David Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap — bloated staffing — will linger.
Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5% of the city of Asheville’s total $184.8-million budget. These payroll costs have since climbed to $147.9 million — about 57% of the $256.4-million 2026 fiscal year budget.
“We’ve increased our spending way too quickly for the city to pay for,” said Moritz, a real estate developer who made city spending one of the central planks of his campaign…