In June the Wake County Commissioners raised property taxes. In July they endorsed raising them, again, if the School Bond passes. And in August they voted to raise them a third time.

This time the Commissioners want to reassess the value of your home more often — and to keep the tax rate fixed after the reevaluation (rather than reducing it as has been done for decades after reassessments).

What does this mean?

The county revenue director projects that “single family homes in Raleigh worth more the $185,000 will see an average 32% increase in value after the 2008 reassessments.” (News and Observer, 8-17-06) That means – when the tax rate isn’t lowered — your property taxes are going to go up 32%, too.

County Commissioner Chairman Tony Gurley says, “This is a way of making growth pay for itself.” But unless you just built a new house it’s hard to see his logic. Calling a tax increase “making growth pay” is just a bit of political slight-of-hand to disguise the third property tax increase in three months.

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