Property Tax Revaluation Demystified

Understanding your home’s value with New Hanover County’s Tax Administrator 

By Vera Wilson

Every four years, New Hanover County performs a countywide revaluation of real estate to determine the current market value of each property. It’s a source of angst for many property owners who fear that an increase in the value of their home will lead to an increase in their property taxes.

That’s a valid concern. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Wilmington and the surrounding areas have topped many a list of the best places to live, so it boils down to simple economics: When demand increases, home prices go up.

But how does the county determine your home’s value? 

WILMINGTON Magazine turned to Allison Snell, Tax Administrator for New Hanover County (NHC) and asked her help in understanding the revaluation process for residences and to take some of the mystery out of it.

First, let’s share a little bit about Snell. Her job is to oversee the property assessment and   tax collection related to that property. She is appointed by the NHC County Commissioners and currently in her third four-year term. She previously served as Tax Administrator for Tyrrell County. She lives in Wilmington with her husband and two children. Like many of us, Snell fell in love with the area. 

“About 15 years ago, I came here and knew this was where I wanted to be. Can’t tell you why, I just knew something pulled me here, so when the opportunity arose, I pursued it and I was fortunate to get the job,” she explains.

The overarching approach for assessing properties in NHC is part science and part art. With over 114,000 properties to assess, each one cannot be individually evaluated, so they use a method known as mass appraisal which can analyze many properties simultaneously. Using data reviewed and approved by staff, their software generates an initial value for each property based on a predetermined average. 

Then comes the art. Appraisers make adjustments for any notable character differences, such as flood zone issues and easements, or whether the property faces a busy street or sits on the water. Any improvements or additions, as well as damage or deterioration, perhaps due to age or neglect, are also considered. All these factors have been assigned a value that will increase or decrease the value of your home. In laymen’s terms, they’re trying to determine the cost to rebuild your exact home at your exact location.   

“We do take property characteristics into consideration. We look at the year built, the quality of construction, the condition of the home, and how it’s been maintained. All of those things are going to affect how a home is valued,” says Snell.

The next step is to compare the appraised value to actual sales prices of recently sold homes in your area with similar characteristics to see if the appraised value indeed reflects today’s market. 

Finally, the software computes a value, but the appraiser has the last word in determining if further adjustments are needed. They have many tools in their toolboxes to finetune the value beyond the software and sales comparisons, such as conducting field inspections or using aerial imagery.

If you don’t agree with your tax bill, you can appeal before the deadline which this year is May 22. Common reasons for an appeal include incorrect information on your value notice or damage not obvious to the assessor, but be prepared to provide proof.

“Let’s say that someone’s been dealing with water damage. Obviously, we’re going to want to see some sort of evidence supporting that. It’s not our practice to go inside a home, but we will if we’re invited in,” says Snell. 

If you’re suffering from sticker shock, but the information appears correct with respect to your property’s specifics, Snell has made it a priority of her department to inform the public about how the process of determining property values works. 

“When we sit down with a property owner who may be upset or confused, my team does an excellent job of explaining the process to them. We tell them this is how we do what we do, this is why we do what we do, and this is what it means to you,” says Snell.

Snell and her team will try to point out some options that might benefit the property owner, such as the potential to lower or delay paying your property taxes through available exemptions. Mandated by the state, there are exclusions and deferments available to persons over 65 who fall below a certain income threshold, as well as taxpayers with disabilities, with more generous exemptions available for disabled veterans. 

New in 2025 is the ability to search comparable properties on the Tax Department’s website. 

“It’s a way for property owners to do their own comparable sales search. You’ve seen those sheets you get from your realtor – it looks very similar to that,” explains Snell. 

“Taxes don’t have to be this big scary unknown,” she says. “We’re happy to be able to talk to anyone and explain what it’s all about.”