A flat rate isn't the same as a flat bill. Even with no rate change, projected property tax revenue rises about $900,000(roughly $46.3M to $47.3M) because the tax base grows — new construction and rising property values add to the total being taxed. So an individual bill can still go up if that property's assessed value rose.
How does a 1.47% increase work against inflation?
The total budget is $82,536,220, up 1.47%over last year — tight, given the budget cites a 3.8% CPI increase. It stays lean through three choices the budget states directly:
- Holding personnel costs down.Minimal staffing changes. The budget calls the county pay plan “out of date for the region” and notes a market-rate adjustment “would likely require an increase in funding” — so that fix is largely deferred. The one big personnel cost absorbed is an 8% health insurance increase.
- Capital funded in advance.The new courthouse and school bond projects aren't driving this year's increase. Their financing was planned years ahead, with dedicated tax revenue set aside since FY25 to smooth larger payments coming in FY28–FY32.
- Partners funded at or below inflation.Schools, Blue Ridge Community College, and the Economic Alliance get a 2% operational increase — below inflation, and below the 7% schools received last year.
What's deferred or flagged as a risk
The budget's own “Trends & Risks” section names pressures left for future years:
- SNAP and Medicaid: if the state passes these costs to counties, an estimated $1.2 million per yearin new mandatory expense — more than the entire 1.47% increase.
- Teacher pay: if the state raises base salaries, roughly $1 million per year in added county cost.
- The budget notes these two together “equal 2 cents in the county budget.”
- Also named as deferred or unfunded: the pay-plan update, future courthouse operating costs, long-term solid waste capital, and a requested $68 million BRCC campus.
The bottom line
The budget holds the rate flat and the increase to 1.47% — a lean number — largely by deferring a needed pay-plan update, funding partners below inflation, and relying on capital financed in earlier years. The budget is direct that this pushes large decisions into future years, and that state choices on SNAP, Medicaid, and teacher pay could add over $2 million in costs the county would absorb mid-year, with no local control.
Have a say
The Board of Commissioners holds a public hearing on June 22, 2026 at 6 PM at the Multipurpose Chambers, 101 S. Broad St., Brevard, and is scheduled to vote on adoption the same evening. Two commissioner seats are on the ballot in November 2026.