Despite the widespread devastation left behind in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Buncombe County, North Carolina property owners were expected to cough up their property taxes earlier this week.

Midnight on Monday Jan 6 was the deadline for property owners to pay their taxes as Public Information Officer Stacy Woods told residents, “North Carolina law does not permit property tax waivers or exceptions for natural disasters, including hurricane Helene.”

The thought of collecting taxes on property that has been destroyed or that no longer exists, is shocking to residents who are still in the process of recovering from the unprecedented destruction caused by the storm.

Meanwhile, county and state officials insist that there is no flexibility under North Carolina General Statute 105-360 when it comes to collecting property taxes.

That statute states that property taxes are due at their face amount if paid before Jan 6 following the due date while payments made after that date are subject to additional interest charges.

Brian Balfour who is Senior President of Research at the John Locke Institute says, “There are no exceptions made for property tax according to state law; also the property tax payment deadline, is not allowed to be extended,” adding, “There’s obviously a lot of people panicking, because they’re getting hit with their full property tax bill, even if their property was severely damaged or completely wiped away.”

The Carolina Journal reports that while there is no relief available for Buncombe County residents this year, adjustments will be made for the county’s 2025 tax assessments.

Meanwhile, the question remains as to whether the county will move to seize properties from residents for non-payment of taxes, as allowed by law.

It may be a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose situation for those property owners who survived nature’s destruction only to lose everything to their government.