Macon County tax reappraisal will cover roughly 44,580 parcels; officials estimate about a 30% average increase

Tax Administrator Abby Braswell presented the county's plan for the 2027 reappraisal at the April 14 meeting, saying the process is required by state law and is intended to equalize assessments so each parcel reflects fair market value.

Braswell said the reappraisal will touch roughly 44,580 Macon County parcels, including properties in the towns of Franklin and Highlands, and that early estimates show a countywide average increase near 30% (about $3.75 billion added to the tax base), though she emphasized that numbers change daily and will be refined through the remainder of 2026. She noted that reappraisals are not undertaken to raise taxes and that state law (N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-286) requires counties to keep assessments up to date.

Braswell walked the board through prior practice: the county stays on a four-year cycle and at the last reappraisal in 2023 the board accepted a revenue-neutral rate that allowed the tax rate to drop from 40 cents to 27 cents per $100 while keeping revenue stable because the tax base increased by roughly $4.3 billion. The 2027 timeline described to the board includes township-level updates in July, presentation of the schedule of values and a public hearing in September, adoption in October and a 30-day public notice before final adoption.

Braswell also described technical points such as treating teardown properties as land-only sales and excluding outlier sales that do not reflect market trends. She answered commissioner questions about geographic variations, noting Highlands and the Cowee area are trending higher than average while Franklin has been relatively stable.

The board received the presentation; any decision on adopting a revenue-neutral rate or other tax policy will come during budget deliberations tied to the FY2028 budget process.