Keith Miller

Buncombe tries to fix its property tax appraisal system

An action plan county staffers presented to the Board of Commissioners Oct. 18 includes steps to help owners of cheaper homes seek reductions if they think the county has valued their homes too highly, to get property owners to report when they upgrade their homes and to refine some aspects of how Buncombe’s appraisers do their jobs.

Quilt at Transformation Village

Buncombe tests and tweaks Code Purple plan

As presented to the county Board of Commissioners Nov. 15 by Jennifer Teague, Buncombe’s aging and adult services program manager, the Asheville-Buncombe County Homeless Coalition called the first Code Purple of 2022 on Oct. 15 — the first day this year’s program went into effect. After evaluating the results of that first night, the coalition decided to extend entry times for Code Purple shelters.

Asheville city seal

Council to hear Code Purple update amid freezing temperatur­es

If next week’s forecast is correct, overnight temperatures in Asheville will dip below freezing several times, potentially exposing those living without shelter to harsh conditions. Fittingly, members of Asheville City Council will hear an update on the city’s Code Purple program during their meeting of Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Greg Parks and Sara Disher Ratliff

Xpress holds forum for Buncombe school board candidates

The event, supported in part by the American Press Institute’s Election Coverage and Community Listening Fund, also aimed to uplift community voices regarding education issues. As moderator Aisha Adams revealed through conversations with the audience, many concerns about the school system are shared among voters with different views, even if they may disagree about how best to solve those issues.

Keith Miller

Buncombe taking steps to make tax values more equitable

The county plans to spend $844,000 on new tax assessment initiatives over this fiscal year and the next. Actions include asking Buncombe residents to report improvements to their homes, buying software to double-check the valuations county staffers give to homes and reaching out to residents to help them challenge their property tax values.

Buncombe County seal

Commission­ers to consider tax changes; higher STR rates off the table

Proposed changes on the agenda for the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18, include adding staff and improving software to make the county’s assessment of home values more accurate, asking state legislators to expand a tax break some homeowners get under state law and increasing efforts to tell homeowners how to challenge their tax value.

Entreprene­urs bring wellness opportunit­ies to Asheville area

Asheville may never have won an official designation as “city where you’re most likely to encounter someone wearing hiking boots in a bar.” Residents and tourists alike, however, know that this is a place where yoga pants, muddy Tevas and a reusable water bottle are practically the local uniform. One demographic that’s embracing this health- […]

Panhandling sign

How is Asheville addressing panhandlin­g?

While current city ordinances place some restrictions on panhandling, in most instances it is a legal means of making money. Bill Davis, spokesperson for Asheville Police Department, says police had received 95 calls for panhandling this year as of Aug. 17, the majority of which were requests for wellness checks out of concern for those in need.

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