Revaluation is a process by which all property tax assessments within a taxing jurisdiction (McDowell County) are reassessed to their market value as of a specific revaluation date. It is also sometimes called a reappraisal or mass appraisal. The tax office, in this process, reassesses all real property (land, buildings, and other improvements to land) as of the revaluation date.
Arm's-length market sales are used to estimate new tax assessments during this process as well as other market data such as income and expense information, and market-extracted (and independently published) building cost information. This updated tax assessment is effective, generally, until the next countywide revaluation. McDowell County's next planned revaluation date is January 1, 2023, and tax assessments should reflect market value as of that date once the revaluation is completed.
The State of North Carolina requires counties to conduct a revaluation at least once every eight years (N.C.G.S. 105-286a). Its purpose is to redistribute the tax burden based upon current market data. As time elapses between revaluations, properties may increase or decrease in market value at different rates. The State of North Carolina charges counties with assessing property based on current market data as of each revaluation date.
Most likely, yes. However, not all property values will change at the same percentage. Market values may have increased or decreased more for some neighborhoods and property types than for others. One purpose of a revaluation is to ensure assessed values reflect changes that have occurred in the marketplace since the last countywide revaluation.
This process is a lengthy one, and new value notices won't be mailed until late February, 2023. This will allow us the time to review every parcel in the county and use the most recent sales (through the end of 2022) in building valuation models.