What an Asheville-area homeowner actually pays in FY2027

How the rates got here — the state reappraisal freeze

A state law, SB 889 (signed June 19, 2026), froze the 2026 revaluation for a year in counties that had one, forcing Buncombe back to old (2021) values. An amendment, SB 474 (Session Law 2026-47, signed July 7, 2026), then adjusted which counties it caught. Four kinds are exempt: those under 12,000 people; those already due for reappraisal and under 150,000; those that taxed above 95 cents, special tax areas excluded, at any point in the last four taxable years; and disaster-area counties willing to hold their rate down. That last one was Buncombe's exit. The county could have kept the 2026 values, but only by adopting a rate at or below its revenue-neutral rate rounded up to the next whole cent. Rounding its 39.22¢ revenue-neutral rate up put the ceiling at 40¢. Taking that exit would have cut roughly $24.8 million from the county's own budget, and no one else's: the exemption did not reach the municipalities or the special taxing districts, whose own rates were never conditioned by it. On July 14, 2026 the commissioners chose the moratorium instead: bill on 2021 values and reset the nominal rates higher on the old base (county 61.54¢, Asheville City Schools 11.75¢, Unified Fire 17.38¢). The City of Asheville took the same vote for its own rate at a July 15 special meeting, amending it to 50.78¢ on 2021 values, so the in-city total is now final at 124.07¢. Bills were delayed by the change and should reach the mail by late August 2026. Two different values are in play. The value your bill is figured on, from the 2021 schedule, is open to appeal through December 31, 2026, or 30 days past your notice date if that is later. The state law reopened that window past the board of equalization and review's adjournment, which this year was May 5, and the UNC School of Government reads the act as making that date irrelevant. Appeals are filed at tax.buncombenc.gov, and the assessor's office will mail a paper form on request at 828-250-4940. The 2026 reappraisal values are the other matter, and the appeals against them are not resolved. The county says staff are still working through those appeals and that the outcome will apply once the 2026 values take effect in 2027; its appeal portal describes a filed appeal as paused until then. One already filed does not need re-filing, unless the owner has a decision they disagree with. A taxpayer who has not challenged the 2026 value yet files in 2027, a second chance the act itself creates. The act requires a 2027 filing to be timely for an appraisal effective January 1, 2027. The UNC School of Government reads that as pointing back at the county's ordinary deadline rather than the full calendar year. An adjustment won on a 2026 reappraisal value takes effect with the tax year beginning July 1, 2027. That is also when the 2026 values themselves come back.