Wake County Moves to More Frequent Property Revaluations to Keep Pace with Growth

Aims to keep property assessments more in line with market trends, reduce sudden spikes in valuation, and ensure tax fairness across the county.

Holly Springs, NC, Mar. 19, 2025 — In response to rapid growth and rising property values, the Wake County Board of Commissioners has approved a plan to shorten the county’s property revaluation cycle from four years to two. The decision, finalized in a meeting on March 17, 2025, aims to keep property assessments more in line with market trends, reduce sudden spikes in valuation, and ensure tax fairness across the county.

Why Is Wake County Making This Change?

North Carolina law requires counties to conduct property revaluations at least once every eight years. Still, most large counties have opted for more frequent updates to avoid dramatic assessment fluctuations. Wake County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S., last shortened its cycle to four years in 2016. Now, county officials say that even four years is too long.

“We’re trying to prevent sticker shock,” a county tax official said. “When revaluations happen less frequently, homeowners can experience sudden and drastic increases. More frequent updates will smooth out these changes over time.”

Wake County has experienced explosive growth over the last decade, adding more than 75,000 new parcels since 2016. “Angier has grown the most—most people don’t even realize that there are Angier parcels in Wake County,” an official noted. “That’s pretty much a Harnett County town, but it has bled into Wake County and grown 243% in the last nine years.”

Property values have surged accordingly. In the 2024 revaluation, “the base increased for real property from $180 billion to $272.4 billion—almost $95 billion in new value.” The last two revaluations saw 23% (2020) and 51% (2024) increases in total property values.

How Will the New Revaluation Schedule Work?

Instead of moving immediately to a two-year cycle, Wake County will transition gradually. The next revaluation will occur in 2027 (three years from now), followed by a two-year cycle starting in 2029. This means properties will be reassessed in odd-numbered years (2029, 2031, etc.).

Officials argue that this approach will keep tax assessments closer to market values, which is common in high-growth areas. “When we look at our peer jurisdictions nationwide… you can see how often they conduct revaluations—pretty much annually, except for Wake County and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.”

What Does This Mean for Homeowners?

More frequent revaluations could help long-time homeowners by reducing the impact of large market swings. Additionally, new construction and major renovations will be assessed closer to their actual market value, ensuring that new development contributes its fair share to the tax base.

“It should take some stress off of existing homeowners and shift it to the growth,” an official explained. “Having real estate sales more aligned with our assessed values just makes more sense to the public who is looking at our values.”

How Will the County Implement This Change?

Wake County has been investing in AI-driven property assessment tools and aerial imaging technology to support the transition. The county has partnered with SAS to analyze property sales data daily and use machine learning to refine assessments.

“We utilize their technology, their AI technology, machine learning technology. We push them our complete data set and our complete sales file every night. And they utilize their technology to reassess our entire residential file every night,” a county official stated.

Additionally, aerial photography helps tax assessors identify new construction and renovations. “We are flying the county at lower and lower levels and getting good oblique imagery of property so we don’t have to be in the field as much.”

Despite the increased frequency of revaluations, officials confirmed that the county does not need to hire additional staff and that the cost of implementation has already been accounted for.

“Our expertise in our office has never been higher,” an official said. “We continue to invest in smart technology to make our job more accurate.”

Public Outreach and Appeals Process

Wake County Tax Administration has prioritized public engagement, holding community meetings, partnering with local organizations, and using digital tools to educate homeowners about the revaluation process.

“We want to go out and we do community meetings. We do formal presentations to the municipalities. We go out to community groups, share information,” said Deputy Tax Administrator Nicole Kreiser.

In the last revaluation cycle, only 3.7% of homeowners requested an informal appeal, with 61.7% of those appeals resulting in no change to the assessed value. A more formal appeal process is available for those wishing to challenge their valuations further.

“No, the appeal period opens up every year on January 1 and it will close on the date that the Board of ENR adjourns, which isn’t set yet, but I just say the first week of April to be safe,” an official clarified.

What’s Next?

The next property revaluation in Wake County will occur on January 1, 2027. The county will continue efforts to educate the public about the process, including planned updates to tax bills.

“Yes, that’s absolutely true,” an official confirmed regarding the redesign of tax bills. “We are in the process… we are redesigning our bills… If a property is in Apex and Wake County, then the taxes will be separated, and the Apex taxes will be under the Apex logo, and there will be a customer service number for someone to be able to call Apex if they’re unhappy with Apex.”

With Wake County’s growth continuing at a record pace, officials believe more frequent property revaluations are necessary to ensure a fair and transparent tax system.

“I think it’s the right move at the right time,” one commissioner stated. “It makes the most sense for this time and where we are.”

Holly Springs residents are encouraged to share thoughts and feedback with their district representative on the Wake County Board of Commissioners:

District 2 Wake County Commissioner

Commissioner Safiyah Jackson
Email: safiyah.jackson@wake.gov