Receive anything in the mail recently that caught you by surprise?
Yes, your property likely is more valuable — for some, more than double — than it was four years ago, according to recent reappraisal in Bladen County.
What that means when your property tax bill comes due later this year has yet to be determined.
It’s all part of a process to appraise property value at market rates, propose a revenue neutral or near revenue neutral budget, then have Bladen County commissioners determine the property tax rate by July 1.
“Any time people get a notice they want to know what’s going on,” Bladen County manager Sam Croom said. “They’re seeing their values increase dramatically in some cases and they do want to be heard.”
Bladen County’s last revaluation came in 2022 and North Carolina law requires that real estate be appraised at market value every eight years. However, because of rising property values, the N.C. Department of Revenue required Bladen County to do an appraisal early to determine fair market value. Piner Appraisal Inc. conducted Bladen County’s reappraisal.
“We had to do a new reappraisal just to bring property values up to current market values and, of course, part of that is to equalize with personal property owners,” Croom said. “That’s the reason people are getting their notices now.”
The new assessed values are determined as of Jan. 1, 2026.
Property owners can appeal the new assessment if they feel the value is significantly higher or lower than the actual fair market value or if the assessed value is inconsistent with the values of similar properties.
Property owners can file an appeal by filling out the back of the recently received assessed value notice within 30 days of the date of the notice. An informal appeal will be scheduled to determine if there should be a change to the assessed value. If a property owner disagrees with the decision of the informal appeal, then an appeal with the Board of Equalization & Review can be filed.
“With mass appraisals, we don’t go into people’s homes,” Croom said. “We base it on the neighborhood and everything else we can determine, then say this is where we feel this home would sell for.
“What’s most important right now is to go through the process and make sure property values are at fair market value,” Croom said. “The process is out there to be fair.”
Once property values have been determined, commissioners will adopt a budget and set the tax rate. The current property tax rate is 78½ cents per $100 valuation. In many cases, the property tax rate drops because of increased property values. However, property owners may pay more, less or their tax bill may remain virtually unchanged depending on the new property assessment and the new tax rate.
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