Wendell News Outlet

This article is simply an introduction and explanation of the Revaluation of Property process taking place throughout Wake County. As this process only takes place every 8 years, the Wendell Community Coalition thought it was appropriate to post this timely information so as to avoid confusion and concern among our residents.

In the latter part of this month all property owners in Wake County will receive, by mail, a notice of assessment informing them of their new property value. This will not change your current taxes but in July 2008 you will receive a tax bill based on this new value and the tax rate set by our town commissioners.

As you digest this information, the issue of housing diversity within Wendell and its ETJ, will surely become more relevant. Depending on the financial needs of Wendell in the coming years your property taxes will be greatly impacted by the pricing level of homes in our town. Too many inexpensive homes, as we currently have, will probably require a higher tax rate, while a greater balance between inexpensive and expensive homes will tend to modify any tax increases. More about that in future articles, but now on to the process of Revaluation:

1 - What is revaluation?
Revaluation is the process that matches your tax value with what your property is worth on the market today (the fair market value). It covers all residential and commercial land and structures, like homes, apartments and condos, and office buildings, stores and warehouses. It does not include what is known as “personal property” like cars, boats and airplanes. The values for those are adjusted annually.

2 - Why appraise property?
An appraisal provides a basis for determining a property owner’s share of the taxes that support schools, roads, parks, public health programs, libraries, and police and fire protection. The amount of taxes you pay depends on both your property value and the tax rates set each year by elected county and city/town officials.

3 - Tax Rate Set in Budget.
The tax rate is set by elected officials in the annual budget. Wake County and its 12 municipalities operate on a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year, so the tax rate that will apply to your new property value goes into effect July 1, 2008.

4 - What does “revenue neutral” mean?
You will hear this term used during revaluation, and it often is misunderstood. If the tax rate is set at “revenue neutral,” it does not mean that your taxes will stay the same as the previous year. “Revenue neutral” is a budget term that essentially means that revenues brought in by property taxes in a revaluation year would be about the same as if the revaluation had not taken place.
Generally, the existing tax rate is lowered to offset or “neutralize” the effect of higher property values. If commissioners set the rate higher than this, they are required by law to inform citizens that they have increased taxes.

Again, it does NOT mean that property owners will be paying the same amount in taxes next year as this year. If your property values increased below the average – for instance, around 25-30% -- your taxes would remain about the same next year with a revenue neutral rate. But if your property value increases significantly – around 75% or higher – you will most likely see taxes increase by one-third or more.

SOURCE: Items 1 through 4 were copied directly from the Wakegov.com web site section that deals with tax and property information.