A better understanding of property revaluation: Ten percent increase is just an average figure

(By Leslie Bray Evans, The Stokes News) - When property owners receive the property revaluation notices that will be mailed out within the next week, they may or may not see big changes. A figure of 10 percent has been quoted as the average increase in property values, but Stokes County Tax Administrator Jake Oakley stresses that the 10 percent is merely “an overall average.”

Some property values may not change substantially, while others will climb above the 10 percent average. It all depends on where the property is located. Stokes County’s three appraisers—Richard Brim, April Hicks and Danny Nelson—have found that the northeast corner of the county has the cheapest rates, and the southwest region has the highest.

Citizens should understand that this four-year property revaluation is not the same as an increase in the tax rate. County Commissioners can raise the tax rate at any time that they need more money to fund budgetary needs. The tax revaluation, on the other hand, is something mandated by the State of North Carolina to be done in eight-year cycles.