PROPERTY TAX

Buncombe County, North Carolina Case Study

There are those who believe that revaluations have an impact on North Carolina real-property-tax bills. The proposition is incorrect, and serves to muddle thinking about the process. To starkly illustrate the fact that it is only the county commissions and town councils that are responsible for tax increases, nothing could more sharply show it than what happened in Buncombe County in the 2027 tax year.

Timeline

Buncombe County's real property was revalued effective January 1, 2021.

Buncombe County commissioners set the tax rates for FY2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 on those values.

Buncombe County is on a four-year revaluation cycle. Because of extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, the 2025 revaluation was postponed one year. Thus the revaluation was completed and became effective on January 1, 2026.

In June, 2026, the Buncombe County Commission, using the new revaluation, set a tax rate of 43.20 cents per $100 of value for FY2026-27.

This would have resulted in a property-tax increase of 13%.

The NC Legislature, concerned with outrageously huge property-tax increases being imposed by many North Carolina counties and towns, and righteously intending to provide relief for those taxpayers, passed a bill that would preclude some jurisdictions – including Buncombe County – from using the values of the 2026 revaluation in setting the property tax for the coming year. Governor Stein signed the bill on June 19, 2026.

After probably 15 seconds of thought, Buncombe County commissioners, using the values of the 2021 revaluation, adopted a tax rate of 61.54 cents.

This resulted in – wait for it – a tax increase of 13%.

Neither state legislature members nor the governor had a public response.