Asheville City Council approved a schedule of fees and charges for inclusion in the budget. Most notable was a tripling of the vehicle tax, raising it to the $30 maximum the state allows. It makes sense in light of council’s disdain for burning carbon fuels and the adage that taxes contribute to scarcity. Funds will go toward street repair, but, as Councilwoman Julie Mayfield pointed out, the new amount will substitute for general funds that would have gone to the project, and so the objective is not so clear-cut. The General Assembly had the same issue with former Asheville City Councils that used water revenue as a slush fund. Other fees for stuff like garbage collection and general, verbless “stormwater” will go up a couple bucks a year.
by Leslee Kulba
Wild West blogger