City of Asheville Votes To Increase Several Fees
This week, the Asheville City Council approved several fee increases on several items. The City of Asheville faces a budget deficit this year, and said the increases were necessary to limit the likely property tax increase.
Here are the fees that the City of Asheville voted to increase:
Increasing the Development Technology Fee is added to all Building Safety, Fire Department, Planning Department, and Engineering Department fees associated with any development. The current fee is 4% and the new fee is 6%. The tax revenue is expected to increase from $132,000 to $198,000.
Increase the Riverside Cemetery Adult Interment Fee. From $1,400 to $1425.
Increase storage fees on Park Partners and increase Athletic Season usage fees.
City owned rentals fees will increase and are expected to bring in an additional $5,000, these include renting gymnasium, auditoriums, and other facilities.
Increase the Outdoor Dining Permit Fee, expected to bring in $12,000 up from the $8,000 current tax revenue.
Increase the standard municipal solid waste fee form $18 per household per month to $20 per household per month. This change is expected to increase tax revenue by $800,000 annually.
Increased fee from setout/setback service for residential waste, collection of white goods, and pickup of dead animals. The fee increase is expected to generate an additional $1,500 annually.
Increase the Stormwater utility fee. The proposed fee increase is expected to generate approximately $663,000 in additional annual revenue, increasing total stormwater revenues from about $8.85 million to approximately $9.5 million.
Increase in Site Development Flat Fees. The proposed fee adjustments are expected to generate $50,000 additional revenue annually, helping offset the cost of the technical review.
Increase Collacted Small Wireless fees to generate an additional $3,250 in tax revenue annually.
Temporary Street/Lane/Sidewalk/Greenway Closure Permit fee increased to bring in an additional $40,000.
Fees charged for the consideration of sidewalk modification request increased to bring in an additional $6,000 annually.
Road Closure Impact on Transit Fee is increased to bring in an additional $1,200.
Increase fees to utilize the Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville. The increased fees are expected to bring in an additional $45,000.
Increase water usage fees. The proposed base fee and volume rate adjustments are expected to increase water system revenues by $3.34M (from $44.5M to $47.9M)
Increased admission fees for the Western North Carolina Nature Center. Based on historical trends, the proposed admission adjustments are expected to increase per-capita and overall admissions revenue by approximately 17%, resulting in an estimated annual increase of about $213,355.
Tim’s Take: Asheville residents will pay increased tax revenue to the city via these fees. While it may reduce the expected property tax hike, taxpayers are still paying more money to the City of Asheville. What has not been considered is cutting fraud and waste, which is where the Council should start instead of increasing the burden on taxpayers.
