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Asheville staff propose fee increases and warn of $3.4M recurring shortfall ahead of FY2027 budget
Summary
City staff proposed a package of fee changes — including a $2 monthly solid-waste increase, a 7.5% stormwater raise, year-three water-rate adjustments and modest parking and nature-center increases — and told council the city faces about $3.4 million less recurring revenue next year after one-time FEMA funds were used this year. Council asked for additional data; no votes were taken.
City staff on Tuesday laid out proposed fee changes and a revenue outlook intended to help close Asheville City’s FY2027 budget gap while cautioning the city will have less recurring revenue next year after relying on one-time federal aid this year.
Lindsay Spangler, budget and performance manager, led the presentation and said the Fees and Charges Manual — the city’s formal catalog of user charges — is used to project fee revenue for the budget. Spangler told council that fees are roughly 12% of general-fund revenue but comprise about three-quarters of enterprise-fund revenue, and that staff seek to benchmark rates, improve cost recovery, and prioritize residents still affected by storm "Helen" and the ongoing property revaluation.
The staff package includes a $2 monthly increase to the solid-waste fee — part of an approximately $8 rise over the past decade — which staff said would yield roughly $800,000. Solid-waste manager Jess Foster explained the city does not charge for bulky-item pickup (couches, mattresses) to limit illegal dumping but does charge for appliance collection; staff currently charge $5 for appliance pickup and proposed raising that to $10 to better reflect service costs. "If you start charging fees for that type of thing, they end up being illegally dumped on the side of the road," Foster said, explaining the policy rationale.
Other proposed changes include a $2 resident / $3 nonresident increase at the nature center (estimated at about $200,000); a restructured street-closure fee that scales by closure complexity rather than only by duration (staff estimate about $40,000); modest parking-fee changes (a $1 special-event increase, a $5 increase for some monthly lots, and a new failure-to-pay fee); and a 7.5% stormwater rate increase to address aging infrastructure. Combined, Spangler said the proposed fee package would add roughly $1.1 million to general-fund revenues if approved.
On utilities, staff described the water-rate adjustments as "year three" of a three-year cost-of-service alignment following a 2023 study that found residential classes were subsidizing commercial and wholesale customers. Spangler said the program, and substantial capital needs (staff cited an expected roughly $250 million in water capital work over the next five years), mean the city may need further rate action depending on FEMA and other external funding. Staff presented an illustrative typical single-family bimonthly bill showing roughly a 7.5% increase for residential rates; staff also estimated the combined effect of the three main fee changes (solid waste, stormwater and water) would be about $11 per bimonthly bill (~$76 annually) for a typical homeowner.
Spangler also warned council of an overall revenue headwind: sales-tax collections have softened and the current fiscal year included $5.6 million in one-time revenue (including a FEMA loan and street-cut fund balances) that will not recur next year. Staff estimated that, excluding the newly proposed fees, next year’s recurring revenues are about $3.4 million lower than this year’s recurring revenues.
Council members pressed staff for additional analysis. One council member asked whether nonresident pricing at the nature center could be raised further without deterring visitors; another urged exploring stormwater rate designs that reward permeable surfaces to change property-owner behavior. Council requested usage and cost data for bulky-item pickup, and staff said they will provide more detailed fee lists and analyses before the next meeting. "We will provide council with a full list so that you can see… if there’s any even small ones that you look at and you say, ‘I don’t like that at all,’" Spangler said.
Staff also said more detailed parking options will be presented at a future session with parking-division experts; council members asked specifically about preserving a first-hour-free policy to support downtown businesses. City staff announced a schedule of upcoming work sessions (spending-side discussion in two weeks, enterprise funds and capital in April) and confirmed the March 24 meeting will include the Fees and Charges Manual for council consideration.
The session closed without formal votes; staff were directed to return with the full fee list, comparative benchmarks, usage and cost data on bulky-item services, and options for stormwater and parking rate designs at upcoming work sessions.
