Wake County commissioners moved closer this week to approving the schedule of values that will guide the 2027 property revaluation, a document that sets the ground rules for how appraisers calculate what more than 460,000 residential and commercial properties across the county are worth. The board reviewed the proposed schedule on Monday, Sept. 21, and scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 5; it did not vote at that meeting. The step is procedural but consequential toward a reassessment that could reshape tax bills for homeowners from Raleigh to the suburbs.
The schedule of values establishes guidelines for county appraisers to determine market values, according to CBS17. Nicole Kreiser, Wake County's deputy tax administrator, told the station the county has a lot of parcels and is growing quickly, underscoring the scale of the task facing appraisers tasked with pricing out the entire county's real estate inventory. The full Wake County Board of Commissioners is expected to formally vote on the schedules of values on October 19.
Why Wake County Is Speeding Up Its Reassessment Clock
Wake County last conducted a revaluation in 2024, and under North Carolina law the county is required to reassess property values at minimum within a set statutory window — a requirement that, per state statute, has been described as requiring revaluations at least once every eight years, known as the octennial cycle, according to Craven County government. But Wake County isn't waiting that long. In March 2025, the Wake County Board of Commissioners voted to shift from a four-year revaluation cycle to a two-year cycle, with 2027 serving as a transitional three-year assessment before regular two-year revaluations begin in 2029, per the Wake County Tax Administration.
Kreiser explained to the station's reporting that when more time passes between revaluations, new construction can end up valued using rates established four years earlier — a lag that can distort fairness across a fast-growing tax base. That rationale lines up with county leaders' stated goal of smoothing out the kind of drastic valuation swings that rattled homeowners after the last cycle.
The 2024 Shock Still Lingers
The urgency behind the faster cycle traces back to the 2024 revaluation, when overall county property values surged 51% compared to 2020 levels, with residential values climbing 53% and commercial properties rising 45%, according to Insight Residential Realty. That jump wasn't evenly distributed. Suburban eastern and southern Wake County saw the sharpest residential increases, led by Rolesville at 65%, Holly Springs at 58%, and Apex and Garner each at 56%, compared to a 48% increase in Raleigh, per the North Carolina Housing Coalition.
Those numbers help explain why Wake County residents have pushed back, requesting more transparency in how property-tax values are determined and more help with high property-tax payments, per CBS17's reporting. One resident described property taxes as an added burden on unrealized gains — a complaint that captures the frustration of owners watching paper values climb even when they have no plans to sell.
Property Taxes Fund Nearly Three-Quarters of County Operations
The stakes are high because property taxes are almost 75% of the county's general fund, the station reported, meaning any shift in assessed values ripples directly into the budget that pays for schools, public safety, and county services. The 2027 schedule of values will reflect market conditions as of January 1, 2027, and the Wake County Tax Administration plans to present the revaluation results to commissioners on Jan. 19 and begin mailing formal notices around Jan. 22, according to Wake County government. Field and office appraisal reviews are analyzing market transactions ahead of that mailing.
A higher assessed value doesn't automatically mean a higher tax bill. North Carolina General Statute § 159-11(e) requires the budget officer to include a growth-adjusted revenue-neutral property-tax-rate statement in the budget for comparison purposes, though elected boards aren't required to adopt that rate, per Brunswick County government. For fiscal year 2026, Wake County's adopted property tax rate sat at 51.71 cents per $100 of assessed value after commissioners approved a 0.36-cent increase, according to the Martini Mortgage Group.
Budget Pressures Could Complicate Any Relief
Whether revenue neutrality holds in practice is an open question given the county's broader fiscal picture. In May, Wake County Manager David Ellis proposed a $2.28 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 that included a 2-cent property tax rate increase, to 53.71 cents per $100 valuation, aimed at covering public safety, EMS staffing, and education costs, as Hoodline reported at the time. That means homeowners whose property values rise faster than the countywide average could see real increases in their bills even if commissioners nod toward revenue neutrality elsewhere in the budget.
Residents who want to contest their new assessments once notices arrive will have a limited window. Appeals must be filed with the local Tax Administration before the Board of Equalization and Review adjourns. During the 2024 revaluation, the board adjourned May 15; in the non-revaluation year of 2026, the appeal deadline was April 22, according to AppealDesk.
