Asheville council raises tax rate to offset state-ordered rollback of property values

The Asheville City Council voted 4-2 on July 15 to amend its FY 2026–27 adopted budget and raise the city property tax rate to 50.78¢ per $100 of assessed value to offset a state-mandated return to 2025 property valuations.

City Attorney Brad Branham told the council that two recently ratified state laws (cited in the meeting as session law 2026-8 and session law 2026-47, and referred to in the discussion as Senate Bill 889 and Senate Bill 474) require Buncombe County and the municipalities within it to use 2025 property tax values instead of the 2026 revaluation figures the council used when it adopted a balanced budget on June 9. "As a result of all of this, the city's budget is no longer balanced," Branham said, adding that the city is currently "legally noncompliant" until budget revenue is adjusted.

Why it mattered: Finance Director Tony McDowell told the council the adopted budget assumed a $106,000,000 property-tax yield based on the county's 2026 revaluation and the 37.69¢ tax rate adopted on June 9. Using the county's decision to revert to 2025 values reduced the taxable base and, he said, would require a tax rate of 50.78¢ to preserve the same $106 million in revenue. McDowell warned that applying the previously adopted 37.69¢ rate to the lower base would produce an estimated $28,000,000 shortfall against the adopted budget.

McDowell offered a hypothetical homeowner example from the budget process: a median-priced home used in the June calculations (listed at $478,500 under the 2026 revaluation) compared with an illustrative 2025 value of $350,000. He said that, in the example, applying the 50.78¢ rate to the lower value would yield a slightly lower bill than under the previously adopted rate, but emphasized individual impacts will vary based on each property's valuation change.

The council also approved a change to the downtown Asheville Business Improvement District rate, moving it from 7.63¢ to 8.77¢ per $100 to maintain BID fund revenue consistent with the adopted budget.

Council reaction split along lines of principle and practice. Councilman Estes, who moved the amendment, framed the vote as necessary to maintain city services and investments in frontline staff: "I will be a yes because...it supports our workers, it supports our firefighters, it supports our police officers, it invests in critical infrastructure, it also maintains city services," he said. One council member stated they would not support the amendment, and a council member calling in from a speaker phone (identified in the record as Councilman Roni) said for the record they would have voted no if able to participate.

The motion was seconded (the record does not identify who seconded it) and approved in a hand-raise/voice count called by the mayor with four members in favor and two opposed. The mayor declared the motion approved and noted the action is intended to have a net-zero impact on overall city property-tax collections relative to the revenue level established in the June budget.

After the vote the council briefly moved toward adjournment and then voted to enter closed session. Councilman Estes said the closed session was to discuss privileged or confidential information and to consider the qualifications and performance of an employee or prospective employee under the statutory authorizations cited in the meeting (chapters 143-318.11(a)(1) and 143-318.10(e) of the North Carolina General Statutes).

What happens next: Staff said they will continue to coordinate with Buncombe County ahead of next year's budget process if valuation figures change again, and the council will implement the amended tax rates before bills are finalized. The record does not identify individual roll-call votes by name; the oral vote was recorded only as four in favor, two opposed.