City of Asheville Faces $30 Million Budget Deficit For 2027 Budget

At this week’s City Council meeting, City of Asheville Director of Finance Tony McDowell gave a presentation on the City of Asheville’s financial status at the start of the budgeting process for 2027. One of the key takeaways from the budget is that projected expenses are about $30 million higher than projected revenue for 2027. 

“We have a balanced budget for FY26 which ends on June 30. Sharing this early projection of a FY27 budget gap now maximizes the opportunity to address this imbalance.” said Director of Finance Tony McDowell. “There are several factors out of our influence, like national rising healthcare costs and slower state-wide sales tax growth, along with Asheville’s being significantly impacted by the effects of Hurricane Helene. Also, other factors like the results of the county’s reevaluation of property values will be part of our ongoing assessment. We started the budget process about 6 weeks early with City Council as an act of good faith and transparency with our community. Staff will continue to work with Council members to reassess and revise budget opportunities as the process continues through June.” 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the presentation about the City’s 2027 budget.:  

• The FY27 budget process is underway. 

• We are starting the process with a large gap between revenues and expenses, due in part to some one-time strategies from this year that cannot be repeated. 

• There are also cost increases and new initiatives Council may be interested in pursuing. 

• We will need to consider a mix of revenue increases (property taxes and fees) and possible budget cuts (service reductions) to balance the budget. 

• Capital funding will need to remain the same as previously planned in the 5-year CIP. 

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