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

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…