Of 80 microhousing units, 16 would be designated as affordable for people earning at or below 80% of the area median income. However, developer David Moritz confirmed that market-price rent for all of the project’s units would be about $1,000 including utilities, meaning that the city-subsidized units would not immediately be cheaper for their tenants.
Asheville City Council will hold a hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2022-23 budget during its 5 p.m. regular meeting Tuesday, June 14. In anticipation of that hearing, Xpress has pulled 10 noteworthy takeaways from the 112-page document.
During their meeting of Tuesday, May 24, members of Asheville City Council will consider a conditional zoning request that would allow Ingles Markets to construct a grocery store, gas station and other retail space on the 14.45-acre site of a former Kmart.
New construction at Deaverview Apartments, Asheville’s second-oldest public housing community, will consist of two three-story buildings and one four-story building containing 82 total mixed income units.
“The overall tax rate did go down some, but due to my taxable value going up — my total taxes are up 13.76%, and I’m sure theirs also significantly went up.”
During its June 22 meeting, Asheville City Council voted 6-1 to approve the $201.67 million operating budget for fiscal year 2021-22, which includes an effective property tax increase of 2 cents per $100 in valuation and $8.7 million in new spending. Kim Roney was the sole vote against the budget, arguing that the tax increase would harm poorer residents.
As in previous years, members of the public both applauded the city for funding long-promised initiatives, such as the 2018 Transit Master Plan and increases to firefighter pay, and voiced concern over how other taxpayer money would be spent.
Asheville City Council and the community will participate in city business face to face for the first time since April 2020. The meeting will take place in the Banquet Hall at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville at 5 p.m.
“Get rid of the racist cops and replenish the police budget to where it needs to be, whatever that might be — not what the mob wants it to be.”
Instead of voting on Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell’s proposed budget on Tuesday, June 23, as originally planned, City Council will now consider an interim budget on that date. The move, coming after a wave of public comment to “defund the Asheville Police Department,” is meant to bridge the gap before a new budget can be reworked with additional community engagement.
The total fiscal 2020-2021 city budget proposal stands at $184.6 million, a 3% decrease from last year’s total of $190.3 million, and will continue funding for existing services while limiting new programs, service enhancements and initiatives. The property tax rate would remain the same under the proposal, and no fee increases are recommended.
Debra Campbell, Asheville’s city manager, said she was recommending no new spending for projects that Council had previously explored, such as renewable energy on city buildings. All departments have also been asked to cut their budgets as much as possible, “with a focus on minimizing operational impacts.”
“This could be a catastrophic change in revenue year over year,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer about projections for fiscal year 2021. “Before we start spending new money, I want to know if we’re going to see a little bit of a normalization on the horizon. I don’t want to be sitting here with a $20 million deficit in the next fiscal year.”
“Anybody that follows the economy or follows the news will tell you that there’s a big elephant in the room that we can’t measure, and we’re all thinking about it, and it’s going to affect your planning,” Tom Tveidt, president of SYNEVA Economics, told Council members at their March 13 annual retreat. “That being said, I think there will be a pre-coronavirus economy and a post-coronavirus economy.”
“I can accept liberal incrementalism unless it is fake, but it does demand that we decide on the first increment, and for me, increment No. 1 is stopping active abuse of the poor by municipal government.”
The choice between U.S. Cellular and Harrah’s, the brand of two casinos owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will determine the logo that will grace the Civic Center’s signs, pole banners, receipts and event advertising for the next several years once the current agreement with U.S. Cellular expires on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
The net proposed operating budget stands at $190.31 million, a 5.4% increase over last year’s adopted budget. Campbell said the spending plan aligned with the priorities outlined by Council members in March during their annual retreat, which focused on transit and affordable housing.
“But if Asheville’s economy collapses, so does WNC’s, and the 60,000, who imagine themselves to be so clever at getting free lunches out of the system, will be faced with some very hard choices.”
City Chief Financial Officer Barbara Whitehorn proposed that Asheville institute a program of regularly issued general obligation bonds to support capital improvement projects, while Council member Julie Mayfield discussed a property tax increase to boost Asheville’s operating budget.
At a budget work session on March 26, city CFO Barbara Whitehorn reported that Asheville can expect to receive $2.5 million in property and sales taxes from the health system in fiscal year 2019-20 — only half of the $5 million initially estimated by the Buncombe County tax office — then $5 million instead of $8 million for every year to follow.
