Asheville – Asheville City Council heard the manager’s recommended budget and made their final requests for changes before the public hearing, which will be held June 14. The tax rate of 40.30 cents per $100 valuation would remain untouched for the FY2022-2023 general fund budget that, at $158.6 million, is 9.2% higher than last year. Including enterprise funds, the full budget is $216.9 million. Major drivers cited were inflation and market volatility and a commitment to paying employees more.
City Manager Debra Campbell recommended paying all fulltime employees a minimum of $35,360, adjusting salaries for compression, and awarding a 5% cost of living adjustment to all other employees hired before 2022 and a 2.5% increase to those hired since. Police officers and firefighters would also receive a 5% increase. Prerequisites are generous, with a 12.1% retirement contribution, a 5% 401(k) contribution, and health and dental insurance averaging around $10,000 per year per employee. Benefits also include paid vacation, sick, family care, and parental leave plus 13 holidays.
Highlighted strategic investments include an $85,000 housing study to find out what is happening to middle class housing, $92,000 to payroll a homelessness strategy project specialist, an administrator to manage disbursement of ARPA funds and one to oversee opioid settlement funds, $50,000 for Code Purple shelters, $405,000 for sanitation and waste reduction, $375,000 for a disparity study, $17,000 for afterschool program expansion, $245,000 to relocate parks maintenance headquarters, $75,000 for security cameras in parks, $75,000 for polygraph tests and background checks for police recruits, $284,000 for Land Use Incentive Grants, $1.5 million for economic development incentives, and $2.1 million for reparations. The city will drain its fund balance down to just $400,000 above the 15% of general fund expenditures minimum stipulated by council’s policy.
Revenue growth has been strong for government this year, with sales taxes trending toward a 19% increase. Staff expects the robust trend to continue and so budgeted an additional $2.9 million for property tax revenues and another $6.3 million in sales taxes for FY 2022-2023. Increases in water, solid waste, stormwater, and other fees are expected to earn the city another $6.5 million.
This year, the city received $26.2 million in ARPA funds, and it has already allocated $20.1 million of the total. ARPA funds would be used to ensure inclusive and accessible government, clear litter and attend to other cleanliness issues, modernize and upgrade downtown restrooms, and, with fund balance, close a $2.3 million budget gap.
When the floor was opened for council discussion, Gwen Wisler asked that anybody requesting an 11th-hour addition also provide an offset. At council’s worksession, she described the process as “drops and adds,” even if the offset was going to be a tax hike. She clarified, she was not trying to shut down conversation, but only being pragmatic.
Councilwoman Sage Turner led off with a request to transfer American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding from the general fund into transit. Mayor Esther Manheimer cautioned that one-time funding should not be used for recurring budget items. She said a lot of transit needs could be addressed with general funds. As was discussed before, the city’s parking fund, which had historically operated profitably enough to provide a healthy subsidy for transit, had underperformed by $1.5 million (21%) due to COVID making people afraid to go out, transitioning of jobs to telecommuting, closures, and cancellations; but also ongoing problems with the garages’ automated pay gates. This meant parking could only give $1 million instead of the budgeted $1.6 million to transit. The remainder of the losses were absorbed by postponing items in the parking capital fund.
Budget Manager Taylor Floyd reminded members of council that transit would be receiving its full subsidy, with $5.9 million coming out ARPA funds. The full subsidy, however, is inadequate because of rising costs. That said, the reason the city can’t expand transit is the driver shortage.
Campbell said staff wanted to modify its management contract with RATPDev to raise hourly rates to help with recruitment. The city, she added, had already reduced service hours and frequency. Barry Reiling, general manager for RATPDev, was in the audience and expanded on the unprecedented nationwide shortage of not only commercial drivers, but technicians, dispatchers, and other behind-the-scenes transit personnel.
Councilwoman Kim Roney protested that last year, council had committed to add routes in south Asheville and extend service on all routes until 10pm. Apparently frustrated, she indicated council should articulate for taxpayers that they were not keeping their promises. The last property tax, which burdened the poor and people of color disproportionately, was levied with the express purpose of extending transit services.
Concerned that the city was falling short on its commitment to reparations as well, Roney suggested the city appropriate a percentage of the budget rather than a fixed dollar amount. Councilwoman Sheneika Smith was in accord and said the Reparations Commission had recently agreed to call for doing exactly that in perpetuity.
Roney further wanted to defund ten positions in the police department in order to better fund disparity, homelessness, and violence interruptor programs. Wisler asked if employment in the police department had ever risen to pre-Defund levels and was told no. Staff had budgeted for 50 vacancies this year and 40 next, with the intention of hiring 30 new officers over two, six-month phases. After several attempts by Roney’s peers to understand what she wanted, Smith recommended council hash things out in a Public Safety Committee meeting, which would give Roney a chance to, “get your full mind.”