Lenoir County moves to four-year property reappraisal cycle
Lenoir County will move from an eight-year real property reappraisal cycle to a four-year cycle after county commissioners approved the change Monday.
The change comes after county property owners saw sharp increases during the county’s recent revaluation. County officials said a shorter cycle could help reduce the kind of “sticker shock” residents experienced when property values are updated after eight years.
The county’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget also includes two full-time tax appraiser positions, which will allow the county to begin preparing for the next revaluation in-house rather than hiring an outside firm as it did for the most recent reappraisal.
Lorie English, Lenoir County Tax Department director, told commissioners that reappraisals are required by state law and that Lenoir County has followed an eight-year cycle since the current law was put in place in 1973.
“As you know, the work our office does is mandated by the state, including reappraisals,” English said. “And we’ve been on an eight-year cycle since they put that into law in 1973. So we’ve done exactly what we were supposed to do.”
English said state law allows commissioners to shorten the cycle. She said the N.C. Department of Revenue recommended in 2017 that counties move to four-year cycles.
“The Department of Revenue has oversight over our appraisal work,” English said. “They require that we’re certified. We maintain our certifications and we have to do a lot of reporting to them for them to analyze our sales ratio, among other things. And they recommended back in 2017 that all counties in North Carolina move to a four-year cycle.”
English said Lenoir County is “a little behind the eight ball” in making the change.
She said market shifts over long periods can create unequal tax burdens because some areas may increase in value faster than others.
“The reason that they recommend that is partly because the market changes so much,” English said. “It is more beneficial to move that, make sure the tax burden is spread equally where it should be when you have certain areas that pop up as a very hot market and there’s a lot of activity there and less over here and maybe that flip-flop from before.”
English said waiting eight years can make value changes feel more dramatic to taxpayers.
“A four-year cycle would really help eliminate a lot of sticker shock that we saw last year,” English said.
She said she reviewed smaller counties that also completed reappraisals in 2025 and found their increases were about 45%, while Lenoir County saw increases in the 70% range.
“When you go to a shorter cycle, you’re realizing a little bit of that value along the way instead of waiting eight full years,” English said. “So I think it would be very beneficial for the citizens of Lenoir.”
The board approved the change, with Commissioner Eric Rouse voting against it.
