Black Mountain faces $1.86M shortfall as council weighs tax and fee increases

Black Mountain officials on Monday outlined a projected $1.858 million general-fund shortfall for the coming fiscal year and outlined a set of proposed budget adjustments that would combine personnel reductions, temporary hiring freezes and higher user fees to close the gap.

In a staff presentation, Scott (staff member) said projected general-fund revenues total just over $12 million while requested expenditures are about $13.885 million, producing the shortfall. The water fund shows projected revenues of approximately $2.399 million against expenditures near $3.318 million, he said.

To reduce the deficit, staff proposed eliminating five full-time positions, freezing a vacant police officer post for one year and freezing a vacant public-works position (the latter split between water and general funds). Other steps include transferring money from the Helen Fund, ceasing to absorb certain credit-card fees, identifying at least $124,000 more in savings before July 31 and deferring the county CAD (computer-aided dispatch) update until 2027–28.

Scott also listed macro drivers behind the shortfall: high inflation and fuel costs, rising wholesale bulk water rates from the city of Asheville, pressure to maintain competitive salaries, increases in employee health coverage and retirement contributions, higher property and casualty insurance and deferred maintenance on town facilities and equipment.

On employee costs, a councilor noted the employer contribution to the state retirement system has risen substantially; another councilor and staff estimated total retirement-related employer contributions are currently in the low 20 percent range, and staff cautioned the exact figures will not be known until late in the year, complicating budget planning.

Water-related pressures were a central theme. Staff said roughly 60–70 percent of the town’s potable water is purchased from the city of Asheville, which has proposed a 32 percent increase in bulk rates over upcoming years. Scott said the town can increase local production by reactivating two wells that were taken off-line in August 2023 — work he said could boost production by about 20 percent — and suggested competitive bids for engineering and consulting services to reduce a line-item that currently runs about $66,000 annually.

Staff proposed retail water changes that would raise the monthly base charge substantially and increase usage rates (an example cited in the presentation raised a base from about $6.14 to $13.14 and usage by $0.18 per 100 units). One councilor said a large jump in the base fee would fall disproportionately on low-usage and lower-income households and urged spreading the burden through usage charges.

The presentation included details of a state revolving-fund loan of $500,000 to pay for lead-and-copper service-line testing; staff estimated that would cover roughly 1,500 of the town’s ~4,200 customer accounts and stressed that testing does not pay for pipe replacement.

Councilors asked staff for clarifications and additional figures — including exact health-insurance and retirement cost impacts and whether some local nonprofits pay the town’s sanitation fee — before the council’s final vote, which remains scheduled for later this month. Staff also said they will prepare budget amendments before the June 30 adoption deadline.

The hearing produced no final votes on the budget. The council closed the meeting and moved into closed session for personnel matters.