Staff continue work to finalize new values for Jan. 2024
The Wake County Tax Administration team today walked County leaders through the next steps of the 2024 Revaluation, a process to make sure the assessed value of every residential and commercial property in the County reflects fair market value. Staff presented the guidelines and standards they'll use to help equitably update more than 425,000 properties, which were last valued four years ago.
“Wake County’s real estate market has changed significantly since 2020,” said Wake County Tax Administrator Marcus Kinrade. “We know property owners are anxious for us to communicate how much land, homes and commercial buildings have changed in value. We still have more than 20 appraisers performing property reviews in the office and in the field, and we’ll continue working through December to make sure our assessed values properly reflect the market. We plan to share results in mid-January.”
In the state of North Carolina, these revaluations on real property must be done at least once every eight years. Recognizing Wake County’s rapid growth, the Wake County Board of Commissioners voted in 2016 to shorten the revaluation cycle to help lessen the impact on residents.
Because property values don’t all go up or down at the same rate, revaluations make sure each property’s assessed value reflects the most probable price that a property would bring at sale in a competitive and open market. Property tax bills are made up of two parts – the property tax rate, set by elected officials at the county and municipal level, and the assessed value. If counties didn’t conduct periodic revaluations, some property owners would pay more than their share of property tax while others would pay less than their share. The 2024 revaluation process began in earnest by Tax Administration staff in 2022, with several steps completed and more underway.
Step 1: Appraisers divide the county into about 5,000 neighborhoods based on similar market, economic and geographical conditions.
Step 2: Property sales of homes, commercial buildings and land are analyzed to establish appropriate land values, building grades and the influence of various property conditions.
Step 3: During field and office review, the Tax Administration team analyzes proposed rates by visiting neighborhoods and properties around the county and using Wake County’s proprietary software. A huge sampling of properties are individually reviewed for additional analysis and quality control, with more than 165,000 properties reviewed in field and another 260,000 reviewed in office.
Step 4: Wake County Tax Administration plans to present the revaluation results to the Board of Commissioners at the regular January 16, 2024 meeting. A few days later, property values will arrive in the mail to individual property owners. Those mailings will list their updated assessed value, along with instructions on how to use a new tool that will help them see which comparable sales were used to help determine their values. There will also be information regarding how to file an appeal if needed and details about the three North Carolina income-based programs that can bring tax relief for low-income seniors and disabled homeowners, as well as disabled veterans.
Additional information can be found at wake.gov/revaluation, including answers to frequently asked questions, timelines and a comprehensive overview video. Tax Administration has increased outreach to community partners and municipalities and offers a fully-staffed call center that can be reached at 919-857-3800 or revaluation@wake.gov.
