Summary: Buncombe County is considering a $40 million housing bond and adopting its FY27 budget, but continues to make major housing and spending decisions without a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy. We support the County’s continued investments in affordable housing, but urge the Commission to maximize the impact of these funds by adopting a framework that identifies residents most vulnerable to displacement and guides public investments accordingly.

The facts: On Tuesday, June 2, the Buncombe County Commission will consider two significant housing-related actions.

First, the Commission will move forward with a proposed bond referendum that would allow voters to decide whether to authorize $40 million in housing bonds. County staff have indicated that previously approved affordable housing bond funds have already been committed and that significant housing needs remain.

Second, the Commission is scheduled to adopt its FY27 budget. The budget includes funding for affordable housing and other community investments intended to address local needs.

Taken together, these actions demonstrate that Buncombe County recognizes housing affordability and housing stability as major community concerns. You can see the presentation slides for the housing bond here. You can read the latest County Budget in Brief draft here.

Our Assessment: We support increased investments in housing and community well-being. The proposed housing bond and housing-related budget investments are important steps forward.

At the same time, Buncombe County continues to make major decisions about housing, economic development, public safety, transportation, and disaster recovery without a formal anti-displacement framework. Without one, the County lacks a consistent way to identify where displacement pressures are greatest, evaluate the impacts of public decisions, and ensure resources are reaching the people and neighborhoods most at risk.

The result is not necessarily bad policy. The result is missed opportunities. Public investments can accomplish more when they are guided by data and analysis about who is being displaced, where displacement is occurring, and what interventions are most effective at helping residents remain in their homes and communities.

We have raised this issue on 27 separate occasions in the past six months, but have yet to see it discussed at a County Commission meeting or otherwise given serious consideration by County leaders.

Our Proposal: We continue to call on Buncombe County to adopt a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy. Such a strategy would identify neighborhoods experiencing displacement pressure, track housing stability indicators, evaluate major policy decisions through an anti-displacement lens, and align public investments with the goal of helping residents remain in place. An anti-displacement strategy would not replace investments like the housing bond or affordable housing funding. It would strengthen them by helping ensure those resources are targeted where they can do the greatest good.

Read our proposal here. 

Things to do: Send an email to the County Commission and sign up to join us in making a public comment on June 2. Ask County leaders to pair housing investments with a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy.

Email Template: You can send an email to the Buncombe County Commission by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.

Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.

To: alfred.whitesides@buncombecounty.org, amanda.edwards@buncombecounty.org, drew.ball@buncombecounty.org, jennifer.horton@buncombecounty.org, martin.moore@buncombecounty.org, parker.sloan@buncombecounty.org, terri.wells@buncombecounty.org

CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org

Subject: Pair housing investments with an anti-displacement strategy

Dear Commissioners,

I appreciate Buncombe County’s continued investments in affordable housing, including the proposed housing bond and housing-related funding in the FY27 budget.

As the County continues addressing housing affordability, I encourage you to adopt a formal anti-displacement strategy that can help guide future decisions and ensure public investments have the greatest possible impact. Housing investments are most effective when they are informed by data about who is most vulnerable to displacement and where intervention is most needed.

Please continue investing in housing while also developing a countywide anti-displacement framework to help residents remain in their homes and communities.

Thank you for your service.

Suggested Public Comment Talking Points

You do not need to cover all of these points. Pick one or two that resonate with you and speak from your own experience, sharing how this issue affects you and people that you care about.

Option 1: Support the housing bond and ask for an anti-displacement strategy

I support the proposed housing bond and appreciate the County’s commitment to investing in affordable housing.

At the same time, I encourage the County to develop a formal anti-displacement strategy so that future housing investments are guided by data about where displacement is occurring and who is most at risk. The housing bond will have the greatest impact if it is part of a broader plan to help residents remain in their homes and communities.

Option 2: Ask how the County measures success

The County is making significant investments in housing and community well-being. How will we know whether those investments are helping residents stay in Buncombe County?

I encourage the County to develop measurable anti-displacement goals and track indicators such as housing stability, eviction rates, displacement pressures, and access to affordable housing so that public investments can be evaluated based on outcomes.

Option 3: Connect displacement to community stability

When longtime residents are priced out of their neighborhoods, we lose community connections, support networks, and local knowledge.

I encourage Buncombe County to adopt an anti-displacement framework that recognizes housing stability as an essential part of community health, economic mobility, and public safety.

Option 4: Ask for a countywide approach

Housing investments are important, but displacement is influenced by many different decisions, including transportation, economic development, disaster recovery, public safety, and land use.

I encourage the County to evaluate major policy decisions through an anti-displacement lens so that departments are working toward shared goals rather than addressing housing challenges in isolation.

Closing Statement

I appreciate the County’s investments in housing and community services. My request is simple: pair those investments with a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy so that public dollars can have the greatest possible impact for the people most at risk of being pushed out of our community.

Report Back

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