Agenda 08-26-2025; 6-b - Update on Revaluation Appeals, Studies, and the Tax Assessment Work Group

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 26, 2025 Action Agenda Item No. 6-b SUBJECT: Update on Revaluation Appeals, Studies, and the Tax Assessment Work Group DEPARTMENT: County Manager and Tax Administration ATTACHMENTS: INFORMATION CONTACT: 1. Vertical Equity Study Results Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 2. Memorandum on Neighborhood Nancy Freeman, 919-245-2735 Level Analysis PURPOSE: To receive an update on the status of property tax appeals, the countywide and neighborhood level equity studies, and to approve the charge, composition, and role of the Tax Assessment Work Group. BACKGROUND: The Orange County Tax Administration Office completed a revaluation of real property in 2025. The goal of the revaluation is to make assessed values more reflective of market values. Orange County currently conducts a revaluation of real property every four years. Although the 2025 revaluation followed this four-year schedule, the County was also mandated by the N.C. Department of Revenue to conduct a revaluation in 2025 because the difference between assessed values and market sales had reached a threshold that required it. Property owners received notices of their new assessed values in March 2025. Most property owners experienced a marked increase in assessed value compared to the prior year. On average, the assessed value of residential properties increased by 52%. The new assessed values caused concern among some property owners about the accuracy and fairness of the revaluation process. Concerned residents noted particular disparities in historically Black neighborhoods. In response, the County emphasized the importance of the appeal process to adjust assessed values if errors or oversights in the revaluation process resulted in an inaccurate value. The Tax Office offered educational and technical support on how property owners could file an appeal of their new assessed value and offered to schedule appeal workshops in communities. The County also contracted with a vendor to conduct a countywide vertical equity analysis. Vertical equity means that properties should be assessed at the same proportion of their fair market value, regardless of the property's value, to ensure that lower-priced properties and higher- priced properties exhibit the same ratio of assessed value to actual sale prices. The Tax Administration Office is also conducting neighborhood level equity analysis to determine if inequities or other anomalies exist in assessed values at the neighborhood level.