Buncombe Commissioners delay 2025 property reappraisal and more

At the Oct. 15 regular meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution delaying the 2025 reappraisal deadline until January 1, 2026. At this time, it is unknown how market values across the county will be impacted by the known and anticipated severity of damage to real estate and personal property. The timing and severity of the storm has pivoted the responsibilities and assignments of nearly all commercial, residential, business, and individual personal property staff. The Property Assessment team is in the data collection and analysis phase and will be spending the remainder of the year working diligently to ensure damaged properties, whether real estate or personal, are assessed as accurate and equitably as possible.

On January 1, 2023, the County received a notice for mandatory advancement of reappraisal under § 105-286 (a)(2), which states that a reappraisal must be performed within three years of receiving such notice. This continuance is within the guidelines of current general statutes and any further continuance requires action by the General Assembly.

The Board also approved a $29,000,000 budget amendment establishing an anticipated FEMA award for Buncombe County. Once this budget is in place, expenses already incurred in the General Fund will be moved to this grant, and all future activity related to Hurricane Helene will be placed in this budget. The $29,000,000 amount is based on current spending and projections to set a budget for response and recovery to ensure budget is available for needed expenditures. Future amendments will take place to reconcile the budget to the full amount of the award or reflect the full scope of activity taking place when required.

The Board also approved budget amendments for:

• Solid waste compactor: $1,755,328
• General Fund carryforward: $3,976,304
• 911 Special Revenue Fund carryforward: $516,758
• Mountain Mobility Special Revenue fund carryforward: $2,043,359

The Board also approved a resolution designating official banking depositories of Buncombe County to include:

• Well Fargo N.A.
• Regions Bank
• Bank of America
• Truist Bank
• US Bank
• First National Bank
• Pinnacle Bank
• Bank OZK

In its last order of business, the Board voted to authorize the purchase of three ambulances at a cost of $1,225,560.

For more information, go to www.buncombecounty.org/commissioners.