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City manager proposes pay increases and delayed fire-shift hires; council weighs partial addition and tax impact
Summary
City Manager Deborah Campbell presented the manager’s proposed FY26 budget May 8, including a 3% general pay increase, police pay-plan changes and $205,000 to create a fire‑department supervisory structure; Campbell recommended deferring additional firefighter hires to FY27, while council considered a partial January hire that would modestly raise the tax rate.
The City of Asheville manager’s proposed budget presented May 8 includes a 3% pay increase for employees on the city’s general pay plans, funding to implement compression adjustments in the police department and money to establish a supervisory structure in the fire department ahead of a proposed shift change.
Finance Director Tony McDowell told council the budget incorporates a $5 million Community Disaster Loan as revenue that helped balance FY26 and limit the property tax change. “One penny on the tax rate is about $2,000,000,” McDowell said, explaining scale when council members…
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