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BY THE RECORDASHEVILLE

Budget and taxes

What does the City spend, and what does it charge in property tax?

Council adopted a $275.8 million FY 2026-27 budget, including a $187.5 million General Fund. After a new state law made Buncombe County use pre-revaluation property values, Council set the City property tax rate at 50.78 cents per $100 of assessed value on July 15, 2026, a rate the City says raises the same revenue as the 37.69 cents adopted on June 9.

Period
FY 2023-24 through FY 2026-27 (July 2023 to June 2027)
Area
City of Asheville
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Pack Square Park with the Buncombe County Courthouse on the left and Asheville City Hall on the right.
The County Courthouse and City Hall, seen from Pack Square, February 2011.Photo: Warren LeMay. Source, CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication).

50.78¢

City property tax rate per $100 of assessed value

FY 2026-27 (July 2026 to June 2027)City of AshevilleCouncil first adopted 37.69 cents on June 9, 2026, using 2026 revaluation values, then amended the rate on July 15, 2026 after state law required 2025 values. The rate was 44.19 cents in FY 2025-26 and 40.93 cents in FY 2024-25.

How often budget and taxes came up for a voteEach bar is one year of votes on budget and taxes in the City Council minutes.
Voted on separatelyRoutine items, passed together

2018 starts in December. 2026 is so far. Only votes this site has read in the minutes are counted.

Why it matters: Each vote is a decision about this issue. Routine items pass together in one vote, so a tall bar does not always mean more debate.

Why it matters: The tax rate sets what owners pay for each $100 their property is worth. Property tax is the biggest source of money for City services.

What the City actually spendsTen years of audited spending by function, budget against actual, and where the money comes from.See the spending →

What we don't know yet

  • The FY 2023-24 total shown ($239.7 million) is the proposed budget from the June 13, 2023 minutes. We did not verify the final adopted total.
  • Audited year-end fund balance for FY 2025-26 had not been published in the sources reviewed. The 14.6% FY 2026-27 figure is a staff estimate.
  • NC Department of State Treasurer (Local Government Commission) fund balance and audit data were not retrieved for this brief.
  • Individual tax bills depend on each property's value. The City's example (a $1,803 bill at 37.69 cents on a $478,500 home vs. $1,777 at 50.78 cents on a $350,000 home) is labeled hypothetical in the July 15, 2026 minutes.
  • It is not yet clear whether the 2026 revaluation values will be used for FY 2027-28. The Mayor said on July 15, 2026 that the City does not know what the legislature will do.
  • On January 27, 2026, a Council member said the FY 2027 gap was about $30 million. Staff figures were $10.5 million (April 14) and $8.9 million (May 12). We use the staff figures.
  • The FY 2026-27 total appears as $275.8 million in the adopted budget document and City news release, $275.1 million in the June 9 staff report and $275.7 million in the July 15 minutes. We use the adopted budget document.

Words on this page

General Fund
The City's main operating fund. It pays for police, fire, streets, parks and most other services, and property tax is its largest source of money.
Revenue-neutral tax rate
After a revaluation, the tax rate that would bring in about the same property tax revenue as the year before. State law requires the City to publish it. For FY 2026-27 it was 32.89 cents.
Revaluation (reappraisal)
Buncombe County's periodic update of property values. The 2026 revaluation was the first in five years. For FY 2026-27, state law made the County keep 2025 values instead.
Unassigned fund balance
General Fund reserves that are not set aside for a specific purpose. City policy targets 15% of General Fund spending.
Enterprise fund
A fund for a service paid mostly by user fees, such as water, stormwater, parking or transit, kept separate from the General Fund.