The Alamance County Tax Office on Nov. 3 told the Board of Commissioners it has begun work toward the Jan. 1, 2027 countywide revaluation and has rolled out new online tools for residents to check property records.

Brad Fowler, presenting a 180-day update for the tax office, said Vincent Valuations (the county’s contractor) has completed field data collection on about 37,000 of roughly 80,000 parcels and expects to finish the data collection phase by March 2026. Fowler said the contractor will immediately enter residential review, begin commercial review in September 2026, complete valuations in January 2027 and that notice mailings are planned for February (potentially March) 2027. Fowler said the contractor’s scope includes a full list and measure of county properties and delivery of a schedule of values for the board to adopt.

Fowler also described several taxpayer-facing changes already implemented: a redesigned Tax Department website, a new property-record portal where residents can view property record cards and sales in their area, and updated payment terminals that accept tap-to-pay and mobile wallets. He told commissioners the department’s vacancy rate has fallen from about 26% on his arrival to roughly 3% as of the meeting, and that the office reported a 99.21% collection rate for the tax year cited.

Commissioner Thompson asked whether the contractor will “walk every square foot” of commercial properties and expressed concern about coverage of commercial valuations. Fowler said the bulk of data collection to date has been residential and that he expects the contractor to assign specialized staff to commercial reviews as the schedule requires; he added the county and contractor are discussing additional quality-control measures for higher-value commercial properties.

Fowler described internal quality controls and training plans: all appraisal staff completed a weeklong base appraisal course (referred to in the presentation as a 0101 course) and supervisors will run statistical quality checks such as sales-ratio analysis and coefficient-of-dispersion testing to assess equity across neighborhoods. He said the tax office has installed GPS monitors on appraiser vehicles for routing and monitoring, documented appeal and Board of Equalization procedures, and established weekly production metrics for appraisal and auditing work.

Fowler told residents concerned about strangers at their doors that Vincent Valuations field personnel will use clearly marked vehicles and carry official Alamance County ID badges and should never ask to enter a home; he said residents should call the sheriff if asked to allow entry.

What happens next: Fowler said he will deliver the proposed schedule of values to the board in August 2026, the board will hold a public hearing and adopt a schedule in September, and statutorily required notifications will follow in October, with adoption final near late October or early November 2026. The appeals process, Fowler said, will remain the mechanism for correcting individual valuation errors when they occur.

The presentation prompted questions about staffing levels, the county’s $2.6 million contract with Vincent Valuations, and whether parts of a future revaluation (residential work) could be brought in-house. Fowler said he sees potential to return some residential work to county staff with proper training but recommended outside expertise for the commercial valuation work.