North Carolina paused tax revaluations for some counties, but Macon County is not on the list.
According to county tax administrator Abby Braswell, Macon County is not one of the nine N.C. counties which will see their revaluations pause for the coming year. Senate Bill 889 requires counties that adopted new property values as of January 1, 2026, to use their other most recent property valuations when collecting taxes. The bill exempts counties with populations of 15,000 or fewer, including rural counties like Clay County, which have tougher budget seasons than their counterparts. The only affected county in Western North Carolina is Buncombe, but Senate Bill 474, if passed, would except Buncombe from the pause as a county affected by Hurricane Helene, Braswell said.
In affected counties (currently Anson, Bladen, Chowan Davidson, Guilford, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender Counties if S474 is passed), their respective tax offices would use the reappraisal values prior to January 1, 2026, for both the 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years. If the freeze is not extended, they would then have a three-year window to conduct their next reappraisal. Property owners in affected counties would also have a chance to
Braswell shared concerns this would create a situation where counties affected by the freeze will see much larger spikes in property value than those they would see if this year’s appraisals were kept instead of frozen.
Most counties engage in the tax reappraisal process every four years, which Braswell said happens mainly because it takes that long to conduct an appraisal and because property values can change so drastically so quickly. This allows a four-year appraisal schedule to keep up cleanly with state requirements and keep the taxable value of property as close to the real value of property as possible.
Macon County has already begun the reappraisal process, to implement new property values starting in January 2027. Property values have no direct effect on the tax rate or how much taxpayers pay. Counties are required by state law to publish a revenue-neutral budget to the public each year when a reappraisal happens, and though Macon County will likely see significant increases to property values in the coming year, the Board of Commissioners would likely lower the tax rate to lighten the household burden of such increases.
The county tax office is working closely with appraisers to keep property value information as accurate as possible as it works through the reappraisal process. Braswell said she would be giving a presentation on July 14 at the next Board of Commissioners meeting to further discuss the state of the revaluation and what communities are seeing their values change the most.
Braswell urged residents with questions to contact the office at collections@maconnc.org or at 828-349-2142 and the office would be happy to answer them.
Reporter Shelby Powell can be reached at reporter@thefranklinpress.com.