Step Up AVL

The WNC Desk

Briefs and data on what's happening across Western North Carolina.

Plain-language briefs on the numbers and decisions shaping life in the Asheville area and Western North Carolina. A companion to Step Up AVL's housing and food work, broader in scope. Share any of them by link.

3 briefs · updated 2026-06-29

Local budget & taxes

City of Asheville Where your city tax dollars go in FY2027 Where the city's $275.8M budget goes, what changed, and what the property-tax increase costs a typical homeowner. 2026-06-29 Buncombe County Where your county tax dollars go in FY2027 Where the county's $484.4M budget goes, the rebound from last year's austerity, and what the tax increase costs you. 2026-06-29 Asheville area What an Asheville homeowner actually pays in FY2027 City, county, and schools property tax combined into one stack, and what it costs by home value. 2026-06-29