Buncombe County approves $698.1 million budget, plans new emergency center

Buncombe County residents will feel the new budget first on July 1, when the county’s tax rate rises to 43.2 cents per $100 of assessed value and a revised fire district charge also takes effect in some parts of the county. Commissioners also moved to spend $5 million on the former J.C. Penney store at Asheville Mall, a site meant to become the county’s first standalone Emergency Operations Center.

The board approved a Fiscal Year 2027 budget of $484.4 million in the General Fund and $698.1 million across all funds, with spending still concentrated in education, public safety, human services, and economic and physical development. The plan also includes a School Community Impact Capital line item, along with the county’s year-ahead operating costs.

The biggest day-to-day changes for homeowners will come through property taxes. The county set its rate at 43.2 cents per $100 of assessed value, slightly below County Manager Avril Pinder’s initial proposal of 43.52 cents after revised tax-collection estimates, added savings, and the removal of several proposed new positions. The unified fire district rate was set at 11.96 cents per $100, up from Pinder’s original recommendation of 11.73 cents but below the 14.37 cents requested by fire chiefs. Asheville City Schools’ supplemental rate was adopted at 8.64 cents per $100.

For residents in unincorporated Buncombe County and some nearby municipalities, the tax and fire-rate decisions shape what they will pay for the year ahead. County leaders are betting the new spending plan can cover routine services while also absorbing the costs of recovery after Tropical Storm Helene, which killed 43 people in Buncombe County and exposed gaps in emergency infrastructure.

That recovery pushed commissioners toward a more permanent disaster response hub. The county plans to buy the 6.24-acre site at 7 S. Tunnel Road for the former J.C. Penney store at Asheville Mall, with closing expected June 8. Officials said the building would house the Emergency Services Department year-round and could eventually accommodate Public Safety Communications/911. Design, engineering, retrofitting and resiliency upgrades are expected before occupancy in 2028.

Commissioners also accepted nearly $37 million in federal watershed recovery money for stream and infrastructure repairs and moved forward public hearings on general obligation bonds that could bring $30 million for parks, greenways, open space and natural resource protection, plus $40 million for affordable housing and related infrastructure. For Buncombe County, the budget now ties immediate tax costs to a longer rebuild: stronger storm recovery, steadier core services, and a new emergency center at one of Asheville’s busiest commercial crossroads.