Forsyth County assessor explains 2025 reappraisal process, how Lewisville homeowners can appeal

John Burgess, a representative of the Forsyth County Tax Collector and Assessor's Office, told the Town of Lewisville council on Thursday that the county's 2025 reappraisal is meant to align property assessments with current market values and restore equity among different property types.

"The purpose behind a reappraisal is actually about equity or fairness in property tax," Burgess said. He explained that real estate is appraised only at reappraisal while other property classes (registered motor vehicles, personal property, public service property) are valued each year, which can create inequities as markets change.

Burgess walked the council through the county's approach: using recent sales to set values, meeting state statistical standards, and grouping sales into local market areas to calculate median assessment levels. He said Forsyth County has about 160,000 properties and roughly 6,500 real-estate parcels inside the Town of Lewisville. Over the four-year reappraisal period the county logged more than 30,600 sales; in Lewisville specifically there were 1,304 sales over four years and 270 sales in the last calendar year alone.

Burgess said the county measures assessment levels with sales ratios (assessment divided by sale price) and aims for a median assessment between 90% and 110% of market. For Lewisville he reported the combined residential assessment level moved from roughly the 60s (using 2021 values against 2024 sales) to about 100% under the 2025 appraisals, with land values closer to 98% in some categories.

On appeals, Burgess described the two-step process provided in the reappraisal notices: an informal appeal that goes first to the tax office for staff review and a formal appeal to the independent Board of Equalization and Review if needed. "If you feel like your value is not fair or not reasonable, then appeal," he said, adding the informal appeal form was included in mailed notices and the deadline to file a formal appeal is the last business day in June. Countywide the tax office had received about 1,200—2,300 informal appeals partway through the appeal window, Burgess said, which he noted is lower than the typical 4,000—5,000 informal-appeal volume in previous reappraisals.

Burgess also addressed common public questions: how sales are qualified for use as comps (Department of Revenue standards exclude related-party transfers, foreclosures, auctions and some institutional sales), why the county posts parcel data online, and the role of the revenue-neutral tax rate the state requires jurisdictions to publish in a reappraisal year. "Revenue neutral is not anything that limits you at all in what you decide to do. But it is meant for transparency," he said, explaining the rate converts prior-year revenue needs to a rate that would produce the same revenue on the larger reappraised base.

Council members asked clarifying questions about percentages and the number of Lewisville sales used in analysis. Mayor Mike Horn and Council members Ken Sadler, Melissa Hunt and Monty Long pressed Burgess for counts and for an accessible copy of the county materials; Burgess pointed to Forsyth County's online tools (Forsyth Sales, Tax Parcel Viewer and the new Tax Property Portal) and said his office posts the presentation and a written explanation on the county tax office website.

Burgess encouraged residents to use the portals to review the sales used in their market area and to visit the tax office if they want help completing an appeal. "We're there every day answering the phone and helping folks with the exemptions and filling out appeal forms," he said.

The presentation did not generate any formal council action; council members asked staff to post an accessible (black-and-white or screen-reader friendly) version of the county materials on the Town of Lewisville website and to share the county's social post.

The assessor's slide decks and the tax property portal are available on the Forsyth County tax office website for residents who want to review sales used to set 2025 values or to start the appeal process.