Buncombe County Monitoring Property Assessment Legislative Impacts

On Friday, June 19, Governor Stein signed SB889/SL 2026-8, which imposes a moratorium on the 2026 property tax reappraisal. Set to take effect on July 1, 2026, the moratorium will affect the assessed property values used to build Buncombe County’s FY27 budget, which was adopted on June 2, 2026.  

At the same time, another bill, SB474, is with the NC Senate and could be taken up as early as Tuesday. SB474 would exempt Buncombe County from SB889. When he signed SB889, Governor Stein said: “I am concerned about this law's impact on Hurricane Helene recovery in Buncombe County. Senate Bill 474 would shield Buncombe County and other jurisdictions recovering from the storm, and I urge the Senate to pass it.”  

In its current form, SB889 would require changes to the recently adopted FY27 budget and tax rate. North Carolina General Statute only allows changes to the tax rate after July 1 to account for significant impacts to estimated revenues. 

“It’s important for property owners to know that at this point, there are no changes to their property assessments or taxes,” said County Manager Avril Pinder. “Once we understand what will happen with SB474, we will be able to clearly communicate what impact, if any, these bills have on our community and our taxpayers.” 

Additionally, if Buncombe County is not exempted from SB889, the County may not realize $1.8 million in anticipated public service utility property tax revenues. For the municipalities in the county, loss of anticipated revenues could total another $298,000.  

This is an evolving situation, and updates will be made as soon as they are available.