Effective Jan 1, 2020 All real property in Wake County was reappraised at 100% fair market. The prior assessed value represented 100% fair market value as of Jan 1, 2016.
The purpose of the reappraisal is to re-establish tax equity and fairness between properties that may have changed in value at different rates depending on property type and location.
Wake County currently operates on a four-year reappraisal cycle. At reappraisal, state law requires the calculation of a revenue neutral rate. Revenue neutral is a budget term that means the revenue brought in by property taxes in a reappraisal year would be approximately the same as if the reappraisal had not taken place. It is computed by increasing the fiscal year 2019-2020 jurisdictional operating budget by the average annual growth in the tax base since the 2016 reappraisal, then dividing the result by the reappraised tax base. The revenue neutral rate is not property-specific. This revenue neutral rate serves as the starting point for fiscal year 2020-2021 budget deliberations and must be reported in the fiscal year 2020-2021 operating budget, but it may not ultimately be adopted.
Changes in tax liability for individual properties depend on two factors: