[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6276035,"mediaKeyId","2767053-73b235a29ddb2d77747e2e90941176c6","parentId",2767053,"title","Asheville staff outline $11.4 million budget gap; 4.65¢ tax-rate increase proposed to restore 15% fund balance","audioSeconds",295,"startMs",902000,"endMs",1197000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2767053-73b235a29ddb2d77747e2e90941176c6&start=902&end=1197","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2767053-73b235a29ddb2d77747e2e90941176c6/thumbnail_902000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6276035/Asheville-City/Buncombe-County/North-Carolina/Asheville-staff-outline-114-million-budget-gap-465-tax-rate-increase-proposed-to-restore-15-fund-balance","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6276035-b132d43d3977b1dabf9b5ad93334fe6a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771206954&Signature=Tc4aXP22XcGNDckAT1~Bt63lT43OLlRsWSpNzk3k1QYtZ8YCzu5kxgZDA3MFnWaR~ge8VbHImRx1PP1EFhxnaUw7HZ4vuNzZ2QCxLAKtOmRKMgK6UbCHY7xOYFCR8VLOr0pHkSjAMBKOQ-vu-1e7-Gn3pYSLNI-1AL1~TWUa77OzAXlwm3247Z33wDzUSPkXZKGL277VUpk81OMW36ZDu5KSC3ltcskRiha02MdEnArnAix5Gy1PY3rDh-IoyUT8a~m~vSNGz-zu2DsJz7h-zJ-TUYgX476~Q-cbzIOtMKTRiI06SjO6j3Aml8FvcdbI7N-3ULgSQIMecnYJI8SheQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Asheville City, NC","date","2025-03-26T00:28:35.537Z","article","Asheville City budget staff presented council members with updated revenue and expense projections on March 25 and said the city currently faces an $11.4 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year.

Budget Manager Lindsay Spangler told the council the shortfall reflects lower projections for property and sales tax revenue alongside unavoidable expense increases. “we're gonna need to do both some budget reductions and also a property tax rate increase in order to both balance and to keep our, fund balance at the recommended level of 15%,” Spangler said.

The gap and why it matters

Spangler said the city has identified about $4.4 million in recommended cost reductions and instructed departments to keep operating budgets roughly flat, but staff still see roughly $4.1 million in unavoidable expense increases — largely health-care and state-mandated retirement costs. Even after the proposed savings, Spangler said, expenses outpace revenue by about $11.4 million. Using fund balance to fill that gap would reduce the fund balance to about 10%, short of the city’s 15% policy.

To restore the fund balance to the 15% policy level, staff calculated the city would need an additional $9.4 million in revenue. Spangler said that amount translates to a 4.65-cent increase in the property tax rate and would cost the average Asheville homeowner about $163 per year based on staff estimates.

Revenue uncertainty tied to storm recovery

Spangler walked council through updated economic indicators and recovery spending tied to the recent storm (referred to in the session as Helene). She said unemployment spiked immediately after the storm and remains above pre-storm levels, though state commerce officials expect employment to return to earlier levels by year-end. Sales tax collections remain below last year’s totals — roughly 6% down year-to-date, she said — and the city is treating sales tax estimates as a range because of uncertainty.

On storm-related spending, Spangler reported the city has spent about $23.3 million so far on response and recovery (personnel, operating and capital), with an additional $17.3 million under contract. She said the city has received about $10 million in FEMA reimbursements and expects a state bridge loan of roughly $2.8 million that can be used on FEMA-eligible expenses while reimbursements are processed.

“Sales taxes … were already down prehealing, and then you had the big decrease in September and October,” Spangler said when summarizing the revenue picture. She added that the county — which collects property taxes for the city — estimates the city lost between $1 million and $1.5 million in property-tax revenue compared with last year, a figure staff are continuing to refine with county officials.

Options staff presented

Staff told council they will return on April 8 with more refined projections and additional revenue options. Spangler said staff continue to review funding alternatives and hope to reduce the size of any tax-rate increase before the manager’s proposed budget is filed in May.

Council discussion and next steps

Councilmembers raised questions about the timing of revenue assumptions, the effects of a possible county revaluation next year and whether additional program-level cuts could narrow the revenue need. City Manager Deborah Campbell and budget staff said they are reviewing potential revenue sources and will return with updated numbers.

Campbell and Spangler told council the city will present the proposed budget in early May and hold another work session April 8 for follow-up. No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the March 25 session; staff sought direction on continuing to refine compensation and revenue scenarios.

Ending

Staff emphasized that projections remain uncertain and that the April 8 session will include updated numbers on revenue options and a more detailed breakdown of the items that could reduce the city's need for a full 4.65¢ tax-rate increase. Council members asked staff to prioritize clear, department-level vacancy and projection reports ahead of the next meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City Council Budget Work Session – March 25, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Asheville City budget staff presented council members with updated revenue and expense projections on March 25 and said the city currently faces an $11.4 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year.","taxTitle","Asheville City, Buncombe County, North Carolina","taxId",3915,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6276028,"Asheville considers career-ladders for police and fire and 1.5%–3% citywide raises; staff to return April 8 with firm numbers",2533,1517000,4050000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2767053-73b235a29ddb2d77747e2e90941176c6&start=1517&end=4050","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2767053-73b235a29ddb2d77747e2e90941176c6/thumbnail_1517000.jpg","/articles/6276028/Asheville-City/Buncombe-County/North-Carolina/Asheville-considers-career-ladders-for-police-and-fire-and-153-citywide-raises-staff-to-return-April-8-with-firm-numbers","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6276028-26442cb4861ae38c1e4d4e7870270419/orig.mp4?Expires=1771206954&Signature=GRgkDpFbmhW8i7VLLJ7cqVN8bRneoxgXWeYqr99FUoiNvxuBuqsMBr4wYAy~ThuB3Sjt9qjy2h0sh1MKtUMBjx2Qn3lmGxvmuuU7KaMwQLxRKbZhXnIXuwCu1~ZX-kRkY5Jg0ks0llrzwUQOWRKKL2GHuHFGuQZyfsfz4cTB7JPPoXugQzYyoAYfz-mk6uNq4ebGQAam9Zg0n3hp7GwwMqM5UQDLIp2PS6ViG-q6GqXc1b~w-E7LIy71Abl2KR8tpUP11NrCP10abg42eWI2rX2Mm2m1gqqzLChEh5mlK5-JdPfp0jBiV0sm0GaRVadyai4oqTkatlQy~Uj1H2YYag__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","City finance and human-resources staff presented council members with multiple compensation scenarios on March 25, including proposals to replace step-based pay plans in both the Asheville Police Department and Asheville Fire Department with career-ladder structures and three alternative citywide pay scenarios for general employees.

Finance Director Tony McDowell said compensation and benefits make up roughly 64% of the city’s general fund and so any change would have a substantial budget impact. “compensation and benefits ... makes up about 64% of our general fund budget,” McDowell said.

Public safety: moving from step plans to career ladders

McDowell told council both police and fire have used step-based pay plans since the early 2000s and staff want to move to career-ladder structures that emphasize training, retention and clearer progression. He said the Police Department’s proposed move would require compression adjustments concentrated in mid-rank positions and estimated the average increase across the APD pay plan would be roughly 7%. APD’s proposed compression adjustments would cost “a little over a million dollars,” McDowell said; APD staff told council officers who did not receive a compression adjustment would instead receive a one-time bonus up to 3% of pay and would not be eligible for other increases discussed for general employees.

McDowell said Asheville Fire Department staff proposed a five-year phase-in of career tracks and that AFD expects minimal fiscal impact in the next fiscal year from the change, though future years could see additional costs as employees advance.

General employee options and costs

For non-public-safety employees (and AFD under the general scenario), staff modeled two styles of pay increases: a straight percentage across all employees, and a hybrid that pairs a flat-dollar bump for employees below the median salary with a percentage for employees above the median. Staff presented three levels:

- 1.5% (or hybrid with an $870 flat amount for employees below the median) — estimated cost about $2,150,000.
- 2.0% (or hybrid with roughly $1,160 flat for lower-paid employees) — estimated cost about $2,500,000.
- 3.0% (or hybrid with a larger flat amount for lower-paid employees) — estimated cost about $3,220,000 for the percent option or about $3,330,000 for the hybrid option.

McDowell and budget staff translated those scenarios into tax-rate impacts when layered onto the fund-balance tax increase staff has proposed. For example, the 1.5% option combined with APD adjustments would add about 1.08¢ to the tax rate (about $38 a year, $3.15 monthly for the typical homeowner), while combining a general-employee option with the 4.65¢ needed to restore fund balance yields a combined range of about 5.7¢ up to roughly 6.25–6.3¢ depending on the option.

Living-wage context and equity

Staff used the Just Economics living-wage figures as a local benchmark for discussion. McDowell said the organization’s 2025 pledged living wage converts to an annual salary of about $39,520; the fuller living-wage metric in the same calculation is about $48,150. He told council that after last year’s adjustments, no full-time city employees earn less than the pledged $39,520, but about 184 full-time employees remain below the $48,150 full living-wage figure.

Council questions and next steps

Councilmembers asked for additional detail on multi-year cost projections, vacancy counts by department and pay grade, and how quickly employees could progress on career ladders if they met training and education milestones. McDowell and department leaders said career-ladder progression would be tied to training hours (staff described a minimum of roughly 300 training hours per year) and that existing education and language incentives would remain in place and stack with career-ladder progression.

Unions: McDowell and staff said they had been working with the Police Benevolent Association and the Fraternal Order of Police and that the unions had reviewed the plan and expressed support for the concept, though some union members want larger increases than the staff-proposed budget can absorb this year.

Staff will return April 8 with refined figures, a breakdown of how many employees each option would lift above the full $48,150 living-wage figure, updated vacancy and recruitment data, and any additional multiyear projections council requested. No formal compensation decisions were made at the March 25 session.

Ending

Councilmembers generally signaled support for continuing to develop compensation options and asked staff to provide the requested vacancy and multiyear projection data ahead of the April 8 session.","City staff outlined options to adjust compensation across the workforce, including proposals to replace APD and AFD step plans with career ladders, an APD compression package (about $1M) and three citywide raise scenarios that cost $2.15M–$3.33M depending on option.","actionData","errors"]

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Asheville staff outline $11.4 million budget gap; 4.65¢ tax-rate increase proposed to restore 15% fund balance

Asheville considers career-ladders for police and fire and 1.5%–3% citywide raises; staff to return April 8 with firm numbers