Residents, advocates press Buncombe County for transparency ahead of 2026 reappraisal

Buncombe County officials opened a public hearing Sept. 2 on the proposed schedule of values that will underpin the countywide 2026 property reappraisal. Community members urged the Board of Commissioners to increase transparency and change procedures before the board votes to adopt the schedule at its Sept. 16 meeting.

Speakers at the hearing – including parents, teachers, urban planners and policy researchers – said property tax assessments shape school funding, public services and neighborhood stability and recommended specific changes. Christina Shimrock, speaking for an organizing coalition of ACAE, BCAE, Good Trouble WNC, Just Economics, Public School Strong and FAX, asked the county to publish both adjusted and unadjusted ratio studies for at least five years, consider moving to reappraisals every two years and make appeal outcomes public.

The coalition argued that unadjusted sales-ratio studies show the clearest picture of assessment accuracy and that more frequent reappraisals would reduce inequities that emerge between cycles. Lenore Hagerty, an urban planner and co-author of a prior assessment study,…