New Legislation Will Impact Buncombe County Property Owners
On June 19, Governor Josh Stein signed Senate Bill 889, placing a moratorium on the use of updated 2026 property tax reappraisals for the coming fiscal year. For counties like Buncombe, where the 2026 reappraisal became effective January 1, 2026, this triggers a one-year delay in applying updated property values for tax purposes.
On July 1, Senate Bill 474 passed both chambers of the General Assembly and was ordered enrolled. This legislation offers Buncombe County a potential exemption from the moratorium, but only if the County adopts a revenue-neutral tax rate rounded to the next penny. Buncombe County adopted its FY27 budget and tax rate on June 2, 2026.
“Buncombe County is committed to transparency, stability, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” said County Manager Avril Pinder. “These two bills have significant implications for our budgeting, our storm recovery, and our residents.”
The Board of Commissioners has two choices:
1: Exemption from the Moratorium
Use the updated 2026 property values by adopting a revenue-neutral tax rate, rounded to the nearest penny at 40 cents per $100 of assessed value. This option would result in an estimated $24.8 million reduction to the General Fund - roughly five percent of Buncombe County’s adopted FY27 budget. Such a reduction would negatively impact County programs and core services.
2: Remain Under the Moratorium
Use the previous 2021 reappraisal values and amend the tax rate, raising it above the currently adopted 43.2 cents per $100, to generate sufficient revenue to balance the FY27 budget. This would also require revisiting tax rates for Asheville City Schools and for the unified fire districts.
Local municipalities including Montreat, Black Mountain, Weaverville, Woodfin, Biltmore Forest, and the City of Asheville will face similar impacts depending on which path the County adopts.
Additionally, Buncombe County will lose approximately $1.8 million in anticipated public service utility tax revenues, with municipalities facing a combined loss of $298,000.
Here’s what property owners need to know if Buncombe County remains under the moratorium:
- The 2026 reappraisal will go into effect Jan. 1, 2027.
- Any appeals already filed for the 2026 reappraisal will remain active – you will not need to appeal again unless your appeal was denied and you choose to file another appeal. Residents who filed an appeal that was granted will not need to file appeals again.
- Appeals that have not been completed will remain pending until next year – there will be no resolution at this time.
- Anyone in a tax relief program will remain in that tax relief program.
- The Buncombe County Tax Department offers payment programs for homeowners.
- Changes to tax rates do not necessarily mean increased tax bills – bills are calculated on the value of the property multiplied by the adopted tax rate.
- As a result of the legislative changes, property tax bill mailings may be delayed.
- To get updates, sign up for BC Alerts by texting "BCReady" to 67283.
During a July 2 press conference, Board Chair Amanda Edwards shared concerns about the legislative impacts: “After the 2021 reappraisal and concerns about rapid and sometimes disproportionate changes to market values, we formed an Ad Hoc Reappraisal Committee comprised of Buncombe County residents who studied all of our reappraisal processes and made recommendations for improvements. We also hired an independent third-party appraiser to review our work before and after the revaluation to ensure accuracy. We implemented those recommendations to tackle any underassessment of luxury properties in Buncombe County through the most recent revaluation. And now this legislation could cause us to revert our values to outdated market values that several studies have shown disproportionately impact low- and moderate-income residents.”
The Board of Commissioners will discuss next steps later this month.