Asheville residents will see a roughly 8% increase in city property taxes following Asheville City Council’s unanimous approval on Tuesday of the city’s 2026 fiscal year budget.
The $256 million spending plan raises Asheville’s tax rate to 44.19 cents per $100 in assessed value, which equates to an annual bill of roughly $1,547 for a home valued at $350,000, a rise of $114 over last year. Council members said the tax increase might challenge a community still recovering from Hurricane Helene, but decided the extra revenue was needed to reward city employees and maintain healthy long-term finances.
“I can’t look ya’ll in the eye and say, ‘Good job for saving our lives during the storm, and live on last year’s salary,’” said Council member Maggie Ullman, addressing city staffers in the room.
Most municipal workers earning less than the city government’s median salary of $58,000 will receive a flat raise of $1,740, while those earning more will get a 3% boost (up to $7,959 for City Manager Debra Campbell, Asheville’s highest-paid employee). Officers with the Asheville Police Department will get more money as well, although city finance staff did not share details of their new pay structure as of press time.
Asheville’s firefighters are slated for a 3% pay increase, and the city plans to hire three more trainees in January — the only new employees included in the budget, at an estimated cost of $155,000. Council members Sage Turner and Kim Roney previously expressed interest in bringing on five new firefighters this year.
Lindsay Spangler, Asheville’s budget and performance manager, emphasized that the city had avoided an even higher tax increase through a combination of spending cuts and one-off revenue sources. For example, the budget includes a $5 million loan from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a $1 million transfer from the reserves of a city fund for street repairs.
Spangler did not mention that those sources included a $1.3 million settlement with Duke Energy over two legal disputes, which the council approved in a 4-3 vote during a closed session on May 27. According to the minutes of that meeting, “Council members were concerned that they were not made aware” of the agreement until just two weeks before the final budget vote, and Roney, Turner, and Ullman all voted against accepting a deal with the utility.
“I’m heartsick and embarrassed for our organization that $1.3 million of this budget hinged in part on what I consider to be a dirty, shortsighted deal,” Roney said Tuesday. She argued the settlement could set back the city’s 100% renewable energy goal.
Roney and other Council members expressed hope that the North Carolina General Assembly would eventually provide direct revenue replacement for Asheville and other cities impacted by Helene. Although the legislature has so far allocated over $1.4 billion toward storm recovery, with another $565 million aid package awaiting consideration by the Senate, none of those funds are earmarked for local government operating expenses.
Other tidbits
- City Council unanimously approved a conditional rezoning that allows a 19-unit apartment building on a half-acre plot at 215 Glenn Bridge Road in Arden. The project’s density will be nearly quadruple the eight units per acre normally permitted in the area. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended that the project be allowed.
- Council members authorized a more than $6.8 million increase in the city’s contract with Evanston, Ill.-based Hagerty Consulting for help managing Hurricane Helene recovery, raising the total to $12.8 million. City staff expect federal money will eventually cover most of that cost, and officials contend that the consultants will guide the city to “maximize access” to other funding sources.
- Interim Capital Management Director Walter Ear briefed the council on progress with capital improvement projects. This year should see the completion of the “Gateway to the Southern Appalachians” upgrade to the WNC Nature Center, as well as roof replacements on multiple city buildings, including the aging Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
Every second and fourth Tuesday, Asheville City Council meets at the Council Chamber on the second floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, beginning at 5 p.m. See the full recording and the agenda of the June 10 meeting.
