ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville City Council voted Wednesday to adjust the city’s property tax rate after a change in North Carolina law forced local governments to use older property values for this year’s tax bills.

The 4-2 vote increases Asheville’s property tax rate from the previously approved 37.69 cents per $100 of assessed value to 50.78 cents per $100 of assessed value. Council members Sage Turner and Antanette Mosley voted against the change, while Vice Mayor Kim Roney, who was not present but called into the meeting, said she would have also voted against it.

City officials stressed the higher tax rate does not mean the city is collecting more property tax revenue than originally approved.

Instead, the adjustment is designed to keep Asheville’s already adopted $275.7 million fiscal year 2026-27 budget balanced after the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation requiring Buncombe County and its municipalities to use older property values for tax calculations.

“This is a net zero impact to the overall city budget and our overall city property tax collections,” Finance Director Tony McDowell told council members.

Why did the tax rate change?

Asheville adopted its budget last month using new property values from Buncombe County’s 2026 revaluation.

Those updated values reflected years of growth in property values across the county, including changes since the last countywide revaluation in 2021.

After the city approved its budget, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 889, which required Buncombe County and other affected counties to delay using their new 2026 property values and instead use the previous year’s values.

A second law, Senate Bill 474, created an option for some counties to continue using the new values if they adopted a revenue-neutral tax rate. Buncombe County commissioners decided Tuesday not to use that option.

Because the city is within Buncombe County, Asheville was also required to return to the older property values.

City Attorney Brad Branham said that created a gap in the city budget because the tax rate approved in June was based on a larger property tax base.

“The amount of revenue it is expected to generate is significantly lower,” Branham said.

Without adjusting the tax rate, city officials estimated Asheville would lose about $28 million in expected property tax revenue.

What does this mean for Asheville homeowners?

For residents, the biggest change is that the tax rate is higher, but many property values will be lower than originally expected because the city must return to the older tax values.

The impact will vary depending on how much a property’s assessed value changed during the 2026 revaluation.

City officials provided an example using a hypothetical median-priced home.

Under the original budget, a home valued at $478,500 would have been taxed at the 37.69-cent rate.

Under the amended plan, that same example home would return to a previous value of about $350,000 and be taxed at the higher 50.78-cent rate.

In that example, the homeowner’s city property tax bill would actually be slightly lower than under the original budget.

Officials said residents should compare their upcoming tax bills with last year’s bills — not the tax bills they would have received under the canceled 2026 revaluation values.

Mayor Esther Manheimer said property revaluations can already be confusing for residents, and the state-required change adds another layer of uncertainty.

“What folks are going to see is the value from last year, actually whatever value they had going all the way back to 2021 unless they had made improvements to their property, with just a new tax rate,” Manheimer said.

Council members criticize state action

Council members expressed frustration that they had to revisit a budget that was already approved after the state legislation changed the rules.

Several noted the city had followed the required budget process, including public meetings and community input, before lawmakers changed the requirements.

“We are now forced to revisit a budget that was already complete,” one council member said. “The state changed those rules.”

The change comes at a difficult time as Asheville continues recovering from Tropical Storm Helene.

One council member said he supported the adjustment because it maintains funding for city services, including public safety, infrastructure and employee compensation.

Roney, who opposed the original budget, said she would have voted against this tax rate adjustment as well, citing concerns about city spending priorities and employee compensation.

What happens next?

The adjusted tax rate will now be used for the city’s fiscal year 2026-27 property tax bills.

City officials said property values are expected to remain based on the older figures unless changes are made to a property, such as improvements or additions.

The county will continue working through future budget cycles, but city officials said additional changes could occur depending on future action by the state legislature.

City leaders said they will continue communicating with residents as tax bills are issued and as the impacts of the state legislation become clearer.