Pender County commissioners keep property revaluations suspended, seek legislative support

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — The Pender County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting Monday night over a decision made last week to suspend property revaluations, as questions rose over whether the move violated state law.

The meeting was called after concerns surfaced that the board may have violated state law by pausing the revaluation process. Under North Carolina law, counties are not permitted to halt or reverse property reappraisals after Jan. 1 of the revaluation year.

The meeting drew a packed crowd of people.

Last week, commissioners unanimously approved a motion by Commissioner Jimmy Tate to suspend the new property revaluations and instead use last year’s valuations for the 2026–27 budget cycle.

During Monday’s meeting, Ryan Vincent of Vincent Valuations, the firm contracted to conduct the reappraisals, explained the process to commissioners and residents.

“We went out, we were contracted to go out to visit the properties, to measure them,” Vincent said. “And there’s reasons why we may not have measured them. There could have been no trespassing signs, gates, dogs, things like that that would have inhibited us from that process. In that case, we would have used the most recent aerial imagery or aerial maps that we had access to.”

Commissioners questioned Vincent about the process and raised concerns about inconsistencies in property values.

“I think it provides inconsistent data,” Commissioner Brent Springer said, drawing applause from the audience. “I’m not saying you’re at fault for this. That’s not what I’m saying. If we need to use a different system, I would advocate for you to right now to say to us that you need to find a different system.”

State officials participated in the meeting both in person and by phone, noting that only a handful of counties have attempted to suspend reappraisals after they were underway. In those cases, officials said, counties ultimately accepted the updated values.

Tate defended the board’s decision, saying residents should not be taxed based on inaccurate information.

“The day and time has arrived that Pender County people do check our data and we are looking for accurate data,” Tate said. “Nobody in this room is opposed to paying taxes. What we are opposed to is imposing a tax on inaccurate data.”

Despite the legal questions, the board voted to keep Tate’s original motion in place, leaving the reappraisals suspended.

County Manager Colby Sawyer said the next step is to seek legislative guidance.

“The meeting ended with a request for staff and our residents to reach out to our legislative delegation, Representative Smith and Senator Jackson, to see if we can work on legislation to allow us to make the 2026 reappraisal effective in 2027,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer added that the board will still need to determine which property values to use as it prepares the 2026–27 fiscal year budget. Several commissioners indicated they expect the county’s tax rate to decrease.

The board also voted to extend the appeals deadline for property owners to Oct. 1, giving residents additional time to gather evidence if they believe their property was misvalued.

When asked, Ryan Vincent said he would not speak with WWAY at this time.