Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting runs through 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
See who's running and what they've done →What Asheville's leaders decided, and what happened next
Plain-English summaries of City Council votes, big projects and the people on your ballot. Every one links to the official record.
Council records through Sep 22, 2026. Sources last checked Oct 24, 2026.
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Latest meeting: City Council, September 22, 2026
This week in the record →- Council puts $75,000 into a county program that helps pay household bills.
Starting in fiscal year 2027, the City gives Buncombe County $75,000 for its General Assistance Program, and the County adds $290,000. A household can get up to $500 and choose the bill it goes to, such as housing or utility costs. The City's share is only for people who live in the city.
- Council accepts $403,000 to replace lead and galvanized water lines for low-income homeowners.
The money is a federal Community Development Block Grant. It pays to replace the water lines that run to single-family homes. Federal rules require this work. The City says it hasn't found any lead lines so far. But old records have gaps, so it can't rule out that some galvanized lines homeowners own were once hooked to lead parts.
8 decisions, approved together in one consent-agenda vote. The whole meeting →
Seven questions about Asheville
Each starts with the best public answer. Scroll through them, or jump to one.
Housing
54.1%
of renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent and utilities
1 of 7: Housing
Can people afford to stay?
More than half of Asheville's renter households spend at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities, and about one in four spend half or more.
Explore housing →2 of 7: Homelessness
Are more people getting housed?
Public data can't answer that yet. What's published is a one-night count: 824 people were counted as homeless across Buncombe County on February 10, 2026, up 69 from the year before.
Explore homelessness →3 of 7: Recovery
Where is recovery money going?
Washington gave Asheville its own $225 million rebuilding grant. As of June 30, 2026, the city reported $92.5 million of it committed to projects, $1.2 million drawn down and none yet recorded as spent. State lawmakers set aside more than $1 billion for Helene recovery in 2025, and Council had approved $219.5 million in Helene budgets by September 2026. Each is a different stage of money, so they can't be added together.
Explore recovery →4 of 7: Water
Can Asheville count on its water now?
Tap water has been safe to drink since November 18, 2024. In September 2026 the City said the North Fork dam's backup spillway works fully again, and cloudiness from mud (turbidity) is back to pre-Helene levels. The bigger fixes, a permanent way to settle out storm mud and a new water line on a separate route, are still being designed. The City says both watersheds remain vulnerable to long, severe storms.
Explore water →5 of 7: Public safety
Does Asheville have enough police officers and crisis responders?
In July 2026 Asheville had 191 of its 232 authorized sworn police positions filled, so 41 were vacant. Its main non-police crisis team, the Fire Department's REST, was set up with 8 positions (5 firefighters and 3 civilians), and in July 2026 police and REST began a 60-day pilot that sends an RHA Health Services mental health professional on some crisis calls.
Explore public safety →6 of 7: Streets and transit
How well are Asheville's buses and streets working, and what is the City spending on them?
Asheville Rides Transit (ART) carried 1.42 million rides in FY 2024-25 with 61% of trips on time, and the City's average Pavement Condition Index was 53.9 that year. For FY 2026-27 the Transit Services Fund is budgeted at about $16.1 million, including an $8.43 million General Fund subsidy, and voters approved a $20 million transportation bond in November 2024.
Explore streets and transit →7 of 7: Budget and taxes
What does the City spend, and what does it charge in property tax?
Council adopted a $275.8 million FY 2026-27 budget, including a $187.5 million General Fund. After a new state law made Buncombe County use pre-revaluation property values, Council set the City property tax rate at 50.78 cents per $100 of assessed value on July 15, 2026, a rate the City says raises the same revenue as the 37.69 cents adopted on June 9.
Explore budget and taxes →
Asheville over time
People, jobs, income and rents, from federal statistics.
About these charts: These show how the city has changed over the years. Open one for the full chart, with margins of error and sources.
What changed
The latest meetings. Open one for its recording and the minutes in their own words.
- CDBG-NR Public Hearing.
Passed. Everyone present voted yes.
Buncombe County Commission minutes, 2026-10-06Item: CDBG-NR Public Hearing Commissioner Moore made the motion to approve the resolution authorizing submission of grant modification documents for CDBG-NR 21-C-4009 Funding. Commissioner Sloan seconded the motion and it was carried unanimously.
Open the full minutes - Approval of Revisions to the Affordable Housing Services Program Guidelines.
Passed. Everyone present voted yes.
Buncombe County Commission minutes, 2026-10-06Item: Approval of Revisions to the Affordable Housing Services Program Guidelines Commissioner Sloan made the motion to adopt the revisions approved by the Subcommittee. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Horton and carried unanimously.
Open the full minutes
The County doesn't link recordings in its meeting records.
- CDBG-NR Public Hearing.
The big projects
Cost, contracts, milestones and where each one stands, from the record.
About these projects: These are the City's largest public projects. Each page shows the cost, contracts, timeline and what isn't in the record yet.
Streets and transitI-26 Connector$1.8 billionFunding, approximate, per NCDOT, Sep 10, 2026Construction, partly
Helene recoveryHelene disaster recovery grant (CDBG-DR)$225.0 millionAllocated by HUD, Jan 16, 2025Construction, partly
Helene recoveryNorth Fork water plant and dam recoveryRequested, not awarded$260.0 millionState's FEMA application for the permanent fix, as reported to Council, Jun 23, 2026Parts: 2 done, 1 nearly done, 2 in design, 1 ended
Budget and taxes2024 bond program$80.0 millionAuthorized by voters, Nov 5, 2024Funded, partly
WaterMills River water plant upgrades, Phase 2$26.9 millionConstruction contract, including 15% contingency, May 14, 2024Construction, May 23, 2025
Public safetyFire Station 9 in Oakley$1.1 millionDesign contract, before contingency, Jul 29, 2025Funded, partly
HousingDeaverview master planContract$399,800Planning contract, up to, Sep 8, 2026Parts: 1 approved, 1 not approved yet
Streets and transitART bus network redesign$299,877Study contract, not to exceed, Mar 11, 2025No stage confirmed yet
Housing projects to watch
All 23 projects →Trace a decision
In 2023, Council funded four projects with 239 planned homes. Two awards were later taken back.
Funded$1.8 million loan
Built? Not verified yet
Award taken back, Oct 22, 2024
Built? Not verified yet
Funded$500,000 loan
Built? Not verified yet
Award taken back, Mar 10, 2026
2 of 10 homes built, using other funding
Coming up at City Council
October 27, 2026 at 5 p.m.
City Council Meeting
On the draft agenda, not decisions. Items marked Tentative may move.
- Resos: Funding Agrmts for Right at Home Prevention Initiative
- Reso: Renewal of Planning & HMIS Grants
- Reso: Agrmt with County for Code Purple
- Reso: Disposition of City-owned Property for NCDOT Widening Project
- Reso: NCDOT I-26 Connector Agreement for Section AC Betterments
November 10, 2026 at 5 p.m.
City Council Meeting
On the draft agenda, not decisions. Items marked Tentative may move.
- Tentative: Reso: Installment Financing Contract for CIP Vehicles and Equipment.
- Tentative: Reso: Ashv Police Dept. Foundation Donations
- Tentative: Reso: Contract for Historic Parks Recovery Project
- Tentative: Ord: Speed Limit Changes
- Tentative: Reso: DOT Amdt re: I-26 Connector