Reval sets new Dare tax base at $15.9 billion

By Michelle Wagner | Outer Banks Voice on February 21, 2020

2020 figure is 26 percent increase over 2019

With the revaluation of more than 43,000 Dare County properties now complete, notices of the new assessed values will be mailed out on Feb. 25 to all property owners. This marks the first revaluation done in the county since 2013. That year, the value of taxable property in Dare County was just short of $12 billion. The 2020 total is just short of $16 billion.

On Feb. 18, Dare County Assistant Assessor Hosea Wilson made a presentation to the Dare Commissioners about the revaluation, the goal of which is to reestablish equity in the tax base among similar properties. Properties are revalued on their current market value based on their individual characteristics. While the last full revaluation was conducted in 2013, values are also updated in the interim to reflect new construction and improvements on properties.

Property owners should expect the reappraisal to impact their tax bills beginning this fall, as well affect real estate sale prices. Once the new values are received, property owners can go to https://www.darenc.com/departments/tax-department/2020-revaluation to check individual properties with comparable sales. If property owners feel their assessed value is incorrect, they can appeal through the Dare County tax office.

While state law requires that revaluations are conducted every eight years, Dare County opted to conduct this reappraisal one year early. New guidelines, Wilson said, will require revaluations every five years moving forward.

Here are some highlights from the Feb. 18 presentation of the 2020 revaluation findings:

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• All totaled, there are 43,459 properties in Dare County, with 15 percent of those being tax exempt parcels. The total 2020 assessed value of taxable property in Dare County is $15.9 billion. The exempt parcels have a 2020 assessed value of $2.8 billion.
• Almost half (45 percent) of property owners are from Dare County, 26 percent are residents of Virginia, nine percent are from other North Carolina counties and 20 percent are from all 50 states and numerous foreign countries.
• Single-family residential property (vacant and improved) makes up 84 percent and $13.3 billion of the tax base; condos represent 5 percent or $818 million; commercial property accounts for 10 percent or $1.6 billion; timeshares amount to $96 million or one percent; and boat slips equate to .13 percent of the value or $20 million.
• Between 2016 and 2019, there were 4,914 residential sales in Dare County with an average sale price of $391,500. During that same period, there were 108 commercial sales with an average sale price of $1,069,900 and 58 boat slips sold with an average sale price of $54,400
• Dare County’s 2020 tax base of $15.9 billion represents a 26 percent increase over last year’s tax base of $12.6 billion. The locations that have seen the biggest increase in assessed values from 2019 to 2020 are Mashoes (up 52 percent), Wanchese (47 percent) and Stumpy Point (39 percent). Those that experienced the smallest rise in values are Duck and Martins Point (both 16 percent) as well as Avon (18 percent).
• Nearly half (49 percent) of Dare County parcels had an increase in assessed value from 0 to 30 percent, and 28 percent saw increases of 40 percent or more. Only 5 percent of the county parcels actually saw a decrease in 2020 assessed values over the previous year’s.