Buncombe County raises property tax rate in $433.1 million budget
Buncombe's new county tax rate adds about $29 a year for every $100,000 of assessed value, while $121.8 million goes to local schools.
A Buncombe County home assessed at $300,000 will owe about $87 more a year on the county portion of its tax bill under the new rate. The 54.66-cent levy applies countywide, adding about $29 for every $100,000 of assessed value, with higher-valued homes paying more.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved the $433.1 million budget on June 3, 2025, for the fiscal year running July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. County Manager Avril Pinder had presented the FY2026 recommended budget on May 6, and commissioners settled on a tax rate 2.9 cents above the prior year’s 51.76-cent rate. Pinder’s original recommendation was 55.02 cents, a 3.26-cent increase that county budget documents said would have generated $17.1 million in additional revenue.
Officials tied the higher tax burden to a sharp revenue drop after Hurricane Helene, which they said cut county revenue by $11.4 million. The budget reserved $121.8 million for Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, making education one of the plan’s biggest spending commitments.
The county has also kept Helene recovery at the center of its budget debate. Buncombe and Asheville were described by county officials as the storm’s most hard-hit jurisdictions, with more than 87,000 FEMA Individual Assistance applications and more than 360 homes destroyed. In 2025 parcel review notices, the county told property owners that Helene damage should be reflected in taxable value. It also approved a 50% reduction in fees for residential permits tied to documented Helene-damaged or destroyed primary residences from June 1 through Dec. 31, 2025.
Buncombe’s move fits a wider pattern across North Carolina, where counties are weighing higher property taxes to cover schools, public safety and storm recovery. Wake County, for example, was considering a 2-cent increase per $100 of assessed value in 2026 to close a revenue gap and fund county services. The pressure is not only coming from county leaders; at a May 19 public hearing on the FY2027 budget, West Asheville resident Andrew Paul told commissioners, “Please raise my taxes.”
For Buncombe, the tax hike underscores the tradeoff now facing households across Asheville and the rest of the county: a higher bill at the county rate, paired with spending on schools, recovery work and other services that officials say remain strained by Helene.
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