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At the April 7 Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting, in his opening remarks, board Chairman Robert L. Woodard gave a brief report on the budget workshop held April 4. The board will use the revenue neutral tax rate and is not cutting any services, he said.

Woodard said it is “always amazing that folks do not understand that the tax rate will be revenue neutral.” He asked county manager Robert L. Outten to respond immediately to two gentlemen who came forward during public comment to complain about the revaluation.

In the board meeting, Woodard revealed the revenue neutral tax rate.

The preliminary revenue neutral tax rate is 26.32 cents per $100 valuation for the fiscal year 2026 budget.

To calculate an estimated property tax, Woodard said take the property’s new valuation, divide by 100, use the result to multiple by 0.2632 for the estimate. Do not use the existing rate at 40.05 cents per $100 valuation.

In unincorporated Dare County, additional taxes must be paid for fire protection and sanitation and, in some areas, a community building, rescue squad and beach nourishment.

North Carolina’s General Statutes Chapter 159-11 spells out how the revenue-neutral tax rate is to be calculated.

“(e) In each year in which a general reappraisal of real property has been conducted, the budget officer shall include in the budget, for comparison purposes, a statement of the revenue-neutral property tax rate for the budget. The revenue-neutral property tax rate is the rate that is estimated to produce revenue for the next fiscal year equal to the revenue that would have been produced for the next fiscal year by the current tax rate if no reappraisal had occurred. To calculate the revenue-neutral tax rate, the budget officer shall first determine a rate that would produce revenues equal to those produced for the current fiscal year and then increase the rate by a growth factor equal to the average annual percentage increase in the tax base due to improvements since the last general reappraisal. This growth factor represents the expected percentage increase in the value of the tax base due to improvements during the next fiscal year. The budget officer shall further adjust the rate to account for any annexation, deannexation, merger, or similar event.  (1927, c. 146, s. 6; 1955, cc. 698, 724; 1969, c. 976, s. 1; 1971, c. 780, s. 1; 1975, c. 514, s. 4; 1979, c. 402, s. 2; 2003-264, s. 1; 2024-1, s. 1.1(b).)”

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