Buncombe County property owners face Tuesday deadline to appeal assessed values

A successful appeal can lower the assessed value that will help determine a future property tax bill, but Buncombe County will stop accepting new challenges after 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 5. Once the Board of Equalization and Review adjourns, residents who have not filed are out of time.

More than 13,000 appeals had already been filed, a sign of how many homeowners are still sorting through the county’s 2026 reappraisal. Eric Cregger, Buncombe County’s property assessor, has urged residents to file now if they believe their assessed value does not reflect the property or if the property record card contains mistakes, even if every supporting document is not yet in hand.

The county has made the process flexible on the front end. Property owners can begin an appeal online, by phone or by mail, and they then have 30 days after filing to add additional documents. The Board of Equalization and Review is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 1 p.m. at 30 Valley Street in Asheville, and appeals received after the board adjourns will not be accepted. A value notice is not a tax bill, but it is the number that can shape what comes later.

That deadline sits on top of a larger countywide reappraisal that has touched roughly 122,000 parcels. Buncombe County said all properties received a new assessed value effective Jan. 1, 2026, after the reappraisal timetable was delayed from 2025 because Hurricane Helene disrupted the work and shifted staff into damage-related data collection. County leaders have said they try to keep a four-year reappraisal schedule, even though North Carolina law requires counties to reappraise at least once every eight years.

The timing matters beyond this spring’s appeal window. County budget materials say officials plan to use the 2026 reappraisal to help determine a sustainable tax rate for fiscal year 2027, which makes the accuracy of each assessment a countywide issue as well as a household one. If a property owner did not receive a notice yet, the county says an appeal can still be filed within 30 days of receiving it, even if the date on the notice has passed.

Buncombe County has also been working with the Land of the Sky Association of Realtors on appeal clinics and help lines to walk residents through market value, property records and the filing process. One useful benchmark, cited in local reporting, is three comparable sales in the neighborhood that sold before the Jan. 1, 2026 appraisal date. For homeowners who believe the county’s number is wrong, Tuesday at 1 p.m. is the last practical chance to force a review before the assessment becomes harder to challenge.