The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Meeting Room of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro to hear comments on the proposed schedules, standards and rules for the county’s 2026 property tax reappraisal.
Guilford County – like other counties in the state – is required by North Carolina law to adopt a “schedule of values” before the next revaluation goes into effect. That schedule serves as the “playbook” for the Guilford County Tax Department’s appraisers when they go out and about in the county putting new values on every piece of property.
This hearing isn’t regarding what tax rate the county commissioners set – they’ll do that next June, but is instead about the procedures used by the tax department to determine housing, building and land values. When the new numbers are made public at the start of 2026, there will be some real eye-opening values because the housing market and property market across the county has been crazy in recent years and prices have been skyrocketing.
Based on current estimates, a homeowner shouldn’t be surprised to see a 50 percent increase in the assessed valuation of their home since the last countywide revaluation in 2022.
For some property owners, this hearing may sound like an obscure procedural matter. However, in reality, the adoption of the schedule of values is one of the most important steps in the entire revaluation process. The formulas and rules approved will govern how the Tax Department calculates land and building values. And those values will directly determine how much taxpayers owe in 2026 after the commissioners set the new property tax rate. Those who know the nature of the current Board of Commissioners will not expect much if any tax relief from the board next summer when the tax rate is set.
The values come first, and they have an enormous impact. A higher value multiplied by the tax rate produces a higher bill. That’s the reason counties across North Carolina hold public hearings and allow citizens to weigh in on the fairness of the proposed rules before they’re locked in place.
Every county in North Carolina is required to perform a property tax revaluation at least once every eight years. Guilford County’s last revaluation took effect in 2022. The 2026 revaluation is coming one year earlier than planned because, from looking at actual property sales after the 2022 revaluation, that reval didn’t price the houses and other property high enough to meet the state’s standard of acceptable accuracy.
That’s why the county is being legally forced to do an early redo.
The schedule of values sets out in detail how different types of property will be assessed. Residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and special-use properties all have their own categories. The schedule includes tables, cost indexes, depreciation factors and adjustment rules that appraisers must follow.
It also explains how the county will handle unusual cases and special circumstances.
The proposed schedule of values can be found here: https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/schedule-values-2026/download?attachment
Tax officials state that, without an adopted schedule of values, there would be no uniformity in the way assessments are conducted. The goal is to make sure that similar properties are treated in the same way and that property owners know the standards being applied.
The process isn’t without controversy: Every revaluation produces winners and losers. Some neighborhoods see values shoot up while others rise more slowly or even go down. Commercial property owners sometimes complain that they bear a disproportionate share of the tax burden compared to residential owners. Owners of open space have their own concerns as well as those who farm land and wonder how land is valued when it’s held for agricultural use.
In practical terms, this means that if the schedule of values says a brick house built in 1995 on a half-acre lot in a certain part of the county is worth a given amount, then all similar houses will be treated the same way. If the rules say a commercial warehouse is valued based on square footage and certain depreciation tables, for instance, then that’s what the appraisers will apply.
Members of the public have the right to appear at the October 2 hearing and comment on whether the proposed schedules are fair and accurate. After the hearing, the Board of Commissioners can adopt the schedule, make adjustments – or send it back to tax staff for revisions.
The stakes for taxpayers are high.
Revaluation is one of the most visible and controversial things county government does. In 2022, property owners across Guilford County were stunned when the new values came in well above their old assessments. County officials insisted they had no choice because state law requires values to be set at market level.
The Board of Commissioners, which did have the option of adjusting the tax rate lower, decided not to do that and instead decided to take the $92 million or so “extra free money” each year and spend every penny of it every year.
The upcoming 2026 revaluation could be even more contentious. Housing prices in the county have continued to climb, and commercial property markets have shifted quite a bit. Inflation has also driven up construction costs. All of those things will be factored into the formulas now up for public review.
Property taxes are by far the county’s largest source of revenue.
The Oct. 2 hearing is just one step in the long process. Once the schedule of values is adopted, the Tax Department will apply those rules to tens of thousands of parcels across the county.
The new values will be mailed to property owners in early 2026 and some homeowners may want to be sitting down when they open that letter.
Owners who disagree will have the right to appeal – first to the Guilford County Tax Department and then to the Board of Equalization and Review.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, tearing of clothes and pulling of hair. Then Caesar will take your money. We need some new leadership,
Yes. . .when your government wants more money to reward developers who promise everything, they collect it as taxes.
Property taxes should be replaced with another way to generate money for counties. It could be in the form of a sales tax on goods that everyone that makes a purchase pays. And NO ONE receives the return of sales tax paid at the end of the year, like nonprofits currently do. The revaluation is not the most important element in the property taxing process; it is the rate. If a million-dollar house is owned in Guilford County but the rate is zero (0), then no property taxes are owed.
I do not believe the explanation of why a revaluation is due early. I do believe there was manipulation so Skip Alston would be able to claim, not my fault for the early revaluation. If you pay property taxes in Guilford County, included with your tax bill for 2025 was an insert that read: “The goal of the 2026 reappraisal is to ensure taxation is fair and equitable for each of our citizens, and to appraise all properties at 100% of market value.” This is an untrue statement with intent to deceive and to soothe the fact that “citizens” are being cheated by their government. Not every citizen pays property taxes, not every business pays property taxes. And Raleigh is fine with property taxes. Have you heard any member of the General Assembly addressing the unfairness of property taxes? There is momentum gaining in states to eliminate property taxes by finding other ways to fund county governments. Skippy would have to find another way to get money to waste. Non property taxpayers receive the same benefits that property taxpayers receive without paying into the system. This must stop.
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TL’s right, you know.
If you haven’t left the County by now, now is the time to get out. If you rent, it would be easy. Or, don’t buy a house now. If you are thinking of downsizing, do it now. All the businesses in the City/County will have massive property tax increases, passed on to their customers. Property owner or not, everyone will pay.
Don’t count on a Republican Council. Guilford County has a majority minority electorate, who mistakenly vote for a free lunch that does not exist. And, the voters who could make it happen, don’t bother to vote in off-year elections.
Guilford County doesn’t use it, they have lost it. Just like our Republic.
Another gathering of the serfs and peasants to tell them how the Lord and Master plans on bilking them out of more blood money.
Oh, I’m sorry…it’s a county wide meeting of the residents to outline proposed probable increase on property taxes better the services for the grateful residents.
(Excuse me while I get that BIG shovel in order to sling this stuff around)
Thank Scott, right you are, we’re going to need to put on our full armor and get involved. If not we’ll be taxed to death. And does anyone wonder why the demand for rental apartments is so high?
Housing prices have been artificially high and are starting to roll over. It’ll be interesting to see how the county can possibly justify higher appraisals when the trend is going the other way.
Conversely, when prices “do” come down, expect them to raise the rate so that the cash flow remains the same. The thieves imbedded in the Guilford County School system have to maintain their lifestyles, after all….
This is the risk. Well said.
Moving to another county will not fix the problem. All counties have property taxes. The property taxes may be lower in another county for a variety of reasons, but moving is not an exemption from property taxes. Fight for replacing property taxes with another way to pay for county government. It is morally wrong to force property owners to pay for government, especially since not everyone pays.