Soaring property values have Johnston County residents worried about footing the bill
The person sent to reassess James Peedin’s Pine Level home didn’t stop to walk the property or even get out of the car.
“They stayed in the car on the highway,” he said. “Now that’s not a tax valuation.”
Johnston County homeowners are the latest in the Triangle area facing rising property values after a county revaluation, a state-mandated process that reassesses home tax values based on the current housing market.
Peedin was one of several residents who recently expressed their frustration, concern and shock at new property values to the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. He questioned how they’d be able to afford their future property tax bills.
“That is not taking care of your county citizens,” Peedin said.
Overall, Johnston County property values rose 70.6% since the last revaluation in 2019. But some townships, particularly, in more rural areas in the eastern and southern parts of the county saw even larger increases.
Teresa Jernigan owns property in the O’Neals Township, which saw a 93.9% increase in value.
“The property we have has been in my family since my great grandmother,” she told the commissioners. “Twenty five acres [we are] just trying to hold on to for personal reasons because it’s been in the family so long, to pass it on generation to generation. Unfortunately, these higher taxes and revaluation is putting a damper on it. The taxes are not fair and equitable.”
A 70% increase in home values doesn’t automatically mean people will see a 70% increase in their property tax bills, The county and municipalities will set new property tax rates later this year.
Johnston County has been one of the state’s fastest growing counties for decades.
More revaluations in the Triangle
Wake County property values rose, on average, 53% during last year’s revaluation. In every case, Wake County towns set new tax rates above “revenue-neutral,” the rate needed to generate the same income as before revaluation.
In Durham County, reappraisal notices will be mailed in February. The county’s median sales price jumped 80%, from $239,500 in 2019 to $430,500 in 2024, which the county tax administrator called a “scary thing to try and take in.”
In Orange County, a revaluation that takes effect this year could also mean higher tax bills. The county commissioners will learn the final impact in late January, before revaluation notices go out in March. In an October update, Tax Administrator Nancy Freeman said the average increase was running roughly 43%, about double the increase after the county’s 2021 revaluation.
How to appeal Johnson County revaluations
People can learn more about the appeal process and submit an appeal online at johnstonnc.gov/tax.
People can also schedule an in-person meeting to appeal their new property value by calling 919-989-5130.
Reporters Tammy Grubb and Mary Helen Moore contributed to this report.
