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Tax administrator outlines costs and staffing tradeoffs for moving to 4‑ or 6‑year revaluation cycles
Summary
Cumberland County tax administrator presented a cost comparison for a shortened property revaluation cycle. Staff recommended conducting an extra revaluation in 2031 and moving to a 4‑year cycle thereafter; the presentation estimated higher annualized costs and detailed staffing and space needs.
Cumberland County Tax Administrator Joe Lutley presented the projected costs and staffing implications of shortening the county property revaluation cycle from the current eight years to either six years or four years.
Lutley said the county’s 2025 octennial revaluation cost is approximately $4.3 million (a projected figure pending final FY2025 accounting), which annualizes to roughly $535,000 per year under an eight‑year schedule. Using that baseline, he projected annualized costs of about $713,000 for a six‑year cycle and roughly $1,070,000 for a four‑year cycle. Additional staffing, vehicles, equipment and contracted services would be required for shortened cycles; Lutley estimated the county would need eight full‑time staff plus two part‑time employees for a four‑year cycle and four full‑time plus one part‑time for a six‑year cycle.
On a per‑year basis that additional staffing and support would add to the baseline. Lutley presented a projected annual cost of about $1.9 million for a four‑year cycle and about $1.2 million for a six‑year cycle. He outlined advantages of a shorter cycle—more frequent equalization of tax burdens, more current sales data used for valuations, fewer chances of state‑mandated revaluation—and disadvantages including materially higher annual costs, the need for more office space, equipment and vehicles, and greater continuing‑education requirements for appraisers.
Lutley recommended the county conduct an extra revaluation effective January 1, 2031 and then move to a four‑year cycle thereafter (2035 and 2039 revaluations). He said the tax office has in‑house expertise but that staff experience would drop under a shortened cycle because most team members have not been through multiple revaluations; Lutley said more specialized reevaluation staffing would be required.
Commissioners asked about alternatives such as indexation (CPI‑style adjustments used in other states) and contracting out portions of the work; Lutley said he was not aware of a North Carolina statute allowing simple annual indexation in place of full revaluations and that contracting had not been fully priced for this presentation. Commissioners did not take immediate action; Lutley said staff would continue to refine numbers and that the presentation was for information and feedback.
