to the historically Black business district of The Block. The current funding comes from a grant by the nonprofit Mellon Foundation. Asheville has committed another $1.7 million of city money toward the project and is seeking additional support from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.
- Asheville approved a contract of up to $319,000 with Charlotte-based Colliers Engineering and Design to conduct easement acquisition work for street improvements on Coxe Avenue. Walter Ear, the city’s capital management director, said construction will likely start in 2027. The project’s total cost is about $15.2 million; the city is contributing $2.44 million, with federal and BCTDA money covering the remainder.
- The city’s Planning, Economic Development, and Environment Committee will discuss adopting a moratorium on data centers Tuesday, June 16. Pending a favorable hearing by the committee, a formal Council vote could come as early as Tuesday, June 23. Multiple other Western North Carolina governments have enacted similar measures in recent months, including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Swain County, and the town of Canton.
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 23. See the full recording and documents from the June 9 meeting.
