From Staff Reports

As a result of the havoc wreaked by Tropical Storm Helene, the City of Ashville has suffered an estimated $17 million to $18 million in revenue loss for the current fiscal year, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told the Asheville Citizen Times in a December interview.

“The estimate does not include property tax losses, which are still being assessed by the county,” the ACT reported in its Jan. 7 story on the interview.

“It’s very serious,” the newspaper quoted Asheville’s mayor as saying of the city deficit. 

To that end, the ACT added, “The revenue losses come on the heels of an already strained budget season, with compensation needs top of mind when a divided Asheville City Council approved its $250 million fiscal year 2024-25 budget in June.”

Manheimer also told the newspaper, “There are programs, again, if they can be funded ... to help local government with revenue losses. And when we were up (visiting) Congress in November, we talked about that and what it would take to help us ... They can pull the levers to make this possible for us, so we need to continue to advocate for that and hopefully get these changes pushed through.”

Among the city’s revenue loss estimates are the following:

• Water Resources Fund: $8 million-$9 million — Customer utility charges, delinquent fees, connection fees.

• Parking Fund: $2 million-$2.5 million — Garage and meter fees/citations.