As a state representative for North Carolina’s General Assembly (House District 25), I’ve spent years fighting for hardworking families in our communities. But one issue continues to demand attention: the disconnect between what county officials claim about taxes and what taxpayers actually experience. I’m talking about property revaluations — a statutorily required process that’s become a convenient shield for avoiding honest conversations about the cost of local government.
Let’s be very clear: North Carolina law requires counties to reappraise all real property at least once every eight years to ensure values reflect the current market. This requirement exists for good reason: Without periodic updates, identical homes would pay vastly different taxes based solely on when they last sold, creating obvious inequities. The revaluation process itself isn’t the problem — the problem is how it’s being used to obscure real tax increases.
County officials often boast that they’ve “never voted for a tax increase,” pointing to stable or even declining “tax rates.” But this claim rings hollow when property values are reassessed upward — as they almost always are in growing areas — and the effective tax burden rises. Counties across the state, from Cumberland to Wake, are conducting these revaluations, with many effective in 2025 or 2026. When your tax bill jumps 20%, 30%, or 40%, the technical rate becomes irrelevant. You’re paying more. That’s a tax increase, regardless of the political rhetoric.
This messaging isn’t just misleading — it undermines the transparency our representative process requires. By blaming “market forces” rather than policy choices, officials avoid the accountability that comes with straightforward rate decisions. Taxpayers deserve to know: Is my county holding the line on spending, or are they using rising property values to fund budget growth?
To the legislature’s credit, North Carolina law recognizes this concern. State statute requires county budget officers to calculate a “revenue-neutral” tax rate after each revaluation — one that would generate the same revenue as the previous year, adjusted for natural growth. This benchmark is meant to provide clarity: rates above this level represent a conscious choice to increase county revenue, not merely a response to market conditions.
Yet time and time again, counties exceed this neutral rate without clearly explaining why to taxpayers. Take Nash County, which just completed its reevaluation effective for 2025. The revenue-neutral rate was calculated at 57.5 cents per $100 valuation, but the county set its rate at 63 cents — technically lower than the previous 65 cents, allowing officials to claim a “rate decrease” even as overall revenue increased by nearly 30%. Similarly, in Forsyth County, the revenue-neutral rate for FY26 was calculated at 49.04 cents per $100 of value, but the proposed budget set it at 53.24 cents.
To be clear: counties face real pressures. Growing populations need infrastructure. Aging communities require services. Schools need funding. These are legitimate needs, and I don’t dispute that county officials are often trying to meet genuine demands from their constituents. But that makes transparency even more critical. If additional revenue is necessary, officials should make that case directly, rather than hiding it behind reassessment cycles.
The burden of property taxes deserves particular scrutiny because of how they fall on our families. Unlike other taxes, which fluctuates with economic circumstances or interactions with the market, property taxes are based on assessed values that may have no relationship to a homeowner’s actual ability to pay. This creates acute hardship for specific groups: retirees on fixed incomes who’ve lived in their homes for decades suddenly face assessments that strain their budgets, and young families trying to enter the housing market find themselves priced out by rapidly rising values.
Additionally, North Carolina is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the nation — over 700,000 men and women who served our country. Many chose to make North Carolina their home precisely because it offered an affordable place to retire after their service. Yet rising property assessments hit our veteran community especially hard. Disabled veterans living on VA benefits and military retirees on fixed pensions find themselves facing tax bills that bear no relation to their financial reality. These are individuals who already sacrificed for our country; we shouldn’t be taxing them out of the homes they earned through that sacrifice. While North Carolina does offer some property tax relief for disabled veterans, these programs often don’t keep pace with the assessment increases driven by revaluation cycles, leaving many veterans struggling despite their eligibility for exemptions.
The problem compounds when you consider secondary effects. As property values rise, homeowners insurance premiums often increase to reflect higher replacement costs, doubling the financial squeeze. In a state where housing affordability is already strained, these compounding pressures are pushing people out of communities they’ve helped build.
Long-term homeownership benefits everyone. Research consistently shows that stable home ownership fosters stronger communities — better schools, lower crime rates, higher civic engagement. When our tax structure penalizes people for staying in their homes and building equity in their neighborhoods, we undermine these community foundations. Young prospective buyers face barriers to entry, while seniors and veterans who represent our communities’ institutional foundations face barriers to staying in communities they’ve help build.
We can do better. First, we need stronger enforcement of the revenue-neutral requirement — perhaps mandating that counties adopt the neutral rate unless they hold a public hearings, and possibly a referendum, for increases above it. This would restore transparency and give voters direct say over budget growth that exceeds natural expansion. Americans For Prosperity North Carolina has emphasized the importance of this, stating that “We believe that voters should have the right to know and vote on tax increases. Through greater transparency, accountability, and spending restraint; we can stop the runaway train that has become property taxes in North Carolina.”
Additionally, and most importantly, county officials need to engage honestly about budget priorities and spending levels. If services beyond core functions like public safety, infrastructure, and schools are worth the cost, make that case to taxpayers directly. If budget growth is necessary, explain why. Our citizens are reasonable people who can evaluate these tradeoffs — but only if the conversation happens in the open.
North Carolinians work hard for what they have, they deserve straight talk about what government costs and why. I’ll continue pushing for transparency and accountability in how we fund local government, because the dream of homeownership shouldn’t come with hidden fine print that makes it unaffordable to maintain.
