Buncombe tax study says 'no race or income' inequalities, but identifies 'distortions'

ASHEVILLE - As Buncombe County gears up for reappraisal 2025, County Appraiser Keith Miller presented a tax assessment equity report during the Board of Commissioners July 16 briefing that found no evidence of race or income-based inequalities but did find indications of bias in favor of or against certain property types.

The report was developed by the Philadelphia-based Keene Mass Appraisal Consulting, with consultant Kevin Keene presenting on the study's findings. Keene noted that an extensive evaluation of the tax assessment office required a full tour of Buncombe County, interviews with staff and the creation of a separate database to analyze tax assessments.

Keene said the topline is that he "didn't find any bias based on race or income," but noted that there are "distortions" in assessments, which has led to 28 recommendations to address gaps in tax assessment practices.

While the 28 recommendations address multiple sections of the assessment process, some include creating a specialty role to address manufactured home prices, developing a role to address luxury home prices and increasing the capacity of the assessors office.

Last year, the Citizen Times wrote a series of articles analyzing the lag between the sale price and appraised price of Buncombe County's luxury homes. Some of the luxury homes analyzed in the series sold for well over 200% of their appraised price, potentially leaving thousands of uncollected tax dollars on the table.

Commission Chair Brownie Newman said he appreciated that the study addressed the possibility of having dedicated staff looking into luxury housing assessments and manufactured housing assessments, noting that the debate over the accuracy of home appraisals often happens on the "two ends of the spectrum."

"I do think that's where a lot of questions have kind of come up," Newman said.

Study is 'great news,' plans to adopt findings.

Miller noted that before the study was finished, the county had already moved forward with developing a luxury housing role, a role the report found "will go a long way toward addressing the under-evaluation of high-end properties." Overall, he felt the study was "great news."

"To have this confirmed from a third party and from a contractor and somebody from the level of expertise that Mr. Keene brings to us—this is very meaningful to me and this department," Miller said of the study's findings.

After developing the luxury housing role, they now plan to do the same for manufactured housing, with Miller stating it's their goal to develop the position over the "next couple of months."

Miller, however, did identify what he calls the "the No. 1" thing to improve on: the data that contributes to their assessments.

"We continue to strive to improve our data. We know how important data is. And we know to do a better job for our residents of Buncombe County," Miller said, noting that the data provided and developed by the assessment office could be improved if they increase field visits to disadvantaged communities, create processes to analyze properties in decline and gather more data on field visits.

While some findings will be adopted for reassessment 2025, other recommendations, like creating an analysis and modeling team and making a plan to relist properties in the county once every four years, likely won't be introduced until 2029, Miller said.

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.