Revaluation

The last revaluation/reappraisal for Currituck County was January 1, 2005. Pursuant to G. S. 105-286, all counties in North Carolina are required to conduct a reappraisal every eight (8) years. The majority of the counties, including Currituck County, conduct their reappraisals on this time frame, although a growing segment of counties conducts reappraisals on a shorter cycle. Currituck County has revalued its' property every eight (8) years, starting in 1965, its' first revlauation/appraisal after the octennial schedule was imposed in 1959. The next scheduled reappraisal will be affective for the 2013 tax year.

During the years that a general reappraisal is not conducted, G. S. 105-286 dictates that the real property shall be assessed at the value assigned during the last reappraisal. The assessor is limited by G. S. 105-287 to certain circumstances in which he may change the value of real property. These include correcting a clerical or mathematical error, or correcting an appraisal which resulted from a misapplication of the schedules used during the county's last general reappraisal. The assessor may increase or decrease the appraised value of real property, to recognize a change in value caused by factors other than the following: normal physical depreciation of the improvements; economic conditions affecting the county as a whole; or minor improvements to the property such as repainting, landscaping, terracing, etc.

The assessor is permitted to increase the assessed value of real estate when a house in built on the property, or to reduce the value if a house burns down. The value can also be revised when property that had been deeded and taxed for many years as being 50 acres more or less and it the actual acreage is determined. However, the county may not change the assessed value to reflect a general increases (or deceases) in property values until the next reassessment.

A county may choose to conduct its reappraisal "in-house" utilizing their own appraisal staff, by hiring an outside reappraisal firm, by employing consultants to assist their staff appraisers or a combination of the above. During the 2005 revaluation the county staff appraised the 4WD Fruitville Beach area of the county and hired the reappraisal firm Cole-Layer-Trumble to appraise the remainder of the County.