Buncombe County teachers lose state supplement as property values rise

Buncombe County teachers will see less money in their paychecks after a state-funded supplement ended, a change that arrived as rising property values pushed the county out of eligibility and left educators with an immediate hit to household income.

Buncombe County Schools told teachers on April 28 that the payment, which had been included in eligible teachers’ April paychecks, would stop because the county no longer qualifies for PRC 071. The district tied the loss to Buncombe’s higher assessed taxable real property values, which moved the county above the threshold used to determine eligibility. For teachers who had counted on the extra money as part of annual compensation, the change takes effect now, not later in the school year.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction says PRC 071 was created in the 2021 appropriations act and updated in the 2022 and 2023 budget laws. DPI guidance says the supplement can change from year to year based on a county’s taxable real property value, effective tax rate and median household income, and no individual payment can exceed $5,000 per teacher. Buncombe County Schools says its licensed staff are paid from the state salary schedule plus a local supplement, which means PRC 071 had been an additional layer on top of regular state and local pay.

The district did not disclose how much money would be lost this year or how many employees were affected, but 828newsNOW reported that teachers and instructional staff received the PRC 071 supplement in each of the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years. That report also said Buncombe’s adjusted property tax value had climbed to about $62.3 billion, above the $50.9 billion eligibility cutoff. If the proposed Senate budget had passed, the threshold would have been set at $70 billion, which would have kept Buncombe eligible.

The loss lands during another strained budget season for public schools. Buncombe County delayed its next countywide reappraisal until January 1, 2026 after Tropical Storm Helene, with new values going into effect that same day. The state budget stalemate in Raleigh has also slowed any fix, leaving district leaders with little room to restore the supplement quickly.

Shanna Peele, president of the Buncombe County Association of Educators, said the payment was small but still mattered in a county where housing and living costs are high and teacher retention is already a challenge. The concern now is not just a smaller paycheck, but whether another missed supplement will make it harder for Buncombe County Schools to hold onto licensed staff before the next school year.