Did your Wake County property value jump in 2024? You are not alone. Many Cary homeowners saw big changes on their notices and wondered what drove them. The key is the county’s Schedule of Values, the playbook that underpins your assessment. In this guide, you’ll learn what the Schedule of Values is, how it applies in Cary, how to read your notice, and how to check or appeal if something looks off. Let’s dive in.
Schedule of Values explained
North Carolina law requires every county to adopt and publish a uniform Schedule of Values for each revaluation. It lays out the methods, rates, and rules the county must follow when setting assessed values. You can read the statutory foundation in the Machinery Act’s provisions on schedules and appeals in the North Carolina General Statutes.
Think of the Schedule of Values as a technical manual. It does not list the value of your specific home. Instead, it provides land tables, building cost rates, depreciation rules, and guidance for applying sales, cost, and income approaches in a mass appraisal system.
Why Cary owners should care
Wake County’s 2024 revaluation produced a large reset. Reporting showed about a 51 percent overall increase countywide, roughly 53 percent for residential overall, and about 56 percent for Cary’s residential properties. These changes are why many notices in Cary rose sharply and why appeals increased. See the revaluation impact and appeal overview as reported by WRAL.
Your tax bill is a function of your assessed value and the tax rates set by Wake County and the Town of Cary. After a revaluation, officials often calculate a revenue‑neutral rate. For 2025 coverage, the revenue‑neutral estimate was around $0.4643 per $100 of value. If your value rose less than the county average, your bill could decrease. If it rose more, it could increase.
What is inside the SOV
Land schedules
These tables set base land values by area or neighborhood, lot size, and site factors like frontage or topography. For an example of how counties present land tables and neighborhood codes, review the structure shown on Orange County’s revaluation page.
Improvement schedules
These outline building types, quality classes, base cost per square foot, and depreciation by effective age. They also explain how additions and outbuildings are handled. For a typical FAQ-style overview of these elements, see New Hanover County’s guidance.
Market adjustments and rules
The SOV explains when to rely on sales comparison versus cost or income, and how to apply neighborhood or time adjustments. Counties often describe this blending in their revaluation materials, similar to the examples shown by Orange County.
Special schedules
Special sections cover present‑use values for qualifying agricultural and forest land, and income models for multifamily or commercial properties. The Machinery Act outlines these programs and procedures in the state statutes.
How to get Wake’s SOV
Wake County publishes the adopted Schedule of Values during a revaluation year and makes it available for public inspection. If you cannot find the current SOV on the county site, call the revaluation team to request it. Counties routinely publish and notice the SOV adoption, as illustrated by this public notice example from Dare County.
Decode your assessment step by step
Use this workflow to understand how the SOV was applied to your Cary property and to spot potential errors.
- Gather your notice and parcel details
- Your notice shows your prior and new values, Real Estate ID, and an access code used for online appeals and lookups. Local reporting on Wake County’s process describes these fields and how they are used during appeals in WRAL’s guide.
- Look up your parcel
- In the county’s online parcel search or map viewer, note your neighborhood code, lot size, building square footage, year built, quality or condition codes, and any listed improvements like pools or sheds.
- Match the land table
- Use the neighborhood code to find the land schedule that applies in the SOV. Check whether the lot price or per‑acre rate used aligns with your parcel’s characteristics and what you see on your notice.
- Check the building calculation
- Identify the building type, quality class, base rate, effective age, and depreciation factor. Incorrect square footage, year built, or quality coding can skew the improvement value.
- Compare to recent nearby sales
- Pull recent arms‑length sales in your immediate area with similar size, style, and lot. If your assessment appears above clear comparable sales, save those addresses, sale dates, and prices.
- Scan for common data errors
- Look for wrong square footage, misclassified finished areas, incorrect year built, missing demolitions, duplicate outbuildings, or features that no longer exist.
- Assemble evidence
- Helpful items include comparable MLS sales, a recent appraisal, dated photos showing condition, permits, or documents that correct county data.
- Start with an informal review
- Wake County offers an online informal review that reaches an appraiser first. This is often the fastest way to fix data errors or present obvious comps.
- Escalate to a formal appeal if needed
- If the informal review does not resolve your concerns, you can file a formal appeal to the Board of Equalization and Review. Be ready to present your evidence clearly and concisely.
- Know the further appeal path
- Beyond the county board, North Carolina provides appeal rights to the Property Tax Commission and then to court. Timelines are strict, so read the statute and consider professional advice as needed. Start with the appeal framework in the Machinery Act.
Appeal windows and contacts
During the 2024 revaluation, notices were mailed in early January, informal reviews were due by March 1, and formal Board appeals were accepted roughly March 2 through May 15. Confirm current‑year dates on the county site or by calling the revaluation team. You can see these 2024 example timelines in local coverage from WRAL and Axios Raleigh.
Useful Wake County contacts:
- Revaluation Call Center: 919-857-3800
- Tax Administration main line: 919-856-5400
- Revaluation email: [email protected]
- General tax help: [email protected]
Always verify current-year deadlines and instructions before filing.
Revaluation frequency changes
Wake County is moving to more frequent revaluations to reduce large swings. After the 2024 revaluation, leaders outlined a transition with the next countywide update effective January 1, 2027 and a planned two‑year cycle beginning January 1, 2029. Read about the shift to a shorter cycle in this local summary from Holly Springs Update.
What rising values mean for taxes
A higher assessed value does not always mean a higher tax bill. What matters is your change compared to the county average and the tax rates set by Wake County and the Town of Cary. Local coverage explains the “compare your percent change to the county average” rule of thumb and notes the revenue‑neutral calculation process. For a concise overview, see WRAL’s explanation of revaluation impacts and taxes.
Lean on local help
You do not have to decode this alone. A local, experienced team can help you pull apples‑to‑apples comps, understand how neighborhood trends affected your value, and plan next steps if you are thinking about selling or staying put. If you want a Cary‑specific read on your property, reach out to Hendren Realty Group for a friendly, no‑pressure conversation.
FAQs
What is Wake County’s Schedule of Values?
- It is the county’s adopted framework of land tables, building rates, depreciation, and rules the appraisal staff must use during revaluation, as required by North Carolina’s Machinery Act.
Why did Cary values rise so much in 2024?
- The revaluation reset values to the January 1, 2024 market, and reporting showed Cary’s residential values increased about 56 percent on average, which drove many higher notices.
How do I get the current SOV?
- Check Wake County’s revaluation pages. If you cannot locate the PDF, call the Revaluation Call Center at 919-857-3800 and request the adopted SOV and the schedules that apply to your parcel.
What evidence helps in an appeal?
- Recent comparable arms‑length sales, documentation correcting county data, a recent appraisal, and dated photos showing condition are strong additions to an informal or formal appeal.
How often will Wake County revalue going forward?
- The county plans to move to more frequent updates, with a transition to the next revaluation effective January 1, 2027 and a biennial cycle beginning January 1, 2029.
